haiti update - march 14, 2008

“Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. “ Job 42:1,2

Hi! This week has been a busy week with the medical program. Jameson Glezile and Benson came back from Hinche on Sunday evening. Jameson’s face looks good and his family is happy. Benson still looks the same because he didn’t get his plastic surgery for the burn contractures on his foot and leg. Hopefully the next time the medical team comes to Haiti they can help him too. The oldest cleft lip patients were 50 years old. It’s sad that they had to live most of their life with a cleft lip that can be easily repaired with plastic surgery. The surgeries were held at St. Terese Hospital in Hinche. The medical team came from an organization called Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org) and was organized by Partners in Health. The team plans to come back in December to do more surgeries. At that time Jameson will get his cleft palate repaired. Wednesday were the post-op checks on the children at the Angel Missions Clinic on Delmas 91. We got to see some of the other cleft lip children too and all their faces looked good.
Jubert, the 6-week old baby who went to the United States on a medical visa never made it to his destination. He died in Miami. Pray for comfort for his mother.
We got news this week that Emerson Simplice is now finished with his plastic surgeries and will be returning to Haiti in early April. His cleft lip and palette are now repaired and the skin around his eye has been operated on. The damage to the eye itself cannot be fixed and he will need an artificial eye when he gets to be around 10 years of age. His family is excited that he is coming home soon.
We also received news on Phara Simeon, the hydrocephalus baby that was recently operated on. She is doing well. Her head circumference has shrunk 12 cm (5 inches) and she is enjoying having a lighter head! We give the Lord thanks for healing mercies.
This week we have been working on the passport paperwork for Dieunette Lormintus (baby with encephalocele at back of head). We had a bit of a challenge on Thursday morning getting the mother’s identity card at the DGI. The challenge had nothing to do with paperwork but with the outside environment around the DGI building. President Bush’s wife Laura made a visit to Haiti on Thursday to visit projects financed by the American government. The DGI office is near the Haitian Presidential Palace and we got to the DGI at the time security was being set up for Laura Bush. There was about a dozen police in riot gear who had already blocked off one of the roads. I dropped off Lukner, Dieunette and her mother. I then went somewhere else. Lukner called and told me that the id was ready and I returned to pick them up. Lukner called again and said that the police had the whole area blocked and that I couldn’t get near the DGI and we met in another area. That is when he told me what happened. They finished the id card at just the right time. When they were leaving was when the security was sealing off the area. The CIMO (swat) police was telling the DGI security to clear the area. In Haiti they use a lot of intimidation to move people away and the security started yelling at people to get away. When people protested they hit them with batons. The swat team was in the background ready to use tear gas. The people sure moved fast then! The people that were inside the DGI would be shut inside the building and not allowed to leave until Laura Bush left the area. We were able to drive back to the airport road area where we got stuck in the security blockade around airport road. We had no choice but to back track and take a long detour in order to get home. Lukner and Dieunette’s mother were happy with their experience and were eager to tell everyone what happened. The Haitian people are very social and love to tell stories!
The gatekeeper here at Coram Deo, Francois, now has another task added to his role as gatekeeper. He is a strong Christian and enjoys talking to people. The other week when I was busy driving the children to Mirebalais I needed someone to take another person to a doctor’s appointment at Bernard Mevs Hospital on airport road. I sent Francois and he did a good job. While he was waiting at the hospital he took it upon himself to visit all the wards at the hospital to visit and talk with the patients. The next day he told me he enjoyed his day. Iliodor and Austin are the 2 men that have the gangrene problems with their legs. Iliodor will be needing a second surgery as the bone is protruding from his stump. Because of the infection he may now need to have his knee amputated as well. Austin is still awaiting a surgical date to have his leg amputated. I asked Francois if he wanted to start a new ministry of visiting patients we help that are hospitalized. I explained to him about Iliodor and Austin and how important prayer support would be for them. He eagerly agreed and asked if he could invite his pastor and a couple other men from the church to go as well. Francois arrived at work on Tuesday morning dressed in his Sunday best. We all drove to the hospital and visited Iliodor and Austin. The pastor prayed for these men and while there another patient asked for prayer also. We talked with him and he said that he didn’t have a bible. The next morning I brought him one. Pastor Octave who has the church across the street approached me as well. He sort of felt left out. He said that he wanted to be involved in this ministry of visiting the patients as well along with members of his church. We give the Lord thanks for the development of this ministry.
Junior Maurancy, a young deaf adult that I have known for years stopped by the house this week. He proudly showed his badge as being a member of C.A.P.P.A. Sourds Haiti (Centre D’Aide Aux Personnes a Problemes Auditifs – Help Center for People With Hearing Problems). According to the information printed on his badge, this organization works towards the integration of deaf people into society, deafness prevention, and sign language education. We have helped several deaf children over the years. Currently we are planning to start a deaf school program here at Coram Deo. Our goal is to start with a couple of deaf classes. We also hope to combine the program alongside with poor children from the community who are not able to attend school. In this way the hearing children will also learn to communicate with the deaf and also learn to accept handicapped children into society. A lot of things need to fall into place before this becomes a reality but we pray that in September this program will start God willing. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child please contact myself or Tim at Mission of T.E.A.R.S.
The organization OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) has launched a pilot project here in Haiti. The International Development Bank is financing this project with 3 million US$ . XO Computers are going to be given to 13,200 students and 500 teachers in 60 Haitian primary schools. It will be interesting to see how this project progresses.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje