photos - hydrocephalus evaluations - part 1

One of the large waiting rooms at the state run Hopital La Paix on Delmas 33 was used to hold all the hydocephalus children and their parents. The Minister of Health from the Haitian government is also involved in the project providing the hospital for these surgeries to take place. Healing Hands provided a lunch for everybody. It was a long wait for some of the children but everyone who came was seen by the doctor. Now the decision needs to be made as to who gets surgery and who doesn't. The surgeries will be held in November.

Phara Simeon returned from the United States after surgery but her head has continued to grow in size since. She will be needing a second surgery to stop the fluid from building up in her brain. She is now back to using her finger to pull down her eyelid to see better.

Chardlyne Jules had surgery in May/08 and was waiting to see the doctor for a post-op check. Her head size has gone down and she looks good.

Wiliamise Jean is the cousin of Paulna. She is sitting with her father. He doesn't believe she has hydrocephalus and won't let her have brain surgery. Keep him in prayer as he just recently started to attend church with Wiliamise.

Wilbenson Jacques had surgery in October/07 and was waiting to be evaluated for his post-op check. The doctor determined that he will be needing further surgery as the fluid in his brain has not decreased. Despite this he is developing and is able to sit and he is starting to talk. This is another hydrocephalus child from the Cite Soleil area.

photos - hydrocephalus evaluations - part 2

Vanessa Jules is sitting with her mother waiting for her turn to see the doctor. She is a very active little girl.

Maudlin Thomas has had 2 operations already. The first one was in October/07 and the second in May/08. Both times he was one of the last patients to be discharged as he had post-op infections. He is now learning to stand and can walk with assistance.

Ralph Dumeus is a hydrocephalus baby that needs surgery. The father left the family because he did not want to support a hydrocephalus child. His mother does the best she can to look after him.

This boy stands, walks, talks and goes to school. His head is large but his body is catching up in growth. When he gets older the larger head will not be as noticeable.

Joseph Sincere is a boy who has a brain tumor. We have been trying to find care for him in the United States but it is difficult as he also has severe brain damage. His mother as well is a single mom doing her best to raise her family. Please keep all these children and their families in prayer.

