Cholera!!!

Hey, just a quick prayer request from the mission back in Ailegue. It seems that cholera, which seemed to be in remission around Haiti, has possibly come to the Les Palme area!! Please keep this in your prayers as we try to determine the extent of the problem, and what our response to it should be. We'll try to update you a bit later.... Gotta run!!!   -steve

We Don't Treat Only Haitians Here...

It was a bad night... We had gotten a late start, and were
leaving Ailegue to attempt hauling 16 batteries and a drum
of diesel fuel up to Terre Rouge. Everyone was going along
up for supper, the road was muddy, we had to pull the
dump truck with the gator just to get to the foot of Jack
Rabbit... And when we got there, a tire went flat on
the gator, and we had no repair kit... So Andrew
and I hoofed it back to the mission shop, where a
piece of steel fell out of the rafters
onto my head... :(

Attempting to pull the dump truck up Jack Rabbit with the gator AND 4-wheeler...
(It didn't work, in case you wondered. We ended up shuttling the batteries and
fuel with the gator and the orphanage's Husky... Finishing the project around
midnight and just in time for supper!! :) )

After the damages in the shop... Head wounds really bleed
like crazy!! I put on a towel and stocking cap, kept things
under control for the next 4 or 5 hours till we had time
to stitch it up..........

Anita and Thea began their repair job at around 1:30 A.M. The longest
stretch of time is always cleanup; picking out dirt and hair that may be
in the wound and can cause infection if you don't get it all out
before it's stitched up....

Only took 7 stitches, not too bad....

At this hour, sometimes things are funny....

Sometimes scary.....!

And sometimes just downright painful!!!! :)

But I was fortunate- at least I had a sweet comforter
with me!!!!! :)

As usual, the girls did a great job. One week later the stitches
came out, and now (2 1/2 weeks down the road) I can't
even feel where it was repaired!!! We sure are wonderfully
made, thank God for His kindness in healing our bodies.
It was a good experience for me to judge firsthand the
kind of work our nurses are performing, and also it
seems to be useful in this medical care business to
be subjected to a little yourself from time to time,
just so you don't lose sympathy for those
who suffer all around you everyday!
Think of THEM- the suffering in
Haiti- next time you sit
in a hospital
waiting
room.

Rain, rain, rain!!!

Well, I know I just wrote, but I said we had a lady in labor at the clinic on the last post. . . It rained and rained last night so when we went to head down to check on her, we put our rain coats on. It was a wet muddy walk.

Ready to go, rain poncho, light, and water bottle. . .

About 10 or 15 minutes after we arrived the baby was born--a healthy little boy. Praise the Lord!

Ready to trek home again in the rain. By this time it was 1 am and we were feeling a little silly and tired!

Haiti Life

I couldn't resist showing you all another one of the babies born at clinic. After a few very traumatic births recently, we were very happy when the last baby was born vigorous and crying! We actually have a lady in labor at the clinic now so we might not get a lot of sleep tonight. That's the life of a nurse! :-) Better enjoy it now as I'm going to be in the States for a few weeks visiting--May 9th-June 7th. If the blog is a little silent, you'll know why.

I know this isn't clinic, but I'm not at the clinic all the time. :-) This is my friend Selma and I just visiting a bit on our porch.

Physician, Heal Thyself...

Apparently, a rock throwing incident caused this young gentleman to seek
refuge on the front porch. It wasn't too serious, just a little bandage job.

Andrew Klewin from WA is staying down here for a little over a month...
He's not here to work with the clinic, but does happen to be an EMT
so he enjoys getting in and helping with the medical stuff every now
and then.........

Unfortunately for Andy, his thumbnail got smashed by a piece of steel,
and that really "put the pressure on!!!!" He finally sought relief....

...With a needle heated on our propane stove. A very effective
pressure relief system for fingernails....

....Obviously! That's gross Andy, but glad you feel better!!! :)

New Baby

Left to right: Father, 12 year-old brother, mother, assistant holding baby.

This is the second of 2 births this week at clinic. In this picture they are almost ready to head for home. This lady came in around 6:30 or so in the morning. When we went down a little before clinic time, we decided we should stay. We hadn't eaten breakfast yet so Shana graciously sent us plates. We went into the adjoining room for a few minutes and ate really fast! After the other birth this week being traumatic, I felt a little traumatized already. I noticed pretty early on that we were again dealing with meconium staining--not a good sign. At one point, she was feeling pretty weary, and I told her that with God she could do it. She asked me to pray with her so I had a short prayer in Creole, sang a little, and prayed in English too. I didn't know if she was a Christian or not. Then for a while things just weren't moving along. I was again a bit worried. Clinic was about over by now, and Mis Leida poked her head in. She said she thought she might need to go out. That discouraged me because I wasn't sure that was necessary, but the people had heard her say it. Needless to say when I saw progress not too long after that I was glad. The baby was born, but didn't breathe or cry right way. I almost thought we had lost it, but praise God, He was faithful again. It was a healthy big boy--8 lbs 14 oz. The mother and father were so happy. The mother told me that she remembered how I had prayed with her. I asked her if she was a Christian, and she said not yet. She seemed to have some interest. I told her I'd pray for her. Most people just go on their way in a routine fashion, but this family was so happy and so grateful. The 12 year old brother held the baby and seemed pleased. The father could hardly stop smiling. It was special to be able to witness to them and see them so happy and thankful. About 1 1/2 hours after the birth, they were all ready to walk home!

Gravity Wins...

This young gentleman had a problem with gravity; apparently
gravity won. :( You guessed it- he fell out of the garden.

The nurses had a hard time telling exactly what was wrong with his arm;
there was obviously something not right, but they weren't sure whether
it was out of joint or broken. So we took him out to the hospital in Ti
Guave; there we were informed that, since they didn't have any current
at the time, it would be impossible to have an x-ray done that night.
We decided to run on out to Leogane to the Medicin San Frontier
hospital there. (Doctor's Without Borders). We dropped him off there
and stopped in the next day to check in on him........

As you can see, he also has an eye difficulty. He's had
that since he was two years old, apparently....
The next day, we found him sitting in a hospital bed
with a full arm cast. The arm was broken in two
separate places, but had gone back together well.
His parents told us that the doctor said he wanted
to check out the eye problem as well; they seemed
pretty happy about that!!! Pray that God's will be
done there....