Emanuel goes home

November 21 2008

Emanuel Marcelus and his twin sister, Emanuela, came to live with us in July 2007 when they were 6 months old. Emanuel weighed 6 lbs. His sister was only slightly heavier. Most of her weight was caused by her hydrocephalus, though. Emanuela died in December 2007 of an infection following shunt surgery. Emanuel stayed with us until November 2008.


I drove Emanuel and his mother home the afternoon of the 21st. Emanuel's older brothers were so excited to see him they had him out of the car and halfway to the house by the time I grabbed my camera!

Here is a picture of the family's home. They are VERY poor. We provided money to pay for their mother's chest xray to diagnose tuberculosis, sent lots of food and clothes, and will continue to help with food, medical care and schooling for Emanuel.

Triplets! Remember them?

November 22, 2008

Remember the triplet girls who came to us in March 2006? They were about 16 months old and only one of them, Natasha, could stand. Natalie could sit up and Naomi couldn't do anything much except turn over. They were badly malnourished.

By August 2006 all three were walking. After a little more than a year with us the girls returned to their family. We helped their mother set up a small business so she could support the girls, their 3 older siblings and their parents.

The girls came to visit us on November 22nd and we were SO thrilled to see them. They are all beautiful and healthy and smart! They turned 4 in October and will start to school next year. We definitely want pay their school fees.

We love happy endings!

Haiti Update - Out of the hospital, again!

Nov. 21 2008

Hi everyone.

Less than 3 weeks after coming back to Haiti I had to have an emergency appendectomy. Oh, that was an experience I could have done without but it's over and I'm now fine. Kathy Brooks, Sam and Casey flew down from Georgia to care for me and help Kez with the kids and the team we had in this week. Thank you Kathy, Sam and Casey! Thank you Lord!

Nerlande went home with her grandmother while I was in the hospital. Emily will go back to Bercy tomorrow. We will then 'only' have 19 babies. We had agreed to accept another baby from Gonaives found by Dr. Karen at a clinic but she didn't survive even her first night of hospitalization and a blood transfusion at a Gonaives hospital. We pray for the family of this little one who seems to have died of starvation.

We actually have 2 teams in: Sisters from Tennessee and a church group from West Virginia. What a group! They came in, asked what needed to be done, gathered the materials we had on hand and bought the rest and started right to work. They haven't stopped working yet! The house is being transformed with paint and decorations and shelves and organization. Every child gets special attention every day. This is a Spirit filled group and the whole household is overflowing with love. Praise God for these wonderful people!

Oh, and Sister Miriam went out yesterday and brought home a refrigerator and washing machine. She hopes to go shopping today to stock our shelves with all our basic needs. We feel like the heavens have opened and blessings are pouring out on us. Well, to be honest, they are! God is always good but I especially love the blessings part!

Dr. Karen McCarthy from Jacksonville came Monday to examine me and 2 of the children. Poutchino hasn't been himself since starting on TB meds. Dr. Karen thinks his tegretol levels (for seizures) are affected by theTB meds. We'll get test results today to confirm it but in the meantime have started cutting back the tegretol. Poutchino already is more alert and eats better. Levinsky had an infection and she put him on meds. He is much better.

Sorry for no pictures. I jsut haven't been able to get around to take them. When the group shares their photos with me I'll put them up on the blog.

God bless you.

Natasha left today...

Oh sad day. We took Natasha to the airport this morning. After two delays to help us thru crises, she has gone back to Kansas to wait for God to give her her next assignment and to prepare for graduate school. We know He has great plans for her life and we had to let her go. We (the kids, the staff, Dannae and Kez, all our friends) will miss her, though, more than I am able to express. God truly blessed us when he sent Tasha to us.

A nasty gastro-intestinal virus hit many of the children just before I got back to Haiti. A few were still sick when I got here but all are now recovered. Praise God!!

We are very crowded with 21 babies (Kervens makes 22 children) and were very lucky to find 3 portacribs for sale this morning. A lady (Chris) gave us money to buy a new washer so we went shopping after leaving Tasha at the airport. The store didn't have a washer but it did have cribs. We desperately needed them and I haven't found them in any other store or on the streets. Sweet Chris immediately gave me permission to buy the cribs instead of the washer. What a BLESSING!

