cake makes everything seem better

**I went into Port today for a visa app for Carmelo.  He was denied for a tourist visa.  We were 99.9% sure that this is what would happen but did not want to be a “no show”.

**We got to eat a cheesebugar and fries

**Lori and I got the experience of using the bathrooms in the new american consult.  They appeared to be nice and new until we entered and saw there were no doors on the stalls.  That was odd. 

**The RC admitted 7 new children this week

**The president of Haiti came to Cazale yesterday and was standing about 4 feet in front of me.

**We need some toys for the kids….I am going to be checking some prices this week for some gently used toys

**Pray for my dad he is sick– fever, headache, stomach pain, bones hurt etc.

**Osna died this week

**The american consult has AC.

**I miss my brother and his family. His baby girl turned 1 this week

**We had a good lunch today.  We sat inside a little shed that has AC and a TV.

**The trailer in out of customs and will be unloaded TOMORROW!  PTL!!!!

**Jeanne only has two weeks left here

**When I got ready this AM to go to the american consult with Carmelo I realized that I had no socks..yes that is right I do not own a pair of socks, I always wear sandles.  I had to wear a pair of dads that were about 4 sizes to big

**The above picture is of Trey eating, enjoying, loving a piece of chocolate cake, the goggles..lets see..that is just Trey…you never know what outfit he will have on.

More tomorrow…I need some sleep

Water from the Mexican Embassy

There is a Catholic priest that is from Argentina that lives here in Cazale.  He has lived in the  Cazale area for several years.  He works with the Catholic church in Cazale and several other Catholic churches in surrounding villages.  On Thursday morning he came down to see us.  He said there was a group from the Mexican Embassy coming to Cazale with 4 tons of water.  They wanted a place to be able to distribute it and to talk with some of the people about the important of clean drinking water.  He thought of us an asked if we would be willing to recieve the group and give the water out.

Here is one of the four UN trucks that delivered the water.

Mexican relief workers unloading the water

These are UN soldiers that came as well.  They were all from South American.

This is the group doing some education with the patients waiting to be seen at the clinic.  The man in the blue shirt was a doctor and the only one that spoke English. They had one interpreter and everyone else spoke Spanish. 

Four tons it a lot of water!  It all came in these nice 1 gallon bottles that have a handle on the top.

We are planning to hand the water out during clinic this week.

1 Corinthians 12:14-26 (The Message)

 14-18I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

 19-24But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

 25-26The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

Friday…

This 11 month old child was brought in today by his grandpa.  He had a story that the mother of the child  left the child on his porch when it was 2 months old.  The father of the child, his son, is in the Dominican Republic.  I admitted the child because he was having fever, vomiting and blood in his stool. He needed some meds and an IV.  About 2 hours later the mother and grandmother show up.  They have a different story than the grandpa.  It was sad both sides were blaming each other and not really accomplishing much with all the disagreements.  I finally told them they should pray that he lives and stop worrying about who fault it was.  He is doing fair this evening. Diar and fever are big here.  Those two things combined kill lots of kids.  It is not something to play around with.

This is Jn Renold. He is 26 months old and weighs 16.8 pounds.  He is suffering from Kwashiorkor.  His step-mother brought him to the clinic on Tues.  His mother died when he was 2 months old.  His dad now has a new wife.  She does not want to take care of him.  She took Jn Renold to her new husbands mother.  She has been taking care of him for over a year.  I asked how long he has had his red fussy hair.  She said since he was a baby.  This is the second time he has had Kwashiorkor.  In filling out papers and talking to the step-mom I learned that he has had 5 other sibling that have died.  There are 3 others that are living.  When I asked her what the 5 children died of she said they all died from Kwashiorkor.  I asked her if she knew that he had a higher chance on dying than living.  She said yes.

His little feet as so swollen and he is either screaming in pain or staring out into space like in the picture above.

This is Dieudson.  He is 24 months old and weighs 16 pounds.  He is in the beginning stages of kwashiorkor.  His dad died several months ago.  His mother is ill and is finding it difficult to find food for herself and the kids.

*********************************************

GOING HOME!

James has been in the RC since Feb of 2008.  He had kwashiorkor and weighed 13 pounds.

His mother came faithfully each week to visit him.  He is going home today at 19 pounds.

This is Tinor.  He is 10 years old and weighed 43 pounds in April, when he was admitted into the RC.  His lowest weigh was 40 pounds.

Going home this week at 49 pounds.

I will write more about this later but we have found a home for Kelly here in Haiti.  Yeah!

Remember Rose-manie and Rose-Marie?

Here they are at 10.8 and 11 pounds.

Will you pray for Enoch for me?  He has headache and fever 104 since last night.  I think in the 13 years that I have know him he has been sick maybe one other time.  Malaria test is negative.

Home school–Praise report!

I have been home schooling my boys, Carmelo for 6 years and Henley for 3 years now.  It is the only choice that we have right now for them.   We cannot travel back and forth to Port-au-Prince everyday for them to attend a school and we could not afford it even if we lived closer.  I love the program that we use from The Jubilee Academy.  It is great for our needs and I feel like its a good program for them. 

