Clinic Cleaning

Greetings from the mountains of Haiti!! 

Many of you may wonder if we still exist. We do even though we have been very quiet. 

A little update on the past few weeks. We closed clinic December 20 and reopened January 9. It was wonderful to have a break from the daily clinic life and tackle some other much needed projects. 

The first project was the clinic. We scrubbed it from top to bottom chasing all those unwanted dust bunnies away. It was rewarding to see the floor change colour before our eyes as we scrubbed and scrubbed.

                          

The outside was more inviting after a few rakes and shovels went through. We had fun pulling weeds, stacking wood, and pressure washing the court yard. As a team it was rewarding to tackle some of the corners that had been neglected since Matthew had passed through. 

             

Thanks for all your support! 

                 ~ Alyssa 

P.S sorry this was not posted earlier due to Internet issues. 

Snapshots from our week

Hello everyone!

It's a great day to praise the Lord!

I'm attempting to give you some snapshots from our week at the clinic. Only, this post is more than a week overdue (thanks to our poor internet service) so the pictures aren't exactly 'fresh off the press'. And, since I wasn't overly inspired to write a lot of words, I threw together a scramble of pictures. I hope you can get a little picture of what clinic life is for our team...

This poor guy had a nasty abscess right in the middle of his forehead.

Here James and Alyssa are cleaning the junk out of it. 

a patient that Alyssa was following

A new burn patient that showed up at the end of clinic one day...

Unfortunately, it took several of us to hold her down while Alyssa cleaned her up.

- all cleaned up and bandaged!

A very sad case that broke our hearts... this lady was possessed and

did not care much for her baby. She tried running off and letting the

baby in our hands but showed up again.

Kayla with the child of the possessed lady...

Some of our staff went out to assess the situation and 

a relative was made responsible to make sure that

the baby is cared for.

This little guy decided that he wasn't going to waste any time

in showing his face and was on the floor screaming till the two of us made it down to clinic.

Here I am with one of the ladies that is on the prenatal program.

this guy had a nasty gash on his finger

This little guy had a serious burn on his face and across his torso

but his parents were very faithful in bringing him to get his bandages

changed and his wounds healed very quickly!

I'm very thankful for these six months that I've been able to work here in the clinic. But, the time is drawing close for me to make my departure. Haiti has stolen another chunk of my heart and the goodbyes tear me to pieces. Just when I feel like I might actually be making progress in language learning... when I feel like I could really throw myself into the prenatal program... and when heart-ties with the team have grown strong; then, I turn around and realize that this chapter of my life is about to close. [tears] But, I know that God was the one who lead me here and he's the one who is calling me home once again. So, I trust it all to him and follow where he leads.

Thank you all for your continued interest and support in the work. Our prayer is that we would be able to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people we come in contact with daily.

just a little one in his service,

Mis Rachel

Little Ones

Little faces, innocent eyes, each one grasps your heart. The cry of a newborn…. the heartbreak of a mother as she releases her little one to the arms of Jesus…the distressed cry of a child unable to breath…. the fear in a mother’s eyes as she tries to wake her lethargic child burning up with fever…. the love in a mother’s eyes as she holds her young child, who will never be able to live a normal life. All these experiences fill the heart. We know it is only because of God we can do what we do.

Then we see a father who loves and cares for his 13 month old who got severly burned. His love for his child goes beyond what I see in many fathers. We watched a mother as she patiently talked to her son. She desperately wanted him to know who she was. He had been beaten with a rock. After suffering a major concussion, he walked away with few injuries. PTL!

This past week has been a record breaker with doing almost 500 consultations that doesn’t include the regular people that come on the blood pressure program. The unusual thing was almost 50% of those consultations were children. Our pharmacy is not stocked to support this amount of children. We are scratching to keep the amount of medications suspensions/syrups we need to support this population. We pray God will provide. 

We are also excited to welcome James and Katie Erdly to our team, a brother and sister from PA who have come to serve for a time. Katie is our new pharmacist. James is our field man doing emergency runs and filling in where needed. 

Due to a lack of words as to how to describe the past week. Here are some pics to give you a glimpse into our lives.

