My last week

As I write this I am trying to figure out what happened to June and July! Seriously, it seems like we were just purchasing our tickets and making plans to come down, and here I am packing and getting ready to return to the states tomorrow! Where did the time go?!?!?!?! I am honestly ready to get back home and into the swing of things. Haiti is awesome, hard, happy, emotional, healing, and painful. What a trip this summer serving God and His people. As I am returning to the States Luke is staying here for two more weeks to wrap things up and prepare the church for their new pastor. He will also have the opportunity to preach at two Haitian churches! One of those is the church that we would attended when we came down on short term missions trips, so for him to preach there ten years later is pretty neat! I wish I could be here to see that, but like in Texas, and my classroom calls.

This week has been full! I taught my last summer school classes and topped off my last day yesterday with a coke and chocolate chip cookie party! It was so much fun! There was also a team at Sherry's that consisted of 20 people! I am not so sure we would have done much work even if I planned anything :). Tuesday after teaching I rushed over to Beth's to help out with her child development class and baby clinic. I was so blessed to be able to see Danilla and Jean Paul again before I left :) We have not see Emmanuella yet, but planning on stopping by today.

Tasting the ingredients :)

Showing them what the cookies look like before we bake them!

Jean Paul and I
Mommy and Jean Paul

Mommy feeding Daniella! She is a great mom!

Yesterday Luke and I took five boys from a missionary who runs a boy's home to go swimming! We did this last year as well, and when they saw us at the beginning of the summer one of their first questions was "when are we going swimming?"..... :) We had a blast! Their smiles brighten up the world, and there were LOTS of smiles!

SMILE IF YOU LOVE SWIMMING :)

So that is about all the news from me. The chapel is going well for Luke. He is super busy all the time with pretty much everything you can think of! The wall is coming along slowly, but at least it is able to be worked on. We just received word from the Mayor that the other wall on another street needs to be moved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAHHHH!!!!! This has been such a crazy experience! Poor Luke and the Chapel....the Mayor did not mark the wall yet, so we are not too sure what needs to be done, but that is probably another $20,000 just for that wall! That would bring the total up to about $50,000 (that is not exact, I am just estimating)!!!!!! That is $50,000 that the chapel does not have! Please pray that God will send the money and this whole wall situation will go smoothly! The congregation has donated some bricks for the wall, and is getting together on Saturday to knock down the old wall. So it seems that they are trying to help as much as they can.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support! We could not do any of this without you!

Emmanuel la

Just a quick post here. I just brought a 3 year old girl to an infant rescue mission. She weighs 13 pounds and looks like she has been having seizures for quite some time. Her legs and arms are all twisted and tensed up. Her legs, feet, arms and hands were quite cold. Her lips were blue. By the providence of God there happened to be a team of American doctors here for a week doing a medical clinic up the street so I picked a couple of them up and brought them to look at the girl. They've given her some medicine and she will have a feeding tube put in place to begin giving her some nourishment. Her mother brought her to the grandmother yesterday morning, dropped her off and disappeared. Her grandmother brought her to Sherrie's, who sent her with some money and a driver to the hospital. The first hospital turned them away because she was too far gone. The second gave her a prescription for amoxicillin. As I was driving Becca to Sherries this morning the grandmother waved us down and we brought her to Sherrie's. Then I brought her to Dorothy's. At first Dorothy thought she wouldn't live through the day. She was beginning to respond to some medicine so we'll see.Her name is Emmanuela - which translated means "God is with us - here". Pray for her. We'll let you know what happens.

UPDATE By Becca:

The little girl I wrote about in yesterday's blog is Emmanuella! Like Luke said, one hospital turned her away and said the baby was going to die. One gave her some medicine that was not going to help her. When Luke brought her to the infant rescue missionary she also said she did not think Emmanuel la would live through the night! She is currently being cared for and sleeping last we knew. Please continue to pray for this little precious girl! Here are some pictures!

Emmanuel la being prayed over by her grandmother.

Emmanuel la: 3 years old, 13 pounds, said to not make it through the night...Please Pray!

Hard

Haiti is hard! Things seem to be going nonstop for us since we last posted. I am back to teaching summer school after the children having a week off, and I was even able to split some of my time with Beth! Teaching has been great. We have finished with science and moved on to Language. This week we focused on description words by describing ourselves and comparing our descriptive words with other things. Here is an example from one of them:

Jean

I am tall like a tree

I am dark like a brownie

I am smart like my teacher

I am angry like a dog with an empty belly

I am happy like a monkey
I am excited like a soccer player

Working hard!