haiti update - october 11, 2008

“I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” Psalm 7:17

Hi! This week was a busy week with both the school and medical programs. Officially, all the schools in Haiti opened up for their first day of classes on October 6th. We have 37 students in the two classes. The students are eager to learn and the teachers are enthusiastic in instructing them. A couple more handicapped students registered after finding out that they were no longer welcome at a local school. Jislaine Neanty is a young deaf girl and very determined. Her mother had tried to explain to her on Monday that she couldn’t attend the other mission school any more but she didn’t want to believe her. She put on her knapsack and waited in front of the gate at their school. She waited while other children had their names called and let in. When all the children were let in and she was left standing outside she realized that she was no longer welcome. I believe that she taught the missionary couple running the school a lesson that day on the determination of handicapped children. Jislaine then came to Coram Deo on Tuesday morning and taught us a lesson. I showed her to where the tables for the handicapped class were but she didn’t want to go. I realized that she wanted to sit in the regular class. I then sent her there. It will be a challenge for her but she believes that she is just as normal as the other children. A downs syndrome boy by the name of Rio Dana Bosquet also registered at Coram Deo after finding a closed gate at the other school. The mother came to Coram Deo crying after being told her son was no longer welcome at the school he attended last year. Pray we can work well with all the children and that they can continue to be enthusiastic and determined to learn. Jislaine had no problem with the non-handicapped children in her class. She was treated as just another student. When we have opening devotions everyone stands together at the front for the national anthem, prayer and opening devotions. This is a statement to the community that the handicapped and the non-handicapped are together. Please continue to pray for our efforts of integrating the handicapped into Haitian society.
On Monday Daphka Saint-Vil traveled to Ohio as the first step in the treatment of a deformed lower leg that was caused by a fracture at birth. She will be meeting her orthopedic surgeon on October 14th. Pray for the medical team as they decide how best to help her and the host family who will be looking after her.
I sent Lukner with Widmirtha’s mother and new baby to accompany them home to the Mirebalais area. It ended up not being a simple task. There is a bridge/road down in the Mirebalais area and canoes are being used to transport people across. The only problem that day was that there was a protest organized by the people living in the area and they banned the canoes from crossing. People stood there with machetes, rocks and sticks and were chanting slogans. They believed that the canoes were doing such a good job to transport people that now the government will not be in any hurry to fix the bridge. The canoes were banned. People were forced to cross the river on foot. Lukner said that the water was up to his armpits. He paid another man to carry Widmirtha’s mother on his shoulders. She was holding on to her baby. Once they crossed they were able to reach the grandmother’s house. The next day Lukner decided to take a different route back to Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately in the Verette area there is a bridge/road down there too and there were people demonstrating there as well. In this area a temporary road had been constructed through someone’s field. The protesters armed with rocks, machetes and sticks refused to let vehicles pass and the tap-tap that Lukner was riding in had to return back to Mirebalais. He then had to cross the river again. This time though there was one canoe allowed to cross. Medical personnel, and the sick and elderly were allowed to use this canoe but the price was now $20H ($2.50US), up from the original canoe transport price of $10H ($1.25). Pray that plans are made to construct bridges and alternate routes soon as people don’t want to continue to use canoes and are growing impatient with the government.
The week was busy preparing for the arrival of the neurosurgery team from the University of Miami. On Friday and Saturday a lot of patients were seen. It seems that every year there are more and more children with hydrocephalus. Patients came from all over (Cap Haitian, Jeremie, Cayes, Gonaives, Jacmel as well as the surrounding areas of Port-au-Prince). Now the difficult decision will be made by the team as to who will get the surgery. The saddest cases were the two that came from Gonaives. Both children had pressure sores on their heads caused by laying in the same position for too long. They were also infected. Both families are homeless because of the flooding in Gonaives and are staying with friends. It is difficult to tell the families to keep turning their heads when they are sleeping on the floor with no bedding. Their skin breaks down quicker when not lying on a mattress. One of Paulna’s cousins has hydrocephalus. Her name is Wiliamise and she is around 2 years old. The family lives in Paulna’s village and the father refuses to believe that his daughter has hydrocephalus. He thinks that she has back problems, which is causing her troubles. I thought the medical team could explain to him his daughter’s situation but he just wouldn’t listen. The bones in Wiliamise’s head have now grown together and because of the excess fluid in her brain she is starting to have seizures. The father believes there is a spiritual cause to these seizures. Recently, a Christian woman from a church in the community went up to Wiliamise’s father and told him that God put it on her heart to tell him that Wiliamise needs to be raised and converted as a Christian. Wiliamise’s mother is already a Christian and regularly attends church. The father started to attend church on Sunday mornings and also to go to prayer meetings during the week. He brought Wiliamise with him. Shortly after regularly attending church is when Wiliamise started to have seizures. Last week the grandfather came to speak to the father. This grandfather is a “hougan” (witchdoctor) and he informed the father that the “loas” (spirits) were angry and this is why Wiliamise now has seizures. He needs to renounce the Christian faith and bring her to him to give medicine to remove the anger of the “loas”. Until now he has refused to do so. Pray for Wiliamise’s family as they deal with the voodoo influence in the community. We will keep in touch with this family and encourage them in their Christian faith. Pray that the father doesn’t backslide. Wilbenson Jacques and Pharah Simeon are both children who had surgery already but need another surgery again due to fluid building up again in their brains. Pray that they will be one of the children selected. The surgeries will be held in November at Hopital La Paix on Delmas 33. The last two surgeries held in October 2007 and May 2008 had 7 children dying of post-op complications. Pray that a Haitian surgeon is found to deal with post-op complications once the team returns to the United States.
That’s all the news for today. Have a Blessed Canadian Thanksgiving weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - cabrette family, baby girl

This woman was brought to us by Pastor Pierre. She comes from a village that is far in the mountains. You can only get there on foot. Her family is dying of hunger and she came to Port-au-Prince seeking help.