School is Mon-Fri.  We try to get going and be done by 1pm.  That does not happen often.  It is totally my fault.  I have so many interruptions….to many to count.  Most are emergencies or things that I really have to take care of quickly.  A sick child, a new admit to the RC, a child that has died, a bad injury, Lori calling and saying you need to come see this because you will never see anything like this again….you get the picture.  I have tried to “hide out” in a room in the house, but they always find me   After the flood and everything that has happened in the past month, I felt like I could not do it anymore.  I felt like I was letting my boys down, I felt like I was stretched to thin and pulled in every direction.

I sent an email out to my family and close friends and asked if anyone knew of someone that would be willing to help me to educate my boys and take some pressure off of me.  One of these friends, okay it was Jamie I.  asked me if she could pass it along to some people she knew.  I said sure.  She did and little did we know that God was already making plans for us.

A MK in Mexico had been praying. She felt like God was calling her to go help another missionary, and to specifically help them with homeschooling their children.  What?  Yes, she wanted to help someone that really needed help someone that was just like me.  We have been emailing with her and her family this past month.  She is coming Jan-July.  To tell you that I am excited does not even begin to describe what is inside of me.  I see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I have hope…..

I want to thank all of you that specifically pray for us.  We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what we do here. We would not choose to live anywhere else.   We have learned over the years that God always provides….always…always…always provides what we need.  I love God and I thank Him so much for meeting this need that may seem like nothing to some people but is a huge blessing to me.  God is so awsome like that.   I encourage you to thank Him today for what He is doing in your life ..whether it be small or large.

Colossians 2:6-7 (The Message)

 6-7My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

Philippians 4:19-20 (The Message)

 19-20 You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes. 

School Sponsorship

I have heard from two people for the kids below for school sponsorship. Christiane and Nazilia have a sponsor.  If you are still interested let me know. licia@realhopeforhaiti.org  Don’t miss your blessing!

3 new children and 1 going home…..

 

This is Jamesly.  He is 12 months and 12 pounds.  His mother has been breastfeeding him and trting to get him to eat. But she is sick herself.  She spent the last week at her church fasting and praying with other member and asking God to give her son life.  She was very concerned about him and was upset at how sick he was.

 

 

This is Dazilia.  She is 6 years old and weighs 30 pounds.  Her brother Hary was in the RC several months ago and died.  Her mother says she has been sick since she was born.  She has been coming to the clinic since 1995 and has only gained 2 pounds in three years.  After being here five days she gained 2 pounds.  She is not sick she is starving.

 

This is Evens.  He is 14 months old and weighs16 pounds.  He is in the beginning stages of Kwashiorkor, not as bad as jamesly so we wanted to catch him early in the program.

This is Mirelle.  She was admitted into the RC in May of 2008.  She was very sick for several months.  She was 54 pounds when she first arrived.  She went home at 80 pounds. That is a total of 26 pounds that she gained. 

Leaving with her papa at 80 pounds.  Look at the difference in her face and her belly!  So amazing!

Are you ready to burst your bubble?

I was heading to bed and thought I would check the blog stats and see who is checking me out.  I came across a new blog that I had not seen before that was linked to me.  I click over on this blog and found the below written.  This blog gets it–really gets it.  I called Lori and read it to her.  We both loved it! Thank you for writing this and really getting it, hoping even more people are willing to bust their bubbles.

 Here is what she wrote:

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve visited this site.  

I forgot that as my hectic life continued, lives there continued to end.  

It’s easier to not look, so you don’t have to feel the sadness.  Just because I don’t look doesn’t mean that they don’t hurt.    

I forget.  

How can I forget about them?  

Because my perfect, blessed life here in my own bubble continues.  

I promise to look more.

When I do look, I find myself almost holding my breath.  To see children the same ages as my own suffering.

Dying.  To become almost in a way attached to a picture of a child, only to see the pictures of their lifeless feet at the end their beds, just days later.  I can’t-not do anything about it. 

It’s not right.  It’s not fair.  It doesn’t have to be this way.     

I promise to remember more, and to be thankful for our health and the health of our children.

To do something more about what they are going through. 

We all fall asleep under the same moon each night and wake to the same sun.  

I wonder what the motherless and fatherless have to look forward to?

Do they know who Jesus is?  Do they know that he suffers with them? 

I wish that I could get my hands on them.  

I plan to make that a reality. 

Remember them tonight while you pray and seek within your hearts, to help these precious children.

Blessed are they to be within arms reach of these women and in the Hands of our Heavenly Father.

 

Do you feel like “bursting your bubble” also?