This class was working on describing their partner!

It was so cool to see what the children were writing and what things they came up with to compare their descriptions! We are really having too much fun! Today we spent an hour playing sight word Bingo! Every time someone won it was their turn to call the words, but they had to use the word in a sentence. They thought that was great, and they said they felt like they were the teacher :) I love it!

Tuesday I went to Beth's and taught a class of moms about child development. It was really great and there were a ton of moms there! The mom and Daniella that I wrote a post about earlier were even there! I was so excited to see her come on her own! Daniella has gained a pound in a week, mom is breast feeding some and doing a great job, and when I picked her up I saw a smile and she smelled so good! Mom likes putting lotion on her :) I just cannot believe how great she is doing! Praise the Lord!

The moms come in and get their baby weighed

Then they are fed two hard boiled eggs, and a bowl of high protein enriched rice!

Tuesday morning before the class my buddy Jean Peter came with his mom, but this time he was sick! This little guy has already been brought back from death, made it through pneumonia, and now he came with the chicken pox!! He was COVERED! It was horrible. Mom said he has just been miserable and has not been eating, or anything. He runs fevers and the bumps keep coming up! She was doing a great job feeding, and we could tell that she had put some powder and stuff on him to help. We gave him some Tylenol and completely rubbed him down with calamine lotion! That was one pink baby when he left. I felt so bad for him. Other then that there was not anything else too horrible Tuesday. Mom's came into the clinic with their babies, but they needed birth control, and there was one with a cold, and another one with the chicken pox! It is going around like crazy!

Poor baby, he was out of it!

9 months old and already has gone through so much !

This morning was hard for Luke and I. Yesterday afternoon there were some gun shots in the area due to a robber, but all was fine and the police caught the robbers. It was intense at first, but we were perfectly safe where we were location wise, and the Lord is always with us. After being on alert that afternoon and night we awoke this morning to hear that there was a death of a church family member back in NH, and then we were scrambling to get going on time this morning. When I got to school and went upstairs there were four people circling a mom with a baby. I knew it was not good when I saw them, but when I looked at the mom she was in tears, and praying over her baby. I looked at the baby and noticed instantly that there was something physically handicapping her. Her hands and feet were tight and she was not relaxed. She was also having tremors. We could not figure it out, but there was that and she was literally starving! She has a cracker hanging out of her mouth, and mom said that is how she feeds her, but the baby was just there with the cracker hanging out of her mouth. I took it out and noticed more inside her mouth. This child cannot chew on her own! No wonder you can see her bones! Mom told us that her child is like this because of a spell casted on her by voodoo. I took the baby in my arms and noticed how she weighs hardly anything and that she had lots of teeth to be a baby. She was long, but the teeth told us she was not a baby. When we asked the mom said she was three!!!!! Unbelievable!!!! This three year old was so small and starving that I was able to fit a newborn diaper on her with no stretching at all!!!! I changed her because she did not have a lot of clothes on and the mom would not take her to the hospital naked. As I was putting her on the floor to change her, the mom laid her hands on the child's legs and prayed! I could not understand all of the prayer, but I know mom knew Jesus, and knew Him in her heart! We got her changed and Sherry paid for them to get to the hospital! No word of anything yet, just that they were able to get into the hospital and now just waiting for the doctor. Praise the Lord she got that far! So what a morning we have had.....some times Haiti is hard.

Milo

Just a quick post to say thanks to all of you who were praying for Milo and his housing situation. Milo was able to move into a new place with his family this past Friday. It has three rooms (one more than he had before) and is in the Nazon neighborhood. He was very happy when he told me about it this past Saturday morning.

I really appreciate Milo. This afternoon one of our neighbors was robbed and there was a good bit of shooting (warning shots fired into the air) in our neighborhood. Without blinking, Milo was on top of things. His shotgun was ready and no one was getting on to the church grounds without his permission. Normally, Milo just opens the gate all day for people, but when something is going wrong, its good to know he's around.

Thanks to those of you who helped him.