We have now tested all of the new children (Miltha, Patrick, Kimberly, Josie and Lavinsky) for HIV and TB. Lavinsky had already tested positive for HIV but he is still young enough to revert to negative. We hope his weak positive on this home test is a good sign. Miltha's skin test is positive for TB. Her mother will come here tomorrow morning to go with us when we take Poutchino and Miltha to the TB clinic where Poutchino is being treated. Miltha will need more tests to confirm whether she actually has TB.

Isn't God wonderful to bring these children to us! His tender care for these helpless children just blows me away. I see it often but am still amazed. He loves and cares for you and me just as much. He sent His own son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us so that, if we believe on Him and make Him Lord of our lives, we will live with Him for eternity. I pray that you all have accepted Jesus and can feel and see His presence in your lives.

Glad to be back in Haiti serving HIM,
Dorothy Pearce

BABY BOOM - FIVE! More Children

Tasha has taken in FIVE new babies since I left Haiti in early August and she's considering a 4 year old girl (older sister of one of the new babies) with protein deficiency syndrome (kwashiorkor malnutrition). The 4 yr old really should be treated in a hospital so Tasha is helping her mom look for one. Pictures of the 5 new babies are attached. I downloaded them from Tasha's blog.

Natasha is overwhelmed with 5 new sick babies plus Poutchino's ongoing serious health issues plus all the things that happen from time to time with 22 young children in the house plus being the director with a staff of 13 workers! (9 yr old Kervens is our oldest. Next in age is Poutchino who is 5 years old but mentally only 1 or 2 yrs.)

We were already short on cribs and mattresses and highchairs before getting the new kids. Our washing machine broke. Imagine doing laundry for 21 infants, most still in diapers, by hand every day. Please pray for God to provide for all of our needs.

Some very generous friends have already covered our rent. What a blessing!

A glitch in a funds transfer has kept me in Jacksonville longer than expected and I'm still not sure exactly when I'll return to Haiti. This week, I hope! Natasha needs a break. I'm anxious to get back and help.

Tasha extended her stay until October 28th to try to be there when I get back. I am SO grateful to her. I am also grateful that I was able to have total knee replacement surgery. I'm getting stronger and having less pain every day so maybe that's why God is allowing this delay. I will be ready to climb stairs and carry babies when I go back.

Please pray for us, especially Natasha. God bless you all.

Patrick came from Gonaives in September following the devastating flooding there. He might be around 2 years old. This picture shows his sense of humor.

This is Lavinsky. He came in from Gonaives a few weeks ago but has been in the hospital for several weeks because he was severely malnourished and also had infections, possibly related to his HIV positive status. He was only recently released to us.

This is Miltha, a 9 month old girl who came in Sunday October 12th. She is severely malnourished but Dr. Ed thinks she will be okay coming to us rather than to the hospital. She only weighs 11 lbs 12 oz. Her 4 year old sister also is very malnourished. Natasha is helping her mother find a hospital for her.

This little guy is Josie (Joshua). He is 9 months old. His parents died in the Gonaives floods. His aunt can't afford the milk he needs so she brought him to us. She will take him back to live with her when he can eat table foods. Natasha said the aunt has been visiting him. We encourage families to visit any time except after dark and Sunday morning. If we eat while they are visiting, they eat with us.

Kimberly was 1 year old on October 12th. She came in thru Sherrie Fausey's ravine ministry. She is a little more than 12 lbs and too weak to stand up. She and her mother are very attached. Kimberly will return home to live when she is stronger.

Visitors in July!

Danny and Dianne Groves, Teri Kirby and Terry Lynn Stephens from South Carolina and Linda Tanner from Florida visited in July. They brought a table saw and tons of baby supplies. Before coming they shipped a ladder, ceiling fans, painting supplies, tools, screens and all kinds of other stuff. On top of all that, they worked SO hard

The first priority was safety for the children. Danny replaced almost all of the screens on the babies' windows, replaced the door at the top of the stairs, repaired the gasoline generator, and lots more. Kervens was Danny's apprentice handyman and learned a lot besides having the time of his life.

The ladies sorted and put away supplies and clothes, cuddled babies, did all of our mending , painted the hall, trimmed our overgrown bougainvillea, and much more.

We had a great pool party for the kids Sunday after church and celebrated several birthdays. Oh, what fun We are VERY grateful to this wonderful group.

From Jacksonville ...

I flew to Jacksonville on August 4th and have been busy doing pre-op stuff. There was a slight snag when I failed the EKG but that was resolved when I passed the stress test. Whew! Surgery is scheduled for August 25th. I expect to be back in Haiti before mid-October.

