Beginnings of the Clinic Remodel!

NOTE: You can now track the current progress of the clinic rebuild at

www.clinicrebuild.org!

This week Steven Shankster from Indiana came down to help lay out and refine the design of the clinic project. He and Steve (our Steve) could be seen down at the clinic measuring, talking, and planning things out. After a few days of planning and gathering up a material list, he went out to Port yesterday, pricing out everything and getting bids. This is the first BIG step in our preparations for the clinic remodel, and we're really looking forward to the rest!!

A small cut...

Hello to all!

Last night we had a young man came to our gate with a cut on his finger... he had been working at the school up the mountain and apparently got a machete cut!

A nice slice! It was pretty deep, but very clean.

Anita sterilized the cut and surrounding area.

Butterfly bandages... the instrument of choice in a situation like this!
It wasn't bad enough for stitches, yet big enough a normal bandage wouldn't do. 

On goes the butterfly bandage!

After the butterfly bandage went a large standard bandage
and then some

All finished! He's going to be coming back to the clinic today
for a fresh wrap and bandage. He should be healed up in no time!

New Baby!!

Last night we had a lady come in that was in labor...

 It was around 9pm when we got the call.

Some of us trekked over and checked the situation out.

The family waited as Anita and Virginia assessed the situation...

They decided to come back later that night, and spent the evening there

until morning, when she finally had the baby around 9am.

It's a GIRL!!

Virginia cleaned the little one and bundled it up!

Virginia with the precious little bundle...

Here's Mommy and baby!

Everything went well, and they look very happy :)

Anita with the Mom and baby.

It was a long night, but it was worth it!!! :)

Update on Ernest

Many of you will remember Ernest, the boy with two broken legs, which we reported on earlier last week.

We have received some pictures of him in the hospital, after his operation.

It turned out he had multiple fractures and breaks on both legs and his left knee was crushed.

Here are the pictures!

Clinic woes

We apologize for the lack of updates coming your way! Our Internet has been having problems with the recent storms surging past, making it difficult for us to post things on here :)

But we now have fair weather, so let the updates go on!!

With the rain comes woe for the clinic. Excessive winds have driven more water inside than normal, soaking things that would ordinarily be ok. I walked in to snap some pictures today and was greeted by a muddy, watery and soupy mixture all over the floor. Anita was in an exam room checking out a patient, and Virginia was taking care of the pharmacy; both had to slop through the water and mud as they worked. A man and his boy were coming out of the exam room- but he had to carry the boy so he wouldn’t get all muddy and wet.

“This is pretty sad,” I was thinking, “Here we are, a medical clinic, and we have to deal with un-sanitary conditions like this each time it rains. People come here to get well, and we can’t provide them with a clean environment because of the roof being the way it is. I can’t wait until we can remodel this place!”

I walked into one of the hospital rooms, noticing a bucket and kivet on the floor and bed. There was water everywhere; on the floor, on the bed, on the table, dripping down the ceiling. It was all damp and wet. Nobody should have to stay in a room like this. The next room wasn’t any better; it too was soaked, as if someone had taken a garden hose and sprayed the whole thing down.

Returning to the hallway, I asked if I could start moping the water up.

“No,” answered Anita, “We usually mop the floor before we start clinic, but we were lacking staff here because of the rain. It will probably rain again soon, so we’d just have to mop it twice. We’ll wait until tomorrow, when the rain's gone.”

It is so unfortunate that everyone has to be subjected to the wet, damp, and unhealthy conditions here; not just the patients, but even more so our staff, who have to work in it all day long. Hopefully once we get everything lined up, we'll be able to start the much-needed remodel.

Imagine going to your family doctor, and having to wade through puddles of water and mud to have your ear checked out… what kind of an experience would that be for you? The Haitians are no less human than the rest of us...

Here are some pictures of the clinic after the rain today:

Just a side note

For those of you who might remember her, the lady that had the baby pictured below is Joatase. She is one we have talked about several times before; she's 22, and is one of the girls who comes to our Bible study sometimes. Do pray as we continue to minister to her. She continues to show some spiritual interest, but has obviously made some wrong decisions in life. After she was pregnant, she did get married. That was in May, but her and her husband are already separated. She's back living with her mom. It's so sad.

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"
:)