Lodi is a 2-year-old boy who is suffering from malnutrition. He is weak.

Dieuquiseul is 3 years old and he is swollen with fluid caused by kwashiorkor malnutrition. He was in the worst shape of the 2 children and is now hospitalised at Nos Petits Frere et Soeurs Hospital on Tabarre.

This photo shows the severity of the swelling in his legs. Sometimes the heart gives out with all the fluid in the body. He will receive good care at this children's hospital and hopefully survive.

Widmirtha Mervil, the hydrocephalus baby that was hospitalized at Bernard Mevs now has a baby sister! Her sister was born at the state Chancerelle hospital and doing well. Continue to keep this family in prayer

photos - school program

Manu's homework got eaten by a mouse or rat and he was only able to complete a portion of it. I wrote a note for the teacher and he didn't get in any trouble. Now we have to do some hunting in the house to eliminate all the rodents!

The school program is going well. Anderson Jeudi is the deaf boy who was kidnapped in August and now is living here at Coram Deo during the week. He is an eager student!

William is a mentally handicapped boy who spends most of his spare time here at Coram Deo. He does not have a good home life and his family doesn't care for him well. One day he came to the house and he had several welts on his back caused by being whipped.

Junior lives here at Coram Deo. He was the boy who was living on the streets for 3 years with a bad case of Norwegian scabies. He is now around 15 years old and is now learning to read and write.

Here is one of the classes. We give the Lord thanks that the school program is open again and pray for funds to keep this program going.

