Live Your Life for the Benefit of Others

Thanking God for yet another good week at clinic and for more meds. God is good.

 Things have been pretty low key for the most part around here.(besides the longer days at clinic with normal consultations and a bit of odd cases. ) We had one birth last week,but it had been a good couple of weeks before that  that we had one.

(Katie,baby,Kayla, Autumn and the Pt. Midwife)

Please excuse our unprofessionalism in this pic;) It was seven o'clock Thursdays evening when we got a nock on the gate. Sure enough,it was a lady on labor.(since it had been so long we were expecting it.) So Kayla,Autumn and I quickly ran to clinic to see what the status was on this lady. She was a first time mom and hardly in the first stages of labor. As we were down at clinic and just had decided we were going to send the lady back home,  it began to pour down heavy rain. So we sat up a bed in the hospital room for our patient and her husband  and decided they could stay the night and we would just make a quick dash for the house in the rain since it didn't look like it was going  to stop any time soon. We had almost reached our gate to our compound when we heard our names called out. "Mis Mis." We turned and looked to see yet a other laboring lady coming down the trail on a cot drenched from the rain. So we turned back around and headed straight back to clinic. By the time we got there,not only was the patient drenched from the rain,but so were we and the rest of the crowd that brought the patient(which meant for a really wet, sloppy,slippery clinic floor.    At first there was a bit of a concern about  the baby because of some meconium staining in the amniotic fluid.  But within an hour, a  baby boy was born! He didn't want to cry for a while after birth but he pinked right up and seemed to have been doing really well. 

The next morning(Friday) the baby was showing signs of maybe what seemed like seizures. So we had him sent out to a hospital a couple of hours away. Please pray for him when you think of him. His name is James. We have yet to hear how he is doing as of now. 

(Sharon,Autumn)

This dear friend of ours used to come to clinic for a bandage for his skin cancer. But since there wasn't anything we could do to make it better,we started having him come back every week for bandage supplies and "someone else was supposed to be doing the  bandages for him". On Tuesdays he came back to clinic with a complaint about his wound, so we decided we could bandage it for him this time. As I pulled the bandage back to remove it, I couldn't help but gasp at what I saw. The wound  was full of maggots crawling every Where!

Bless dear Autumn and Sharon for stamaching it up and pulling out each individual maggot from the wound. They didn't think to count them but they estimated over a hundred that they removed. 

Doc, James and Kayla performing a minor surgery on a young boy who had fallen on his hand a few days prior to this and had gotten the slightest tiniest cut that caused a major infection in his whole right hand. 

That brings me to the end of yet another blog. 

We can't say it enough. But thank you so much for your continual prayer and support. Please keep it up. 

Mis* Katie 

Sufficient Grace

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

-2 Cor. 12:9

Our busy days here have continued... I believe we had over 1,600 people in the month of May. It is enjoyable to see the clinic become a beehive of activity every day as each person does their job and things flow smoothly. But there are also frustrating moments like when we are really low on meds because of the many extra patients this month. Or when there is another screaming child who just won't cooperate and insists on letting the whole world know that she isn't happy, as we try to remove a bean from her ear. (This seems to be a common occurrence the last while, as a lot of people have harvested their bean crop recently.) At times there is nothing to do but pray for the grace to keep going, to keep smiling, keep loving, when the strength to do that certainly isn't in me. But God is very faithful, and has kept and helped us through each of these busy days...and in the middle of each crazy day, we can look up, and find His grace sufficient... it never runs out, no matter how many various needs are demanding our attention. (I'll probably need to remind myself of this 10 times today. ;)) At the end of the day, God is very good...all the time!

Here are a few glimpses at recent patients and moments...

Recently Dr. Felix and James removed a cyst from a man's leg. It was a nearly a minor surgery.

I'd like you to meet this little 4 year old friend of mine. She has been living at the clinic for several weeks now, as she is being treated for some severe burns. She fell in a cooking fire, and her clothes caught fire... she had severe burns on her back and one arm when she came to clinic. Sometimes it has seemed like we are making slow progress, but with daily care the burns are healing and it is fun to watch them close up, one by one. She only has one small spot left on her arm to finish closing up and then she will be going home. By now we are good friends, and it has been a joy getting to interact with her and her parents these past weeks. I'll never forget her...and pray that we have been able to encourage and influence her family for the Lord during these past several weeks. (Sorry for the photo quality...this is what happens when you Whatsapp and crop photos...but I haven't the time to do it all correctly.)

This lady had her baby at our clinic recently... they came back one day for a check up, and both mom and baby are doing well. This lady is a daughter of Madame Ossinee, for anyone who has been here and knows her.

Here is Autumn, with the baby. Autumn arrived last week and is our newest clinic staff member. She is settling in well and learning her new job here. I'm sure you'll be hearing from her later, so I'll let further introduction to her. =)

We get to meet some of the most precious children at clinic... and some of them are just so perfectly squishable!

This guy had a nasty cut on his hand and needed some stitches.... but he didn't act very adult-like about the pain as Katie tried to help him.

His yowling brought a nice little crowd of onlookers. =)

Please keep praying for us as we carry on here, and thank you for faithfully praying...it is our lifeline!!

-Mis Sharon

Anpil Moun!! (Lots of People)

Wow!!!! Another week has just went by in what feels like just a blink of an eye!! Things here at the clinic have gone from slow pace (40 people days) to having three days this week with more then 100 people at clinic!! And the days seem to be continuously growing! And on top of all that....we are currently short staffed because Mis Alyssa left two weeks ago! Thankfully Sharon's sister was here for a visit...And was able to fill in and help with blood pressures etc.

