Another new baby!!

Another little baby arrived at the clinic at about 4am this morning! The delivery was fairly smooth, with no major complications. Both Mother and Baby are doing great!

This baby is particularly special to us here. The mother was considering having an abortion and was about to go into town for the operation. Some here were able to talk with her, and convince her not to.

Since then, she went through the pregnancy and now has a precious little one. We are indeed grateful for the mercy of God!

Here he is!! Cute little fella, huh? :)
He weighed over 7 lbs! That's big for Haitian babies...

Here's mother and baby! They haven't named him yet,
so we'll just keep on calling him "little guy"
:)

Broken Legs!

Yesterday we received word from the clinic that there was a boy there with two badly broken legs.

We rushed over to check the situation out.

Turns out he had been transporting cement to a building project a few hours away, and was getting a bag off a stack, and the stack fell on him.

Thankfully it was only his legs that were broken!

He came in on a stretcher, covered with cement dust.

He was a very brave chap! He barely cried at all!

The one leg was fractured right in the middle of his shin.

The other was fractured under the knee joint.

We tried to decide to either send him into town,

or take care of it ourselves.

We quickly decided to put temporary casts on, and

take him into town, as soon as his parents arrived.

Michael and Anita, with the help of Jeriah, put the temporary 

casts on. His parents were going to be there in several hours

so we had lots of time...

All finished on the right leg!!

He got tired of people looking through the door and staring

at him, so he put his sheet over his head :)

Michael carefully turns the left leg around, making sure the cast

is positioned correctly.

Wrapping it all up!

Finished!

There was quite an audience the whole time! The people

were having quite the discussion about the whole situation.

They said "It's a good thing we brought him here, instead of the

Leaf Doctor! He would have just put leaves on it, and he would

not be able to walk the rest of his life!"

Once his parents arrived, several of us carried him out to the truck.

He was in quite a bit of pain, but bore it well.

The trip would end up taking about 3 hours.

We gave him a story book and some sunglasses

to shield his eyes from the burning sun.

Off they go!

He arrived at the hospital around 9pm last night!

Sounds like they will be able to do surgery on Tuesday, and he should recover well.

Update on Pneumonia Patient

Good day to you all once again.

Thank you for all your prayers for the elderly man who came in yesterday.

A few hours after he was admitted, his heart began to fail, and his breathing got even shorter.

Michael went out to check on him again, at 2pm, and realized that the man wasn't going to make it any longer. He died shortly after.

Michael said he was really bad to begin with. His conditions began Monday, but they didn't bring him in until Thursday. He had lots of fluid in lungs and an irregular heart beat. They treated him for the fluids and gave him antibiotics for the pneumonia; however, despite our best efforts, he passed away...

The family came in the evening to carry him back to their home.

Such are the harsh realities of life in a 3rd world country... In the States they may have been able to save his life, with much effort. But not so down here. We don't have the equipment or facilities enabling us to do such advanced operations. But God knows, and His plan will be accomplished.

Pray for the family. The eternal dwelling place of the elderly man has already been determined in the heavens, and unchangeable; but the family's has yet to be. Oh, that they would hear the voice of the Saviour and turn to Him for salvation!!

Here are some pictures of the family carrying the elderly man's body away...

Happening now...

Greetings to all in Jesus' name.

I was over at the clinic just a few minutes ago (about 11am, Haiti time) when they had an older man come in. His breathing was very labored, with short breaths. After checking his lungs with the stethoscope, Anita determined he has pneumonia. Michael also came over and confirmed it.

Apparently he had Cholera, and was in another CTC that is nearby (called Basis). He was discharged a week ago, but yesterday came down with this bad cough, shortness of breath, and such conditions. So, he came to the clinic.

They said it's a pretty bad case, so i thought i'd post some pictures here and ask for your prayers. Pray that he would be healed, and that if he isn't a Christian, that he would see the light of Christ through the nurses there.

At first they only had him on a nasal cannula system to deliver oxygen.
Later they switched to a full mask, called a non-rebreather mask,
because he kept breathing through his mouth, instead of his nose.

I'll be giving updates as we get info!

Stay tuned...

Extra help and a Cholera surviver visits!

Things continue to get busier at the Clinic!

Jonathan and Lisa Widowski have come down to help with the CTC, but in their off time, they've come over here to help with various things! The extra help is nice, considering the amount of people we've had coming through recently!

The benches are packed! 

People come from far away for care here;

some have come as far as 15 hour walk! 

 The hallway is overly crowded as people come in, 

and wait at the pharmacy at the same time.

 Jonathan and Lisa checking blood pressure outside!

The newly-wed couple seem to be enjoying themselves :)

What's this? Is it high, or low? 

Hmmm...

:) 

Keeping track of the patients' numbers inside!

Jonathan in action! He was getting really 

good at it by the end of his time there!

This man had bad case of Cholera. He survived the sickness, 

but he said he is having a hard time recovering strength.

Anita checked him for pneumonia after asking him a few questions.

She told him take a deep breath, giving him an example.

Apparently he didn't get it, and started

breathing sharp, short breaths through his nose!

Eventually, she determined he didn't have pneumonia :)

Fre Adolph checks people in, weighs them, and keeps things in order

until people are seen my the nurses.

A new baby!

Greetings in Jesus' name!

We had another birth at the clinic the other night!

The labor was somewhat difficult, and we had to put the mother on oxygen towards the end of the labor. When the baby was born, he wasn't breathing, so we administrated CPR and oxygen, and kept him on it through the night. In the morning, he was doing much better, and we were able to take him off the oxygen and send them home!

It was a real blessing to have everything turn out well :)

 Here's the little guy, the night he was born, on oxygen.

A precious bundle! The little guy weighed 8lbs 14oz... Quite the little tub!

Anita, her sister Lisa, and her husband Jonathan were there to deliver the baby.

Here he is, next morning, waving for the camera :)

Is he smiling??

The happy parents! The left with smiles on their faces, 

and the father told us he was "Very happy!"

-------

Many of you probably remember, back in July, we had another baby put on oxygen. The full story is here if you want a refresher.

The parents came back the other day, and we got some pictures of the little guy. He's grown up a lot!

It's such a miracle! What a blessing to see all our work coming to fruition in these little lives. It makes the long days, late nights, early mornings, much more rewarding... To God be the glory!

Farewell to Thea...

Yesterday we said goodbye to Thea... She is going back to the States for a furlough. We will miss her terribly while she's gone... at the Clinic, at the CTC, around the compound, during meals... she was always a willing helper, and a joy to be around.

Lisa says by as Thea prepares to go...

Steve gets ready to head out with his passengers.

Shana has some last words with Steve...

There they go! So long, farewell!

Pray that with Thea going back for a season, we would be able to fill in the gap she leaves. God has been very good to us so far, and we trust He'll continue to make it so!