The little burn boy I have been bandaging. Kayla with her little boy who had a concussion, and Rachel, Katie, and I with a new baby. 

James with one of the children and a few of the other many faces we saw this week. 

Thanks for your prayers we feel them. 

~Alyssa 

moments

Letters joined make words,

And words to books may grow,

As flake on flake, descending,

Forms an avalanche of snow.

A single utterance may good

Or evil thoughts inspire;

One little spark, enkindled,

May set a town on fire.

What volumes may be written

With little drops of ink!

How small a leak, unnoticed,

A mighty ship will sink!

A tiny insect’s labor

Makes the coral strand,

And mighty seas are girlded

With grains of golden sand…

Our life is made entirely

Of moments multiplied,

As little streamlets, joining,

Form the ocean’s tide.

Our hours and, aye, our months and years,

Are in small moments given:

They constitute our time below,

Eternity in Heaven.

--Unknown

the beauty of a rose

I was struck by the profoundness of this poem the other week when Donny read it in devotions. Little things can have a huge impact on the world! It could be just a smile to brighten someone's day... or a word fitly spoken to cheer someone on their way. Or on the flipside, we could ruin someone's day if we have a sour attitude. Yes, we have an influence on the people around us! Will I be able to look back at the end of the day with joy or sorrow because of my actions and attitudes to those my life has touched?? 

a sunset on the trail

Life in the clinic continues... some days are easy; and some, not so easy. The weather has changed. Cooler air brings an over abundance of children and adults in with coughs and colds and fevers.

Rachel & Ellamae

And time brings more change... Our dear faithful teammate, Mis Ellamae, is gone. She was a huge blessing to the patients and a very supportive coworker! But, the time came for her to leave. We bid adieu and she went back to the land of snow flurries and warm fuzzy blankets. "We miss you, Ellamae! God be with you and bless you as you follow His will and move on from here."

Kayla and Ellamae with big smiles after a stressful birth

I apologize for the silence on this blog for the last few weeks. Just so you know, we are still here and covet your prayers as we continue on in the work. =) 

~Rachel

Changes...

Clinic is back in progress after Hurricane Matthew passed through over two weeks ago. We still see and hear the affects everyday. As the weeks go by, more and more stories come out. My heart broke as a young girl sat at my desk telling me about her mother and baby sister's death during the hurricane. The mother had been very sick following the birth of her child. I had been following her very closely every 2-4 weeks. The week before the hurricane she had come in and was doing very well. I had told her I don't think she will have to come back many more times. I guess she will never have to come back. 

As I sit and listen to the stories of each one I can't thank God enough for His protection. Yes, people have got hurt. Lives have been lost, this poverty stricken country has had yet another "blow" BUT God is still good! He loves each one and longs to have the hearts of each one. He wants to strengthen the Christian and win the lost. My pray is hearts can be broken so He can use each one. 

Monday we bid good bye to the team who came to help clean up. We felt so blessed to be back in our house before they left. Thanks for coming everyone! 

We also bid goodbye to Hans after two years of service. He was or emergency man and did many behind the scene things for us at clinic. We will miss his help and insight. May God bless you as you adjust to a new normal. Thank you Hans! 

            Ellamae with her patients! 

Continue to pray for Haiti and the many needs! Pray God can work a work through us for Him! 