So here are a few pics of our last week at clinic!!

Just doing another bandage! This poor guy has been coming faithfully for about 4 months without much change in his wound!!

This young 15 year boy old broke his femur late Wednesday afternoon! usually we would fly a patient like this! But due to  bad weather we had to go by ground!!

This man came in last Friday! and said that a tree had fallen on his leg!! He said it had happened the Monday before.  He had already gotten a bad case of cellulitis and if he would have waited much longer....he probably would have lost his leg!

He is doing much better now.

So that's just a few pics of our last week!! 

Please continue to pray for for us as we continue Gods work in the mountains of Haiti!

                                                                                          ~James

Good Bye Haiti!!

Haiti… It is hard to say goodbye to a place that you have come to love so much. A place that is rooted deep in the heart and would tear my heart apart if completely taken out. When I came to Haiti a little over 2 years ago, I never knew you could love a place so much. A place that you experience life and death, sleeplessness nights, spiritual battles, loving until you break, feeling like you can’t contain one more experience, but these are the experiences that God can use us the most. When I can come to the place where it is all about God and nothing is for my own gain, He can use me. He can use all of us!!

As I bid goodbye to Haiti this past week, I not only said goodbye to my team but also good friends. As I leave the culture, my home, and life for the past two years it hurts BUT… I am embarking a new adventure returning to life in Canada. You can pray for me as I make these adjustments.

Here are a few pics from the past week…. 

A young man who had a tree fall on his head. He can be thankful to be alive!!

A miracle baby that made her appearance one evening with her strong will to live she survived. 

Another miracle woman that God granted complete healing to. 

We had a wonderful visit with these ladies. 

Thanks for all your prayers and support. To those who are striving on the field everyday. You do a great job!! Remember that God is on your side!

~ Mis Alyssa 

Visiting, etc...

Here is a glimpse of our week through pictures.... 

Alyssa and I went to visit our "mother", she had some delicious food for us!

This tiny little munchin weighs only around 5.5 lbs, and  is 2 months old. Nursing fine but not gaining weight.... not sure of the problem. Started with parasite treatment and vitamins and an appointment to return.

Mis Sharon went to visit one of her young friends and spent  the afternoon with all these sweet faces.

Eating Limos and chatting at Fre Nores' house

"Dr. Alyssa" helped with the final touches of removing a cyst from this lady's scalp.

Eating fish at Pastor Adolf's

Cuts and Cholera

Our days at clinic have recently been filled with quite a variety of things. We have continued to see cholera the past several weeks as heavy rains continued to fall nearly every day. Thankfully we seem to have a momentary break in the cholera cases the last couple days. But we have had a lot of people showing up with the complaint of diarrhea, and/or vomiting. Not all of them have cholera....some are just worried they do, and then it's our job to figure out the truth and treat accordingly. 

We also had two trips out to Ti-Guave with very ill patients who needed to be transferred to the hospital, this past week. That is always a rough trip on the rugged trail, but thankfully things went smoothly both times. 

One day after clinic this past week, we made good use of a bit of sunshine, and took our opportunity to go visit some people. We still haven't figured out how the Haitian children always win at Dominos, but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with people outside of the clinic. 

Another afternoon all of us clinic staff were able to go visit a lady named Rose. Back in November Rose delivered her first baby at our clinic, but the baby died a few days later after a very traumatic birth. Thankfully Rose is doing very well today, and we had a delightful visit at her house. Times like this are refreshing and encouraging, seeing people thrive who have been through very intense and even life-threatening situations at our clinic. May God get all the glory!

This was during our visit at Rose's house. The little girl was shy, and so precious!

These children kept us company for an afternoon, and beat us at Dominos repeatedly....they can be full of mischief, but are lovable, and often come in to clinic with their little scrapes and cuts, for a bandaid!

This little lady came one day for a bandage, along with one of our regular bandage patients who is a dear friend of ours. 

This cute little guy was shy and didn't want to smile.... he was at clinic this week for a visit with Mis Kayla....he loves her!

Mis Katie did this very nice stitch job early one Saturday morning. 

A familiar scene the last while.... a cholera patient just arrived, on a cot.

The group of us that went to visit Rose.

That's all I have this time....thanks for praying for the work here, and please keep it up! =)

-Mis Sharon

Med Shopping

So jumping into this next blog! I guess for lack of other things to talk about! I will try and describe a meds shopping trip!!

So this last time I went out..... I left the house at 4:30am and headed for Ti Goave which takes approx 1 1/2 From Where we live in the mountains! Once in Ti Goave I would head down the coast to Port au Prince which is another 2 hr. When we get there we have about 5 stops to make at various Pharmacies, and stores! About 4 Pharmacies and then the grocery store for Clorox and various other cleaning supplies! And sometimes we need oxygen for the clinic and that can add time on the trip! Or if we need IV fluids I have to go to a pharmacy on the other side of town! And that can add about 1 1/2hr.   If things go well we can be done and ready to head home by 1:00 or 2:00pm. And the trip back takes about 4 1/2 hrs!

But last time we hit traffic in Port! And didn't get home till about 8;00pm

So This trip is done once a month! And we also get meds from Christian  Aid Ministries (C.A.M) And they bring the meds to Ti Goave so i don't have to go so far for them!

So as far as how much meds we use in a month can change depending on how many people we see that month! But to sum it up we get roughly two Land Cruiser loads a month!!

This would be for example.....What
 we consider "One Load"

So you can pray for us as we continue to make these trips to town! The roads are dangerous....And we have been having lots of rain as of late! The trails are vary muddy! And lots of things can happen!

So till next time thanks for your prayers and support!!

                                                                                           James.