Haiti

Please check out this video of Haiti, produced by Jordan Yutzy.

Tuesday at Joab's house

Tuesday, bright and early the men began their work, by 4:00, all the walls were put up and the house looked nearly finished. It was such a blessing to see people willing to work and being cheerful even in the heat!!


The house is small,but very nice for someone who has nothing!!


Hannah went and got the guys drinks to encourage them :-)


Josiah, wanting to be part of the project too!!

Pays Pouri Road Part 2
With More Power


They got Bulldozer to come and it a nice one

making a path thought the river bed

I think the whole village of Le Woch came to see and watch and for once it wasn't to look at the white people

pretty sure the bulldozer did the work in two hours that would of took 100 people with picks and shovels 2 weeks

Summer Bible School

Hola from the DR...the other part of the IFM mission. Just a quick shoutout to all you prayer warriors out there. This week, Thursday-Saturday we'll be having our summer Bible school here in Jimani. Expected attendance: 100!!! Those of you who are familiar with our small church know this will be stretching for us but we are expecting assistance from a neighbouring congregation and we know God is able to accomplish the impossible and make this VBS a success! This week is busy with handing out invitations, cleaning the church, both inside and out, planning Bible lessons, and organizing games.
Please pray!!!

The beginnings of Joab's house

A young guy from church is getting married next Sat. He basically has nothing to start married life. Some of the church people asked Mike about helping to get a small house to live in. Sat. morning Mike and Lidios went to do some ground work for the house.

Some of the Haitians helping clear the property for the site of the house

Getting ready for the foundation

Josiah watching his daddy work

A Day off the compound!

I thought I would go along for the morning to a couple villages weighing children and giving immunizations but it turned out to be an all day thing! We started off at the projects,government funded housing,drove through announcing for all mothers with babies and young children to come to the church! We were "looking" for malnourished children who we could later help.One young mother already had two children and looked like she was expecting her third! Many of the babies had orange hair,sign of malnourishment,and were extremely under weight!Once we were finished there we drove into the DR and went to two villages across the lake from us.The road was more like a cow path and at times some guys were going ahead of us with machetes clearing a path!We did have a flat tire at the last village but the guys changed it.Oh it was hard for me to see these little children getting poked and then just screaming!! While the babies were getting weighed we had fun playing with the children and holding the ones that weren't frightened by the whites=)!Finished up and then started homeward along the lake. All was going well when it happened!! The back tire of the ambulance sunk right in the ground and oh my was it in far!! So we had no shovels,no gravel and no one to pull us out! The guys talked and discussed what could be done realizing that we had to go through customs before they closed at 6:00 p.m. and it was 4:30! Should we call Mike and get him to come with the canoe to fetch the ones that didn't want to stay? After trying to push a few times and realizing it was moving some guys walked back to the last village and got more guys and rocks. In the mean time Ezekiel started digging away with his hands! After quite awhile we had about 15 guys together and they had a plan!They dug all around the tire and then LIFTED the van while they put rocks underneath! Once they got a good foundation they all pushed and Hallelujah they got that van out! Now we just had a few min. to get to the border so Ezekiel drove like everything dodging pot holes and all! Phew, we made it thru the border just in time like by 5:57 p.m.! Thanks to Joanna who had a lovely supper waiting for us all!

Giving shots in the ambulance out of the sun!

Waiting in line to give their names

These little girls quickly became my friends!

"Hold still while you get weighed!"

Yes,we were seriously stuck!

quick peek at clinic

Michel, one of our 3 lab girls is hard at work.Here she is doing 'Globules Blanc', which is checking white blood counts in blood tests. We had lots of patients who needed testing today & a very high percentage of the patients needed medicine for typhoid.

Little Hosanna Grace in her cute little doll clothes that are still a tad too big!

Today was a busy day at clinic again. Mary Ann brought little Hosanna Grace down to weigh her. Generally she causes quite a ruckus at the clinic because everyone marvels over the teeniest baby they have ever seen!!! Surprisingly enough it is only the nurses looking on today. Usually this little room is packed with onlookers as the baby is unwrapped & weighed!!

Little Hosanna weighed in at 2lbs. 4 oz. today compared to the 1lb. 10 oz. she weighed 2 weeks ago.

Pays Pouri Road

Amazing! The people from Pays Pouri decide to build the road by hand!

Pays Pouri, Haiti is only accessible by foot. Pays Pouri is a large mountain area just south of Fond Parisien. It is a strenuous 2 hour hike up the steep mountain trail to the nearer sections of Pays Pouri and up to 5 hour hike to the farther back sections.