In His Time

In His time, in His time. He makes all things beautiful, in His time.
Lord, please show me every day, As You are teaching me Your way,
That You do just what You say, In Your time.
In Your time, in Your time, You make all things beautiful, in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring, May each song I have to sing
Be to You a lovely thing, In Your time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God makes everything beautiful in His time. This song and verse have been in my heart in mind for a few days now. I went to visit a missionary here who runs an infant rescue program. She is a wonderful lady with a heart for the Lord. She gets infants from around the country who are severely malnourished and some have actually died from starvation. The pictures that she had shown me are horrific! The only meat on these babies when she gets them is the skin covering their visible bones. She has a couple babies still way under weight and far from where they should be, but they are growing and eating everyday! This one afternoon I was with her and she was explaining to me each child's situation. She has a playroom where all the toddlers are, and we were playing with the children as she began to explain to me that a couple weeks ago she lost a toddler due to AIDS. This sparked a conversation due to one of the little guys having something on his eye (we thought was blood). It wasn't, but she began to explain to me that he had AIDS, so we needed to take the necessary precautions when dealing with him. She then went on to pick out another little boy who also has AIDS. I asked her why the little girl who had just recently passed away die. She was too little, and her body could not fight any more; AIDS killed her. I instantly wanted to cry! How horrible is it for a baby who did not make a choice to have AIDS have to deal with it until it kills him! Then I got angry...I just could not comprehend this situation. After playing with them I went home and prayed. I actually argued with God about the situation because I did not understand it! How could He, the God who says He loves us allow something so small, and fragile, and innocent have such a horrible disease? I did not receive an answer to that one, but I was calming down and thanked Him for the opportunity to meet two amazing little blessings!

Now I would be lying to you if I said everything was fine after that....it wasn't. I still wrestled about that situation for a couple days. Sunday in church we sang the hymn "In His Time"....that song really spoke to me, but I was not so sure why. Well I now know why! Before I explain that, let me tell you about what I did yesterday:

I was at different missionaries place (Beth McHoul). We were to do a child development class, and check on some babies. I was so excited because I would have endless babies to hold, and teach moms how to play and love their children! When I got their this morning there was a mom already waiting outside. Her little boys name was Jean Paul. He was so cute and nine months old. He was the size of a 4 month old, but super cute nonetheless! Two weeks ago he was said to have been on his death bed and only by a miracle alive today. He was starving and mom had no interest in him at all. Three American doctors swarmed Jean Paul, prayed and got some fluids in him, and now (besides being really underweight) you would not be able to tell! And as for the mom....she is an amazing mom! Beth said it is like a whole new person! She plays and kisses, and breastfeeds! Praise the Lord :) Beth loves it when other people pay attention to the their babies because it shows the mom's how to interact with their babies, but also bring attention to their babies and allows them to see how awesome they are! It was a neat experience!

Jean Paul

He is a happy little boy!

Checking the stats, he seems to have a cold and scabies

Mom had to learn to give him medicine so she could do it at home, and I had to rub some medicine on him.

He did so great! I think he like the touch :)

Putting on a clean diaper and showing mom how to play while changing him

He can't sit on his own yet, but he was eager to stand and take steps :)

LOOK WE ARE BALANCING :)

After that a mom who was in labor last Thursday came back to Beth to show her, her beautiful baby girl! The mom started labor at Beth's with the hope of delivering their, but her blood pressure was really high, and they had no choice but to send her to the hospital. She successfully birthed a baby girl who is PERFECT! The mom and dad were both at Beth's showing her off! That is not seen a lot here, and it was so great to see!

Beth checking the new mom's blood pressure

Taking measurements for the file! Everything looks great!

Here she is :)

After the child development class we were organizing the files in the office when another mom came in.... she was a young mom who has a baby girl named Daniella. Daniella is one month old tomorrow and weighs 5 pounds 11 ounces! She has lost weight since birth and the only thing she has had in her system for the last week or so is water! Her mom stopped producing milk, and she just did not seem interested in her baby. Beth and others that were with us instantly started the mom on a breast pump to stimulate her milk (with the hope that she will start to produce again). This is the only hope for Daniella! While they were going through that another lady and I took Daniella and hid in another room to try to get her to eat some formula. We had to feed her through a syringe and had to help her swallow. I have never seen anything like this before and again I was heart broken. I could not believe it! After we got about an ounce and a half in her she instantly feel asleep. She slept on me for about 20 minutes, and then she started to suck on her had, so we tried a little more....she then threw up everything that was in her stomach! It was so sad and all we could do was cry. We all had tears for we were told that it does not look good for her. Beth came and said all we can do is pray! We laid hands on Daniella and prayed to God! After we said Amen, we decided to try again. We got an ounce in her, and she did so much better!!! She had no problems swallowing, and kept it down! After I went to change her diaper and she pooped!!! Just a little but it was healthy looking, and Daniella was starting to actually move her arms and legs! It was awesome. Beth told the mom that she needed to return tomorrow so we could help her and if she doesn't then her baby would die because the baby needs more then water. The mom understood and even showed up today! She was smiling and seemed to be more into Daniella PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Daniella

Trying to feed her

Burping Daniella without squishing her!

