Cholera Outbreak in Marazo, Haiti

As the rainy season starts, cholera infection rates skyrocket.

Tonight we have twenty-seven patients in the Cholera Treatment Center. There is an out break in Marazo, a mountain area southwest of Fond Parisien. At least five people have died there without making it down from the mountain. It takes from 3 to 5 hours hiking down the mountain and then another 45 minutes in the ambulance to get to our cholera treatment center from Marazo.

This is poster taped to the wall in the cholera treatment center, giving instructions in Creole about how to protect yourself from cholera.

Nurse Jouveline is charting at the nurses station. Jouveline got married just two weeks ago.

Nurse Wandith checks a patients IV catheter.

Roofing with Concrete

Ribon and Tanya (Voltaire's daughter) are building a house. They are waiting to get married until they have their house ready. Today they poured the concrete roof. A lot of the church people came out to help.

The materials are loaded into the mixer by hand. The concrete is dumped into a trough made with blocks on the ground. Then it is bucketed up onto the roof by hand.

This concrete roof is very solid with lots of rebar, good river sand, crushed gravel, and the right amount of cement.

Here is a video of the operation.

A "GOOD FRIDAY"

All the staff went to Park Natural for a BBQ picnic, and some R & R. There is even a playground with real swings, a merry-go-round & a most interesting slide:)

Here, the little kids are having lots of fun on the swing set, and.......

The big kids are having even more fun on the merry-go-round:)

How's your balancing & rolling skills, Shea??

Chef Mike grills up some delicious burgers...

While the ladies spread the table with other yummy complimentary foods!!

Daphka & Wilson meander down the path to the lake.

The ladies enjoy the beautiful breeze under this thatch-roof pavilion....

while a bunch of us splash in the water.

Three little munchkins riding the waves.

A beautiful sunset.. God's perfect end to a wonderful day!!

Won't you pray for me???

Did you pray for me??
Come sit with me.
Sing a song, please!!
I like your sandals, may I have them???
The list goes on & on & on. All this & more- questions, demands, pleading faces, sad , hurt , tired & hopeless,but yet rambunctious, & in desperate love of my Jesus!
Today I once more had the privilege to go to the Government Housing Projects for the Wednesday,afternoon Bible Class. When I first come I go to their houses & ask them to come & before long a few shy, but eager faces came peeking in at the school room doors, where we have our class. However it never takes long to over come the shyness & shortly after we begin to sing & the attendance has increased ,they are a bouncing up & down & it is now my challenge to try to maintain order:) Before long my lap is piled with children as they all strain to get a look at the Bible story book I have in my hand. They love these stories & seem to know them fairly well.
Sometimes it seems they must learn nothing & their minds stray far from the topics, yet I believe most important to them is the time I spent. Was I patient?? Even when their chatter was endless? Maybe today it doesn't matter so much if they knew every detail but instead that we had time to chat. Indeed importance of time fades away as I hold a little girl with an old, tattered shirt. We talk a long time about nothing, like why God made their hair different than mine, or I teach them some fun English words!! Yes, nothing - or wait, maybe it was something! It was God's blessing in mine & their day. So indeed it was something!!
So... did I pray for them, they are souls, precious souls, after all & they have an eternity. Will they come to Heaven with me??

fun with friends

A random shot of a busy gas station in Port au Prince. It's always fun to listen to visitor's comments on the way home from the airport. ( So what do you think of Haiti??:) Nothing like cheekos & chillin' on the side of the road!!!

Rony busy giving vaccinations. A bunch of us girls went along to the town across the lake to do vaccines & education classes etc.

What a zoo!!! Trying to hand out Bible story books after we finished with vaccinations.

Cheeeeeerrsss!!!!! The real Canadian girls!! We spent a wonderful day at the beach with all of the IFM ladies and our visitors.

We all had lots of fun visiting the aqua duct. This is in a river in Jimani over in the Domincan Republic. The rushing water is so forceful you can hardly keep your footing in the canal full of water

Delphine brightening up a little child's day with a card & some candies

Laura & Laurie vigorously scrubbing the pharmacy! Thanx girls!

Having a good time singing with our Haitian friends!

Julia & Laura with our friend Ruth & her little sweet sunshine

Our dear friend Brenda,( whom we went to visit in Soliette) working in her kitchen.

We girls had such adventure- going up to Soliette with the guys on motorbikes. This water hole is only one of the challenges on this beautiful scenic route. It is a recommendable idea to get off the moto & walk through the river.:)

Laurie & Julia & Sheila & Michelle posing by the spring fed waterfall in Soliette. This water is delicious to drink.

Our favourite hobby at 6a.m. on Sat. mornings:)

Painting the clinic benches.

Sheila with Jasmine & Michelle with Jeremy at God's Littlest Angels. We went to check up on our little twins on Sat. These 2 little ones were brought to us in Nov. and we took them to the GLA orphanage, where they are doing excellent!!

Laurie & Julia enjoying a brownie sundae while we were up at the Baptist Mission.

Having lots of fun with lots of family!! Laurie( Julia's sis) & Wayne (Sheila & Michelle's brother) were here to keep us girls out of trouble:)

Pray!!

Please pray for the Kevin Hoover family, missionaries with SLM. Their son was kidnapped this morning! Please pray for his safety and release.

Update: Thanks for praying, praise God he has been found.