In the video, you see Pays Pouri farmers working together to build the road by hand. No one is paying them for this, only the county commissioner provides a meal for the day.

If you would like to help build the road to Pays Pouri, there are several ways that they would like your help. #1 They need funds to buy food for the workdays. #2 They need funds to buy a few more picks and shovels.

Since there are elections this fall, the deputy (similar to a representative) has promised a bulldozer to help with the road. The bulldozer belongs to the public works department of the government, but the government will not be paying the operator or the fuel. The Pays Pouri people are looking for sponsors to buy fuel and pay the operator.

A road to Pays Pouri would benefit these poor mountain people very much. It would provide a better way to get their produce to market, thus raising the value of the produce in that area. It would encourage medical missions to start health care centers in these mountain areas. And it would provide a way to take people with medical emergencies down to the hospital.

Please mark your donations "Pays Pouri Road" if you would like to help with building the road to Pays Pouri.

GOING ON THE SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO THE BEACH
the school has an end of the school year party and they invited me to go along

THERE'S ME IN FRONT OF THE TRANSPORTATION OR TAPTAP

The lunch is the most important part in the day the kids got up at like 3 or 4 in the morning to make there lunch for the day

and just like almost every were they wanted to get the picture taken with the white

this trip very fun and such a culture learning opportunity but something that i was glad it was over when it was over

Local volunteers (l-r; Zopope, Daphka, Tiboutson, Djeff) bag nutritious corn soy flour to give to malnourished children.

Nerlange and Fernand volunteer in the used clothes distribution room. Thanks to the Christian thrift store in Daviess County, IN for donating the used clothes.

Lovena Dor is Lifet's daughter (See post on July 5). She broke her leg yesterday at 5:00 pm. Someone pushed her while she was filling her water bucket. This morning, her mom came to see what we could do. Ezekiel went with the ambulance up the the mountain road to the little town of Le Woch to get her. Notice how swelled up her leg and knee are. Someone had wrapped it in some rags soaked in rum. They had it well splinted. Thankfully the circulation was not cut off, as it was in Reynald's case. I do not think she would have been taken to the hospital at all if we wouldn't have went to get her and taken her ouselves. Please mark your donations "Medical Relief" to help with Lovena Dor's medical expenses. Thank you!!

Medical Relief, Vaccination, Malnutrition, and Concrete

Medical Relief

Ti-Louis was in an accident. As he was getting on a tap/tap, someone blocked the doorway. As he was half on and half off, the tap/tap took off. In the process, Ti-Louis was knocked unconscious and broke his leg. The tap/tap diver took Ti-Louis to the temporary Cuban hospital in Croix-des-Bouquet. They took good care of him.
Now Ti-Louis needs to get his cast taken off, have the leg cleaned, and possibly put another cast on. Due to political pressure, the Cubans had to shut down their temporary hospital. They referred him to Hospital La Paix (Delma 33). There are some Cuban doctors working in this hospital. Unfortunately, on Thursday, when Ray took him to Hospital La Paix, the doctors did not have the equipment to remove the cast, or casting materials to recast it.
Ti-Louis has a wife and 5 children. He did not have money saved up to take him through a crisis like this. He does not have health insurance. This is a situation that IFM can help with. We gave the family a package of food. We will be taking Ti-Louis to his appointments, and paying for his medical care. If you would like to help Ti-Louis or situations similar to this, please specify that your donations are for "Medical Relief".


Vaccinations, Health Teachings, and Malnutrition:
Yesterday, our nurses and community health agents went to the little village across the lake. Many of these people are very poor, and do not realize the importance of vaccinations, and good health practices. We were able to provide health teachings and vaccinations for these people. Our staff also weighed the children, looking for malnutrition. There are a number of severally malnourished children in this little village. We are planning to provide special nutritional products for these children. If you would like to help us with the costs of disease prevention and community health teachings, or would like to help the malnurished children, please indicate this on your donation.


Concrete


By the school, there is a concrete pad where the children play basketball and practice soccer. A couple weeks ago, a couple of the young guys came to me, asking for cement to fix a few holes in the pad and enlarge the pad. I agreed, and for the past 2 Saturdays, they have been working at it. I do not think that any of them have much experince with concrete. It is interesting watching them learn. In the above picture, my wife allowed Silveson to make spaggetti for the boys to eat. These boys are from very poor homes, and they cannot count on finding food at their house.

Nan Plezi going away party for Johns

The people from the Nan Plezi Bible Study had a going away party for John.

John giving his final sermon.