Natasha is staying with the Haiti family. She has been hit with one crisis after another but is meeting every one of them like a champ. I'm relieved to have her in charge and proud of the job she is doing.

Poutchino is our biggest worry. Despite being treated by the doctor through two rounds of 3 antibiotics, he is still coughing and having fevers. The fevers often trigger gran mal and petit mal seizures. Natasha will try to find help at an excellent, free pediatric hospital, Nos Petit Frères et Soeurs. (We call it Ti Frere et Ti Soeur, or Little Brothers and Little Sisters.) Please pray that they will accept Poutchino as a patient and that they can find out what is wrong with him and fix it.


Her next major problem is our car. Cullie Woodall took it to fix the brakes and discovered that the steering box was about to fall apart. Praise God that he found it before a bad accident occurred! I am waiting for a detailed list of parts needed so I can ship them to Haiti asap. I think it's time we started praying for a new car, 4-wheel drive, big enough to haul children, strong enough to handle Haiti's roads, and new enough that we don't constantly fear breaking down in a bad situation. Please pray with us!

tor The doctor who was treating baby Mickenson for his ear infection has prescribed a very expensive series of shots to help his testicles drop. I'm not familiar with this treatment and would appreciate any information you have. Please post comments.

You prayer warriors out there keep on praying, okay?! We need you! God bless you all.

Dorothy

Boys will be boys! and Kervens is all boy

Friday July 11th - Kervens was running and slipped. He broke a permanent front tooth and his right arm. We spent the afternoon at the hospital getting xrays and a cast. The dentist came to our house around 8 pm and spent a couple of hours repairing the tooth. (Actually, he had to take Kervens to a guesthouse around the corner from us since we didn't have electricity. The guesthouse has an inverter.) We were all exhausted, naturally, but extremely thankful that everything got fixed in one day.

Playground

On Friday mornings we take a few childen to the church playground. On a recent morning Michelor, 11, proposed marriage to Natasha.

Claudine was not sure what to do on her first visit. She mostly just watched the others. She let me hold her too.

Kervens plays ball with Deedee's boys. Gertie and Richardson are right at home on the equipment of playing ball or making up games. Isna was shy at first but caught on pretty quickly.

July 3 2008

Johnny came home from the hospital after 5 weeks there! Finally his ear infection is cured. He has gained weight! The doctors cautioned that he is still anemic so we must be diligent in giving vitamins and good food. He will take antibiotics to help prevent future infections as he is HIV positive. We are SO glad to have this sweet boy with us. There have been many changes in Johnny’s life recently: he left his home to spend a week with Sherrie, spent a week with us, then five weeks in the hospital. He is a little scared of new surroundings and people. Pray for him, please, to be comforted and to be healed.

Pierreline is a 1 month old baby girl whose mother died. The family only knows that mother had a fever 2 or 3 weeks after giving birth, the doctor gave her medicine and she died two days later. Papa and aunt love the baby and did their best for her: they gave her Gerber baby food. They didn’t understand that she needs enriched milk more than pureed fruit but they did know they needed help. She is beautiful and, thanks to a concerned family, is in good condition. We are thrilled to be able to help her.

Pierreline’s papa acknowledged that he is not a Christian but it is okay with him that we will do everything in our power to be sure that Pierreline learns to love the Lord. We will try to introduce papa to Jesus, too. Please pray for this!

Silly car! It has been running so well for a long time but now the a bar in the front end is falling down. Add car repairs to the list of needs that we are asking you to pray for. The Haitian mechanic said the bar isn’t important, it only stabilizes the car. Hmmm, not important to be stable?

A friend worked on the diesel generator and we think it only needs a battery and an air filter to make it run. The Haitian mechanic said we need to replace brushes in the gas generator.

It seems like we have a lot of problems, doesn’t it? Two broken generators, a broken inverter, broken car, lack of rain forcing us to buy water again ... Well, that’s life. We are in the Lord’s hands and I know He will solve each of these problems in His own time. He is already working on them. We practice I Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. We give thanks for a houseful of healthy and healing children, for always having food to eat and water to drink, for having a house full of joy and peace, and much, much more.

We thank the Lord for you, too, who are our partners in prayer and ministry. God bless you!

No cavities! June 18 2008

June 18, 2008

Dr. Marly and Lori Desir visited us for a dental clinic Tuesday morning. They did in-service training for our staff on oral health. They examined all of the children with teeth. Three of our children had a little plaque which was removed. None had cavities! I was very proud of our staff! They are doing a good job of keeping the children's teeth clean and can do even better now with their new knowledge.

