“And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10
Hi! This was a busy week going to medical visa interviews. Four got approved at the US Consulate and we need more paperwork for 3 others before the visa will be issued. We work together with Angel Missions to get these kids medical care. Dieunette Lormintus has her visa and we are now waiting for travel arrangements to be made for her. Pray for traveling mercies for her and the other children. We received some updated photos this week of Naphtalie Bazile from her host parents and she is doing well with her post-op recovery. Dieuna Philippe is doing better with her pressure sores that are on both sides of her head. I told the mother to make a “doughnut” out of a piece of sponge and to put the area where there is a pressure sore into the hole of the doughnut. This keeps pressure off the sore and so far the wounds are healing. She is also on antibiotics for a urinary infection. Her visa will be approved as soon as we bring in some more paperwork. Vanessa is going to contact the neurosurgeon and ask him to schedule surgery as soon as possible. Her head is so tight you can see the bulging veins. Pray everything can fall into place and that she gets this much-needed surgery.
Several parents brought their children to the house this week seeking medical care for them. A few of these we brought over to the Angel Missions clinic on Delmas 91 for Vanessa to see. She is in Haiti for the next week and will be assessing new cases. One of the children we brought over to this clinic is a 2-month-old baby that was born with hydrocephalus. Unfortunately she was born with other problems as well. She has what looks like 2 tumors cysts growing on her kidneys, is paralyzed from the waist down and also has a hip deformity. Pray for the mother as she deals with all these problems. When a child has multiple health problems medical care is difficult or impossible to find. We know that God has a plan for this child.
Stevenson Noxene is a cute one-year-old boy who is very attached to his father. The father is 23 years old and the mother of the child is 16 years old. She is not a part of the family’s life. The boy has a large hernia that needs to be taken care of. Pray that we can find someone to help him.
This week Dr. Ed brought a medical team from New Hampshire to Cite Soleil to conduct another medical clinic. It went well and lots of people were seen. Dental care was provided as well. The Brazilian UN soldiers provided security for the day. They stayed in front of the school and also accompanied the team on a walk through the area after the clinic day was over. They also escorted them out to Rte. National #1. Their efforts made everyone feel comfortable.
I also met another doctor this week who conducts a clinic in Cite Soleil in the Bois Neuf area. The organization is called Lamp for Haiti and one of the doctors who comes down to Haiti often is James Morgan. I met him yesterday and talked with him about the clinic. They provide free medical care and medicines as available. Next week some time I am going to try and find this clinic and set up contact with them. The people of Ti-Ayiti (one of the districts in Cite Soleil) could benefit from this clinic. I also talked with him about the young boy who had suffered burns to his head when battery acid was poured over him. He doesn’t have a left ear anymore as a result. He told me that something could be done to make some sort of ear for him again so we are going to pursue our medical search for him in the United States. Pray for the ongoing medical searches. We give the Lord thanks for the efforts of people and organizations striving to improve the medical care of the Haitian people.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reported to the Security Council that Haiti has made improvements in the country’s stability but that the “potential for regression” exists. The Haitian government apparatus continues to suffer from a lack of qualified personnel, poor infrastructure and limited resources. The potential for problems still exist due to an increase in crime in the capital of Port-au-Prince. The average number of reported kidnappings per month for the period from December 2007 to February 28, 2008 reached 28, up from 11 six months ago. There are also indications that gangs may be trying to reorganize themselves. Ban Ki-Moon stressed that the international community needs to continue to be involved in Haiti in order to avoid a reversal to the situations of the past. UN forces now number about 9000 troops and police. The current Haiti police force has around 7000 members and it is estimated that 14,000 are needed before the Haitian police can take over basic policing from UN peacekeepers. Anti-government demonstrations have increased mainly due to the rising cost of living. This past week a large protest occurred in Les Cayes, which is in the south part of Haiti. Thousands of people rioted on the streets. Roads were blocked with barricades and burning tires and shops were looted. A couple of trucks were blocked and the protestors looted the sacs of rice these trucks were carrying and distributed them to the people around them. The demonstrators attacked a UN compound where soldiers from Uruguay are based. They looted 2 containers and damaged the main entry gate. Shots were fired and 4 people were killed and at least 20 people were injured. Demonstrators were throwing rocks and shooting at UN soldiers. These demonstrations started out as a protest against rising food prices and ended up turning into riots. The Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis blamed the violence on individuals linked to drug dealers and other smugglers infiltrating the protest groups. There are rumblings of trouble in other parts of the country as well. In Gonaives there were groups of people checking food prices in markets and depots. They say they are waiting for the government’s response to the demonstrations in Les Cayes. People in Gonaives are protesting against the government also for what they feel as inaction in preparations for the upcoming rainy season. I have heard people saying that Jeremie may also get involved. In Port-au-Prince yesterday some people blocked a UN vehicle. In the market areas of Port-au-Prince there have been arguments between the food vendors and their clients. The end result is that the vendors are replying that they are not responsible for the cost of living and they are telling the people to “go see Preval and Alexis” who are the heads of government here in Haiti. There are new expressions being said on the street. One expression is “Grangou Klorox” (Clorox bleach hunger). This term refers to being cleaned/wiped out by hunger. Another one that is said is “Grangou Acide Batterie” (battery acid hunger). This is said to symbolize the hunger and stomach pains from having nothing in their stomachs. I picked up Vanessa at the airport on Thursday afternoon and heard another expression said by one of the luggage porters. When people leave the arrival area there are always guys waiting to push the luggage carts or carry luggage of people. A lady told one of these guys no thanks and he responded that she had just touched him with a “dwet klorox” (bleach finger). This means that by her refusal to let him carry her bags she is causing hunger for him. Pray for this current protest crisis because I think that next week Port-au-Prince may have trouble with demonstrations as well due to the rising food prices. There is really not much the government can do to stop these rising prices. It doesn’t help either that a recent boat shipment of rice from Taiwan that was a gift to help Haiti feed its’ poor is being sold in the downtown markets at a slightly less price than the other rice available.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bulte, Coram Deo
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