I took Josiah and Nic back on the motorcycle. I do not think that the Nan Plezi children have seen much of white children. Notice the crowd that came to check them out.

Special Singing.

Lots of people came to the party.

Here we are leaving to back to Nan Plezi.

July 6, 2010

The 'Little' Things

The morning starts as usual. Eating breakfast... dishes... feeding hungry boys... and laundry! Then... Joanna sees another lady coming down the lane carrying a little baby!
"Hmm...wonder what she needs!" we both think. Joanna greets the lady and peeks into the blankets.
"Look" she gasps "She is so tiny!" I go to investigate and expect to see a newborn, but am shocked to see a premie. The lady says the baby is 3 days old, but is 3months early! I have never seen such a tiny head


This little red outfit would fit a newborn quite well... but this tiny girl is lost in it!

Hot Day... Cold Shakes... Happy Boys!!!

After these two boys carried out the trash... I surprised them with a cold banana shake! Their happy smiles are so worth it!

And i am reminded that it is the little things that make the day beautiful!

Monday morning at the mission

This morning, along with everything else to do, we had 5 women come asking for help.

Sandren has 7 children, and her husband died. She is from Thomazeau. Her house by the lake has been flooded and she has no place to live. For now, we were able to give her some food and some used clothes. Her story didn't quite fit together, but she is obviously very needy.

Derimen and her 4 year old boy Edward are from Nan Plezi. Deriman says that her husband is handicapped and can't work. She has been talking to us for quite some time, asking us to put her boy in the children's home. We are not exactly sure if her husband is actually handicapped, because once when I was making an appointment to go to her house, he wouldn't have been home because he was out tending the animals. This morning though, Edward was sick, so we sent him to see the doctor for free.

Lifet Fanfan lives in the poor village across the lake. She has 5 children and the children's dad was killed (gunshot). She was living in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake. Her house collasped in the one of the major aftershocks from the earthquake. She lost all of her belongings. One of her children was was injured and sent to the hospital in Jimani, DR. It was there that she met Yaya who is originally from Peyi Pouri. Yaya is letting Lifet and her children stay with her in her thatch hut. Even though Lifet has lots of needs, her main concern is to redo the children's birth certificate's that were lost in the earthquake.

Sonita Neristan has 2 children. She says that the children's dad was killed in the earthquake. Unfortanely she was unable to give me any names and phone numbers of friends that could verify that her children's dad had died in the earthquake.

Mirlande is 20 years old and 7 months pregnant. Her family from Fond Verrettes sent her to Port-au-Prince to go to school. One of the other classmates got her pregnant and then died in the earthquake. The person with whom she was living here in Fond Parisien, has kicked her out. Either she is ashamed to go back to her family, or her family doesn't have resources to take care of her. Most likely her family won't take her back because she wasted her education by getting pregnant.

The most difficult aspect of listening to these stories, is that I have no idea if there is any truth to any of them, but at the same time knowing that they are very needy.Ideally we would verify there stories to see if they qualify for help. And then the question is, "How do you really help?" We don't have the desire or funds to put them on a welfare type program. But really, "How can a single mom provide for her children in a country where there is very few jobs?"

July 3, 2010

This is Clint and Brenda's house.

Today Shea took Kris, Melanie, Julie, and Janelle on a bumpy ride up to Solyet to visit Clint and Brenda. It was about an hour ride up in the mountains. Along the way we spotted many people washing their clothes in the river. It was inspiring to see how great Clint & Brenda's attitudes were considering how little they had to live with.

A day in Haiti

Today we worked at the hospital, Shea and some of the girls were painting, I laid some tile, and Ray worked with a Haitian crew putting in a foundation for the containers that we bought.

Blue Ridge worked at putting in a hand pump in the well at Nan Plezi.

At 5:45pm, John called to tell me that the road is blocked and they can't come home. The Yutzy had been in Port-au-Prince buying groceries, food to distribute, and picking up Matt and Alicia at the airport (Matt and Alicia Newcomer are coming to take the Yutzy place at the children's home).

In the middle of a land dispute, in which the local people of Ganthier have already burned a road grader, a bulldozer, a tractor-trailer, and a payloader; they now blocked the main international highway from DR to Haiti. At gunpoint they had several truckers park their semis cross ways in the road and then unhook, leaving the trailors blocking the road. They also piled a huge pile of rocks across too, completely blocking the roadway.

There is some land in Ganthier that does not have papers, but has been claimed and squatted on by local people. Apparently some rich people are claiming it; or either they bought it from a government official. The community is upset, because they believe that they, the local population, should get the land, not some rich business man.