~ Mis Alyssa 

Hurricane Matthew

"A hurricane is coming! It's name is Matthew!". Such was the neighborhood talk leading up to the storm this week. Everyone wondered if the blans (whites) knew just how bad this one would be and just when it would arrive. Walking to clinic on Monday morning, we wondered what our day was going to be like. We thought either we would have a really big day, or else small. To our delight, it was the latter! We had 13 patients who braved the light rain and wind. By early afternoon the street was quiet. Everyone had gone to their houses to try to stay warm and dry. The Hurricane didn't start with all of its furry until around midnight on Monday night. Around that time, the wind and rain started to really pick up speed. I can't find the words that I want to describe to you what all happened in the next 24 hrs. Alyssa, Rachel and I mopped up water, and more water. The tin on the one corner of the house started to make a rather odd noise, so we alerted the guys and they soon risked the wind and rain to come try to see what was going on. They tried their best to fix the problem and hoped that it wouldn't get any worse. It was around 4 am when a sudden down pour of rain made water come into our living room and it was too much for us girls to keep up with all the mopping so we called for the guys to come help us. Andrew went outside to see if he could create a water way so it wouldn't flood the living room again. Hans told us girls that it wasn't safe for us to even go outside, because of all the flying debris. I wondered really how much more wind our house roof was going to take. If you watched close, it would go up and down with every fresh gust of wind-and it felt like the wind was only getting stronger. We waited for dawn to arrive so we could really see what it looked like outside. The sight that we saw was awful. It looked like a war zone. It looked like someone had taken a shredder or something over the whole valley-stripping it of its beauty. The wind and rain continued to pick up speed, and soon after 8 am the roof on the girls house couldn't take it any longer. The feeling of looking up and seeing the dark sky where there is supposed to be a roof over your head, isn't something I want to experience again. We ran and grabbed as many valuable things as we could, and ran to Donnys house since it was very unsafe for us to stay in the house. The next few hrs felt like 2 days. As the strong wind and rain continued to pound down on the house, we begged God to have mercy on us, and to calm the storm. Finally around 3pm it slowly started to slow down some. We soon ventured out of the house a little to investigate the damage. It was devastating. 

The clinic has been very slow since the Hurricane. Everyone is busy trying to get their places back in order. 

Thank you so much for praying for us, but please don't stop now. We need wisdom and direction on what is the best way to help these dear people.

Mis Ellamae

 Top: After we clean up at Clinic. Bottom left: was Monday morning. Bottom right on Wednesday afternoon.  

Top left: Girls House after the right side of the roof came off. Top right: inside the house. 

Bottom: during the Strom. 

Top left: Girls house. Top right: the coconut tree that fell over on to Donnys house.  Bottom: during the storm. 

The clinic

Bandages, babies, and more

“But, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the power may be of God, and not of us… We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair… For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” [excerpts from 2 Corinthians 4]

The above verses have become more meaningful to me in the last couple weeks. It’s so easy to focus on circumstances around us and forget the big picture. Sometimes I feel very much like just a jar of clay but, it’s amazing to know that even though I am just an earthen vessel, I can be filled with the power of God and then it’s His work and not my own. If I step back and look beyond the temporal and gaze into the eternal, it doesn’t really matter if things aren’t easy or if life seems difficult. The tough things are so small and fleeting in light of an eternal glory. 

Here's a picture of the patient we call 'Monkey'... You may remember him from one of my previous posts. He's been one of my faithful bandage ever since I came. His sores had been improving and getting smaller but I was not happy to see that they were looking worse again this week.

I enjoy taking care of my bandage patients and recently there have been a lot of them!! It can be difficult to know how to treat them. Sometimes what works well for one person doesn't work for the next. I was very happy this week when I could tell several of my patients that they were looking good enough that they didn't need to come back. It is such a joy to watch them improve!

Saturday, a week ago, Alyssa and I had a lady in labor at the clinic. Progress was slow... But, when she finally did have her baby we didn't get back down to clinic in time. Baby was laying on the floor patiently waiting for the nurses to arrive. She was an adorable girl with a head full of black hair. 

On Friday she came back to clinic with her mom for a check up. Her mom was delighted to see us and we were happy to see her! Here she is with Alyssa... Six days old! 

Thursday this week is when the dentist is supposed to be arriving. He comes from Germany and is planning to do dental work here for a week and a half or so. It will make us busier but I know the mountain people will be very glad to see him and have their teeth worked on. 

Here's a picture of the guys out making things ready for a big rain. I'm sure many of you have heard of hurricane Matthew. By the looks of it, we'll probably be getting a lot of rain and wind here soon. Please pray for our dear mountain people as this could potentially cause a lot of damage to their houses and make major washouts and landslides.

Thank you to each of you who pray for the work here! We appreciate your prayers very much as we continue to serve our Saviour in the mountains of Haiti! 

 

Just a jar of clay,

Rachel