haiti update - october 4, 2008

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22

Hi! This week was a busy week of surprises. The first surprise was when Manu had to go to school and found that part of his homework had been eaten by either a rat or mouse! I took a picture of his eaten homework and then wrote a note to his teacher to explain to him that it wasn’t Manu’s fault that his homework wasn’t complete but that it was a rodent who prevented Manu from doing his homework. Manu says that the note worked and he didn’t get in any trouble. We have been hunting for mice this week.
The moment that I had dreaded happened this week. Widmirtha Mervil’s mother went into labor at the hospital on Tuesday. Our funds are very limited right now so we weren’t able to arrange care for her at the same hospital that Widmirtha is at. The other surprise we had was that the pickup truck didn’t want to start, so a nurse brought her to the Medecins San Frontieres Hospital on Delmas 18. She stayed there all day on Tuesday but no baby came out and because they don’t have any bed space available told her she needed to go to one of the state hospitals. She returned back to Bernard Mevs Hospital waiting for her labor to get more advanced. On Wednesday morning the nurse at Bernard Mevs Hospital called back and we were able to bring her to the state Chancerelle Hospital. This hospital is inexpensive but it is also like a baby factory. Her labor wasn’t moving very fast and they had to do a few things to help the baby come out and finally this happened Wednesday evening. Because this mother had no family with her, Lukner took on the role as father and husband for the day. He stayed with her through the night at Chancerelle. The mother gave birth to a healthy baby girl! Right after she gave birth the doctors told her to sit on a bench. The birthing room was a busy place. Lukner called and said that she didn’t have a bed and was sitting on a bench. He looked around and found an empty bed but it didn’t have a mattress. I told him to tell an employee there that if he found a mattress he would get a reward and within 15 minutes this mother and baby were relaxing in a bed. Hopefully the employee didn’t kick another person off the mattress so that Widmirtha’s mother could have it. The mother and her new baby are now staying here at Coram Deo for a few days while she recuperates from her difficult delivery. While all this was going on Widmirtha was laying in her hospital bed at Bernard Mevs. I asked the mother of Chrisno Jeudi (a hydrocephalus baby who recently went to the United States) if she could sit with Widmirtha and she took good care of her. Widmirtha was discharged from Bernard Mevs Hospital on Thursday morning. The doctors couldn’t do any more for her. She still has a clear fluid coming out of her navel and the doctors believe it is CSF from the brain. They recommend a neurosurgeon to look at her but the only problem is that we can’t find one to help her. I asked Tony and Linda of Holy Angels if they could help to look after her and we brought Widmirtha there on Thursday morning. Pray for their efforts and also that it can be determined if her shunt needs to be removed.
Early Thursday morning we were driving up Delmas 31 and noticed that there was a body of a young man lying in the middle of the road. He was laying flat on his back and not moving and there were people on the side of the road staring at him. From a distance it looked like he was dead. I went up to him and noticed that he was foaming from the mouth and still breathing. I told the crowd to help to put him in the back of the pickup truck to go to the hospital but that is when a Haitian superstition blocked the process. The Haitian people believe that when someone collapses someplace that you shouldn’t touch him. If you do touch them, this person will suffer some form of paralysis. The people with him wouldn’t let me help him. I explained to them that it was dangerous for him to be left lying in the middle of the road and that he might get run over by passing traffic and that maybe we could drag him to the side of the road but they repeated that to touch him would cause paralysis. An older man that was with him came up with a bucket of water and started to pour water onto this young man’s head and face. The man was lying face up with his mouth open and it looked like he might be drowned with all the water being dumped on him. It sure worked to wake him up though! He made the effort to sit up and I told the people that now they can help him and they responded no that this man could be paralyzed if we touched him. He was very unsteady and looked like he was going to pass out again and because nobody was helping to hold him up he collapsed again and went head first against the pavement again. The man with the bucket of water started pouring water on him and he woke up again and managed to get to his feet and stumble off the road. He was not very steady on his feet but nobody helped him in fear of paralyzing him. He stumbled away with the man with the bucket flinging water on his head to keep him from falling. I think that this young man must have gotten a concussion from this experience of collapsing on the street and also that he was doing his best to get away from the man with the bucket of water.
Pastor Pierre came from the Kenscoff area with a mother and 2 of her sick children from the Cabrette area, which is located in the mountains of Kenscoff. This area has no roads and the only way to get there is a long walk over mountains or by helicopter. This area was damaged by the storms but no aid is coming there. This woman’s house and crops were destroyed by the storms and she was living with neighbors. She walked out of the area with her sick children and came to Pastor Pierre’s house. Her 3-year-old son, Dieuquiseul, was suffering from a form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor (when the body swells with fluid) and an infection. He was in bad shape. Her other child is 2 years old and starting to show the effects of malnutrition. He was weak and listless. We brought the children over to Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs Hospital on Tabarre and the 3 year old was admitted. Keep Dieuquiseul in prayer as he is treated for malnutrition. The mother started her journey at 4:00am on Wednesday morning and arrived at Coram Deo on Thursday morning. She told me that she left 2 other hungry children at home. Pray for the young children of Haiti as they start showing the effects of malnutrition the quickest.
Another mother and child came to Coram Deo this week. This child too was suffering from kwashiorkor malnutrition. Lukner brought them over to the Missionaries of Charity on Delmas 31 and this child was admitted to their hospice for treatment.
Please continue to pray for funds to be raised to help support our programs here at Coram Deo.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

photos - various children - part 1

This is Monique and her family. This lady was the person who found Grace Hope, a baby that was abandoned in the Delmas 31 area. She is a caring mother with 5 children, none of whom are able to attend school. Vanessa of Angel Missions is trying to help them with schooling in the Cite Soleil area.

Widmirtha Mervil has been in the Bernard Mevs Hospital for the last week. This is a picture of pain, hunger and suffering. Keep her in prayer.

Daphka Saint-Vil got approved for her medical visa this week at the US Consulate. She will now be traveling soon to get her lower left leg operated on.

This is Baby Rose who was born with a cleft lip. Here she is at one week of age doing well. Dixie of God's Littlest Angels showed the father how to feed his child for the first time only 6 hours after the baby was born.

This is Biocharla Felix and her mother. The mothers of hydrocephalus children do what they can to help their children but it is very difficult for them to watch their children suffer as their head circumferences increase from fluid build-up in the brain.