haiti update - june 17, 2008

“God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 82 1-4

Hi! On June 10th I traveled to Canada to visit my family for three weeks and will be staying until July 2nd. We will be doing some presentations to do some fundraising for the projects here at Coram Deo. Pray for these efforts.
In the week before coming to Canada it was a busy time with the medical program. We were able to get 3 medical visas done at the US Consulate. Sometimes I help other missions obtain medical visas. Mario Colin, a boy with a heart problem was approved for a medical visa and traveled with Carole Stufflebeam to the United States the same day I left for Canada. His heart is in bad shape and he needs an operation on his mitral valve. Love a Child is the mission that arranged everything for Mario. It is located in Fond Parisien. Pray for Mario and the medical staff looking after him.
Angelo Lafortune and his mother both had visa interviews and were approved for medical visas. They should be on their way to the United States by now. This is Angelo’s second visit to the United States. Last year he had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor and also had radiation therapy as well. While in the United States he will be getting an MRI done. Angelo and his mother will be staying with an aunt. It is encouraging to hear from people who are supportive of the work that we do. After the medical visa was approved I received a phone call from the United States from Angelo’s aunt. She thanked me for helping him and also for helping children in Haiti. She expressed interest in providing financial support for the work of Coram Deo. Pray for Angelo as he gets his MRI done and that the tumor does not grow back.
The US Consulate has recently moved to a new building located in the Tabarre area of Port-au-Prince. It is a beautiful building. One of the new improvements made was everyone going inside the visa area gets a number that starts with a letter. When your turn comes up the number is announced as well as being displayed on an overhead screen. It is like sitting in a Bingo hall. When your number is called (eg. B130) you get up and go to the desk. If you don’t get up fast enough the Haitian security guards working inside will embarrass you and ask why you weren’t listening. I always tell the parents who are sitting with me that they better listen closely for the number so that we don’t get told to remove the wax from our ears by the security guards. It is fun watching the guards tell off the people who aren’t listening for their number.
When I go back to Haiti, hopefully one of the first things that I do will be going after a medical visa for John Charles, a hydrocephalus baby (12 months old). Dr. Wharf, the neurosurgeon at Dupont Children’s Hospital is interested in operating on him after he gets back from a mission trip to Uganda where he will be going in June to perform neurosurgeries.
I have heard from Haiti that Benson now has his cast off his leg. Jn. Eddy sat with him all day Wednesday at the state hospital on Delmas 33 and the doctors didn’t do anything. He called me here in Canada and I told him to go back the next day and the doctors there eventually helped them. Continue to pray for his recovery.
Manu and Jacob finished school the day I traveled to Haiti and now are hopefully helping to make briquettes out of scrap paper and sawdust. We use these as a cooking fuel. Manu will be starting Grade 4 and Jacob will be going to Grade 3 when they start school again sometime near the end of August. They had a school program just before I left where every class sang Christian music for the parents. They all sang well. Benson really wanted to attend the program. When I came to the house in the afternoon Benson said that he wanted to go. I told him that it would be difficult with the cast on his arm and leg and he jumped up and said it wouldn’t. I asked him how he was going to get there and he started to hop on one leg down the driveway and said he would hop all the way to the school. We ended up taking him to the program in the car and he enjoyed the outing. Benson is a very determined boy! Paulna Maczil, a girl living at Coram Deo will hopefully be getting corrective surgery to straighten the femur in her other leg this summer. Dr. Nau, an orthopedic surgeon from Healing Hands will be doing the surgery. He operated on her other leg last summer and now it is straight. Hopefully after this second surgery she will have 2 straight legs again.
Emmanuel Oreus and his mother also came by the house just before I left to go back to Canada. Once he had his blood transfusion he did well and was discharged from the hospital. He is one of the children that we are helping in our feeding program. We get food assistance from USAID and with this food we are also able to help some of those who are suffering in the community. The photo on the blog shows a smiling Emmanuel! Hopefully with this food assistance he doesn’t tumble back into malnutrition again. His family lives in Wharf Jeremie, which is along the coast beside Cite Soleil. It is not a very good area and a lot of families there struggle to provide for their families. Continue to pray for Emmanuel and his family.
Part of the problem of hunger in Haiti is due to an increasing dependency on food imports. In 1985 Haiti produced 163,296 metric tonnes of rice and imported only 7,337 metric tonnes of rice for a total consumption of 170,633 metric tonnes. In 2007 Haiti produced only 90,000 metric tonnes and imported 251,100 metric tonnes for a total consumption of 341,100 metric tonnes. The cheaper imported rice discouraged farmers from planting rice within Haiti. Now that food prices are higher Haitians are forced to pay the higher prices. The government now wants to encourage more local production by providing fertilizer subsidies to farmers.
There was an Anti-Kidnapping Protest March held on June 4th. Several thousand people representing over 119 civic organizations walked through the streets of the downtown area urging the police and judiciary officials to assume their responsibilities. The walk started at the Sacre Coeur church and then to the offices of the Minister of Justice, Commissariat of Port-au-Prince, as well as the Palais de Justice and the Palais National. The head of the police department, Mario Andresol made the statement that most of the individuals arrested for kidnapping are released soon after without being judged and this sends a clear signal to encourage kidnappers and not to deter them. Between May 2006 and May 2008, 400 prisoners were freed under suspicious circumstances while their dossiers were still being processed. Pray for the reform of the justice system and the work of the police against kidnapping.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo