Sunday, December 4, 2016

Coram Deo Haiti Update - December 4, 2016

CORAM DEO HAITI UPDATE – DECEMBER 4, 2016

“He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)

The preliminary election results were released early Tuesday morning. Early Monday morning I awoke to the smell of burning tires on Delmas 31. It was a reminder that an important decision would be made that day by the CEP election authorities. The people wanted an answer as to who their new president would be. We had school on Monday. In some areas of the city there was gunfire. A couple of our students who live in the Delmas 18 area said that Sunday night there was a lot of gunfire. The streets were safe enough for them in the morning that they made the trip to come to school.  It shows how much an education means to them. No results were released during the day but the city was nervous. Stores and businesses shut down early in anticipation of potential problems. Night fell and still no news. First we heard the results might be given at 7:00pm and then 8:00pm. By 10:00pm I lost interest in waiting for the news and went to bed J One of the presidential candidates brought  some sheets and laid it out on the conference table that was set up for the CEP press conference. He told the reporters that he would not leave until the results were given and then laid down on the conference table for a nap J Our neighbourhood was quiet. Finally the election results were given at midnight. I had a good nights’ sleep without hearing any shooting or smelling burning tires. The Haitian police were out in force providing security on the streets. Jovenel Moise of the PHTK party is the new president of Haiti according to the preliminary results. The other candidates are crying foul and contesting the election claiming fraud. 10% of all the voting tally sheets were set aside for irregularities. The country in general is calm but in Port-au-Prince there have been some problems this week with protests.

We had no school on Tuesday as people were concerned about protests. In the Lasaline area of the city people were protesting and there was a heavy police presence. In response to the burning tires and rock throwing the police were shooting a lot of tear gas. People were overcome by tear gas and the people say that a baby died from the effects of the tear gas. Some people were overcome and were carried away. Mothers and their children evacuated the area and sought shelter in the Cite Soleil/Rte 9 area. Handicapped people who were not fast enough to run away were caught up in the police action. A man had a foot injury from a projectile. During the week the losing political party supporters demonstrated in the streets and attempted to walk up Delmas to reach Petionville and the CEP headquarters. Police used tear gas and water cannon to block them at the Delmas 48 area. In anger people smashed windows of vehicles that were caught in the protest. Pray for peace on the streets and that the people accept Jovenel Moise as the new president of Haiti. He is known for having established a large banana plantation and this experience will be needed to help rebuild the agriculture in the South part of the country.

The situation with gang fighting caused a sad week for some people that I know. Zulus’ sister was killed in retribution for the 2 people that Zulu’s brother killed in gang fighting. His sister was only 18-years-old and a young mother of a 6-month-old child. Now this young baby will grow up without knowing his mother. His sister was strangled. The family buried her in the countryside. Now Zulu is trying to get his mother out of Cite Soleil. Please pray for Zulu’s family. Fighting isn’t the answer. It is sad that peace is difficult to have here in Haiti.

Joel and Jeff live with their family in a section of Cite Soleil called Village La Repatriers. On Tuesday gangs were fighting in the area and 12 people were killed. The hatred and violence was terrible. Not only did people kill but they also burnt the bodies by using a tire. Joel came by the house on Friday and things had settled down in their area. We help the family each week with food and pay the school tuition for Joel and Jeff. Pray for safety for both of them and for their families. The place where there is a hand pump well and a gathering place for people became a place for killing. Pray for the people involved that they see that fighting doesn’t accomplish anything other than loss of life and hurt.

Adeline was able to go up to Mirebalais on Tuesday to her appointment for a surgery to remove the protruding bone from her upper arm. It was so busy at the hospital that they didn’t even get seen. They stayed the night there and saw a surgeon the next day. He apologized that they couldn’t do the surgery because of all the accident case surgeries they needed to do. Adeline was sent home with an appointment to come back on December 14th. It is frustrating because the bone is still protruding from her arm and I am worried about infection. We are going to try this week at Medecins Sans Frontieres to see if they can help her. We don’t have the financial resources to be able to seek care at other hospitals. Mirebalais does surgeries for free .Pray that Adeline gets the surgery she needs to fix her arm bone and that she doesn’t lose her arm.

Jeff, who had the large abscess on his face had surgery on his face and he goes for wound care every couple of days to pack the hole in his face as it heals/drains.

Troy Price and Michelet blessed us with making some window screens for my bedroom. They are mounted on the outside between the steel bars and the window. Now I can relax at night in my room and watch some tv without keeping an eye out for flying cockroaches that come in through the window and sometimes hit my face J We also got a couple of replacement covers made for the water reservoir and drainage reservoir tanks. We also did some work in the living room/exercise room/pharmacy improving the security of the cabinets and repairing a rusty cabinet.

Duct tape is great for quick fixes! Amos took Kimosabe Jr. (Ford Ranger) to Bernard Mevs Hospital this week and while he was parked out front a vehicle backed up and broke the cover on the side mirror. Amos came home with the broken cover and the guys put the cover back on and taped it in place with duct tape.

We have a small tv set that wouldn’t turn on anymore. The guys took it apart and found the 2 wires used to turn on the tv and brought them outside of the television cover. Now we have a hotwire television set! You just touch the 2 wires together and the tv turns on J

Our generator is not working well. The power ebbs and surges and we need to get it fixed. Next week we are going to get it serviced and hopefully it will be a cheap fix. On Tuesday we didn’t have any electricity. We usually have electricity from 6:00am to 4:00pm. The E-power plant said that they had an accident. A tractor trailer backed up into some equipment damaging the circuits. We rely on our solar panels and the generator for backup power sources. The invertor batteries will need to be replaced in the next year. Please pray for funding to be able to buy new batteries.

The teachers are planning the 2nd quarter exams for the students. We have 133 students in classes from 1ere AF to 9eme AF. Next week we will start photocopying the exams.

We were blessed this week with 72 cases of Feed My Starving Children Manna packs J We received a double distribution this month for the months of November and December. We rented a truck to pick up the food. We are thankful that Love A Child helps us out each month with food. With this food we can help ourselves and the community with a nutritious meal J Please keep the work of Love A Child and Feed My Starving Children in prayer. They help feed a lot of people here in Haiti in different areas of the country.

I love serving God here in Haiti and to try and help the Haitian people. The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is how I want to serve God.

St. Francis of Assisi Peace Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
That is all the news for today. Have a blessed week J
Karen Bultje,   
Coram Deo      
                                                                                                                                         

For donations please send to:
Mission of T.E.A.R.S,  
Suite 504, 50 Gervais Drive,

Toronto, Ontario,  
M3C 1Z3