AMEN SISTER

Update of Telismane

I just wanted to let each of you know that I had 9 different families and individuals that wrote and asked how they could help her.  We were all so encouraged.  She will come down in the next few weeks to meet with us and we will come up with a plan for her and the boys.  The plan I have in mind consists of school fees for the boys, food for them, a monthly income until they can figure out what they are going to do, a cow, some goats and maybe even a few chickens.  If anyone would like to send a scripture on an encouraging word for her please do.  I plan to read them to her and explain that she has people that love, care and are praying for her and the boys.  Thank you for encouraging my heart.  All the responses from you meant a lot to me.  Sometimes I wonder if there is anyone out there….you blessed me and lifted my spirits.

School Sponsorship

 These children are all siblings. Their mother and Father died in the flood.  The older lady in the picture is the grandmother.  The other two adult are the Pastor and Pastor’s wife of the church that the family attended.  The pastor told us that he prays a lot and pray for God’s will in his  life.  God told him several years ago that he would be taking care of children.  He is so excited and feels like this is what God has called him to do, to raise these children.  They came to the clinic a few weeks ago and ask if we would be willing to help out with school, medical care and food for them.  We are going to be providing free medical care for them through the clinic.  We need help with school sponsorship and food for the children.  There are five that are attending school.  You will notice that several of them are starting out in kindergarten.  This means that they are behind and have not been to school before.

 

This is Nazilia.  She is 13 years old and in the third year of kindergarten

This is St Elene.  She is 6 years old and is in the second year of kindergarten.

  This is Masquer.  He is 7 years old and is in the second year of kindergarten.

 

This is Angeline.  She is 5 years old and in her thrid year of kindergarten.

 

 This is Rosler.  He is 4 years old and is in his second year of kindergarten.

 

 

These three children are siblings.  First is Christiane, she is 8 years old, she is in going into the fourth grade.  Next is Jackson, he is 15 years old and going into the 6th grade.  Last is Christalie, she is 7 years old, she is going into the 1st grade.  There mother works at the RC, she washes the sheets and bed pads three days a week.  She also comes in 6 days a week and makes sure the laundry is folded and in the right baskets.  They used to live up in an area that was about a 30 minute walk from Cazale.  When she began working for RHFH she rented a room here in Cazale for her family.  This also worked out well for the children to be able to attend school.  When the flood passed last month, their house up in the mountains was damaged.  They were renting this house and now cannot.  The mother is unable to pay for there school this year.  She is able to buy food and clothing for them but cannot afford the school cost this year.

Here are three more siblings that live here in Cazale.  Their house was badly damaged in the flood.  They lost a lot of their belonging and are having a difficult time just finding food to eat.  The mother is very worried about them going to school this year.  She went to the director of the school for help.  The director of the local school came to us and asked if we could help them. 

This is Lorette. She is 11 years old and in the 3rd grade.

 This is Jonasse.  She is 8 and in the 2nd grade.

This is Rosemitha.  She is 17 and going into the 6th grade.

 

The cost of school for a whole year is $200 US or around $17 per month.  This provides uniforms, books, notbooks, pens, pencils, scissors, crayons, and other supplies needed, shoes, socks, under clothing, bookbag, tutor lessons as needed and the cost of the actual school.  If you are interested, please conact me at licia@realhopeforhaiti.org  Maybe a Sunday school class, church or small group would be willing to help out with this project.

This is Becharda.  He was in the RC several years ago and one of the staff members noticed that he could not hear.  He will be attending a school for deaf children in Port-au-Prince this year.  His cost of school is higher that the other children as he will be living at the school during the year.  The total cost for one year is $465US.  This is a special need for this boy and his family.  The family only brings in $25US per month for them to live so they are unable to pay for his school.

Telismane Charles

This is Telismane.  She is the wife on the man below that died in the flood.

She came to see us on Monday afternoon.  She wanted to thank us for buying the casket to bury her husband in.  She is still very upset about the death of her husband and the father of her children.  We made small talk for awhile and then I thought I would ask a little about her and her husband.  The have 5 children together, all boys.  They live up the the mountains behind  us in a town called Kotad.  I asked what had happened that day.  She began to share with me about her husband and what a good man he was.  He never sat at this house, he was always working.  She said he could not stand for one of his children to say they were hungry.  He was always working to find some food fro them.  He had went down to the village of Cabaret to try and find some work to be able to buy some food for the kids.  He knew that the hurricane had passed by his village and that his wife was going to have trouble finding food that day.  He stopped by his brother’s house here in Cazale.  Eveyone in the house told him to stay and wait out the flood waters to go down so the current would not be so strong.  He said he had to get to his family.  He died trying to get to them.

Telismane said “if one of the children said they were hungry, he would leave the house with a hoe or a shovel on his shoulder and find work”.  “He never wanted his kids to be hungry, he was a good father, and loved us a lot.”  I asked her how the kids were.  With tears rolling down her cheeks she said “I just cannot support it, can’t support when the kids are screaming for their papa and saying they are hungry.”  “I know if he was here that would break him up to hear that.”

Will you please pray for Telismane and her children.  RHFH has committed to help them with food whenever we can.  Anyone wanting more info contact me at licia@realhopeforhaiti.org