Giving lots of kisses and physical touch

Exhausted from a full belly

So back to Ecclesiastes 3:11....God has everything planned out! Not everything so that we understand, but He knows and nothing surprises Him. He makes all things beautiful in His time! I do not know how anyone can see these things and still deny God. Even in the heart ache and deaths.....they are still beautiful in His time!

Teaching child development!

Moms and babies

UPDATE:

This morning about 8am Daniella and her mom came to the clinic. When she came the side of Daniella's face was swollen and mom said that Daniella's dad hit her! I guess he beats the mom and last night his Daniella! Then Beth asked her where all the formula went that we had given to her...she said Daniella drank it all (not likely). Beth said that Daniella looked like she was dead when she got to the clinic....Beth was not hopeful when she picked her up, but Praise the Lord she wasn't. They most likely sold the formula. Now mom and Daniella are at the boy's home for now where Daniella is receiving formula from a bottle which she is taking wonderfully! She is also drinking pedialite to get her hydrated. So far she looks awesome, and mom seems happier too! Please continue to pray for them and what to do next! I will be spending the day at the boy's home tomorrow so I will be able to be with Daniella all day :)

School+Science= FUN!!!

This week in school I have devoted it to science. We have done a few different experiments each day. I have two classes each day; the first 6th graders (12 of them) and the second 4th and 5th graders (13 of them). My 6th graders have been so much fun because I worked with them last year, so to be able to work with them again, and see how much they have learned and what they remember with me is really rewarding!

Each experiment we did really made my students excited, but there is one in particular that we were suppose to do three experiments that day (I had planned for three at least), but they got so excited that we only accomplished one :). One of the main ingredients in the cement they use here is lime. I asked them what it was in the cement that made their houses and walls stick together and they all said it was water. Well I poured water on their hands and asked them why their hands were not sticking together like glue, and they were stumped. We tried a couple of other ideas that they had, but those all failed too. We were stumped. I then explained the combination of the stuff in the cement and rocks that are combined here (by hand, they do not have mixing trucks here...I think they may have two, but way too expensive to rent), to make the blocks stick together. They were interested in more, so we went out to the street to collect some rocks to test them to see if they had the lime in it used to make the sticky stuff that holds their walls and houses together.

While out in the streets picking out the rocks we were going to use we had a lot of strange looks and other people coming up to us trying to figure out what we were doing. In a Haitian school this type of teaching is unheard of. It mostly consists of the students repeating everything the teacher says and memorizing their work. Once everyone found their rocks we went back into our classroom and wrote out our reports. Once those were finished we started the experiment! The rocks that fizzed when put in vinegar had lime in them; the ones that did not, do not have lime in them. We had a pretty even amount that did and did not. When their rocks started to fizz they got super excited and started to shout! They had never seen anything like that before. One of my students jumped up and started laughing and calling my name! I thought he got some vinegar in his eye, or drank it after I explained to them how bad it tasted! When I got to him he held his cup to my ear and asked if I could hear the fizz! They all started to listen to their cups and each others! This went on for about an hour! They were so excited! After their rocks stopped fizzing we took them out of the cups and noticed that what was left over was a glue like substance that helps stick the blocks together for their houses and walls! They could not believe it! It was amazing and a blessing to see them figure that out on their own, and see how it is all connected!

Roosevelt (with the hat) and Mackenson testing their rocks

Jean (pronounced John) is listening to his fizz!

Val (left) and Alex (right) are listening to each other's fizz :)

The cup of rocks, vinegar, and fizz!

These are my 4th and 5th graders! We did a study on plants and leaves to see how God created them to work. Here they are shading over leaves to get a closer look at the details of each leaf.

Working hard, and having fun!

My classroom :)

Nerline playing with play doe! They had so much fun :)

Caleb looking through his play doe

LUNCH!!! There is a feeding program here at the school and the children recieve breakfast and lunch!

Full belly and ready to go home :)