Dr. Desir also examined the staff members who wished an exam. One nanny had brought her 10 year old daughter, Diana, who was also examined. Two of Diana's baby teeth were not allowing their permanent replacements to come in. Dr. Desir extracted the baby teeth. He will give us estimates for the extensive work needed by staff members. We would like to help them if possible.

God has been good to us. Just to give you a small idea, I am highlighting two of our children and one child close to us below. If God had not intervened in their lives, all 3 of these children would be in very poor condition if they were even still alive now. But God did intervene. Many people in several countries are working together in His service to help these and other children. Praise God!

Emily Marie Francois ("Emarie")
Emarie came to us this past January from Bercy where she was found abandoned. She was very anemic and malnourished, had wispy orange hair, weighed 7 lbs 10 oz., and we guessed she was around 7 months old. She is now 17 lbs and has beautiful black curly hair. Dr. Desir thinks we were right about her age.

Mackenzie is getting a new family
Mackenzie came to us in November 2006. At 23 months old he weighed 12 lbs and was a floppy baby, unable to hold his arms or legs up. A victim of child abuse and severe neglect, Mackenzie thrived on our loving care. He recently learned to walk and developmentally is a little more than 1 year old. He now needs more one-on-one stimulation than we can provide and, praise God, he is going to get it! Our good friend Deedee was a special ed teacher before moving to Haiti many years ago. She now raises Haitian boys. She is the ideal person to be Mackenzie's mom. She fell in love when she met him. We are all spending a lot of time together so Mackenzie will be comfortable with the move.

Michelor
This is a story you will love to hear. Last July I met Michelor, then 10 years old, who has brittle bone disease. He had numerous badly healed fractures (later shown to be 21 breaks). His family had been told he would never walk again so they just let him sit in the dirt in his village. A friend found him a home with Deedee. Since then he has grown several inches and learned not only to walk but to run! Enjoy the photos (he is in the yellow shirt). He will be Mackenzie's new brother.

We have 16 other children with stories similar to Emarie and Mackenzie. From time to time I will share their stories and progress.

Please pray with us for the following needs:

• Repair or replacement of generator and inverter
  My surgery in August and the extra funds needed
  Car repairs: power steering fluid leaks, hard time climbing hills
  Natasha as she deals with children and staff issues while I am gone
  Johnny, still in the hospital.
  Healing for Poutchino
  Monthly expenses, about $3500
  Rent due in October, $8,400

Thank you SO much for your continued friendship, prayers and support. May God bless you richly!

Oh how we miss the inverter! The other day the tank above the house ran out of water. We couldn’t pump water up without electricity. The temperature that day must have been over 100 degrees: we all needed baths. Tasha and Dannae did the best they could to cool off and clean up before bed using the little bit of water left in one bucket. I couldn’t resist a photo. Sorry girls!

Out of touch

Our inverter is broken! Horror of horrors, that was what was keeping us in touch with the outside world. Now we can only get online during the wee hours of the morning when we really need to be sleeping. Please be patient. We will contact everyone as often as possible. Please pray for the inverter and the generators to be repaired.

Poutchino had another gran mal seizure yesterday, this time with no apparent outside causes. He was not sick, ate and drank normally, etc., then the seizure hit. We are very worried about him. Neurologists are almost impossible to see here. The only good one we know of is more interested in politics. Poutchino needs your prayers.

Please pray for us. Much is happening here: Poutchino's illnesses, failure of our household appliances, lack of electricity, low funds. We need your prayers and support.

May 31 2008 newsletter

Johny Joseph, 13 months old, was brought to us by Sherrie Fausey on May 18th, a precious boy who only weighs 12 lbs. and has a bad ear infection which did not respond to antibiotics. We went to Medlab that afternoon for blood tests. Sadly, he is HIV positive, anemic, and has bacterial infections. Johny was admitted to the hospital this past week. They discovered he also has lesions on his lungs. Please pray with us for his recovery.


Johny is from Gonaives, an area devastated by mudslides a couple of years ago and still not recovered. His parents are both too sick to care for him. Pastor Genada, a Filipino missionary to that area, has been unable to find any programs in that area that treat AIDS. He asked Sherrie and I to help the baby. We are very glad to do so.


My 2 week visit to the States in early May was very busy. I saw doctors and filed taxes. I will return to Jacksonville on August 4th to prepare for a total knee replacement on August 25th. I should return to Haiti in early October. Praise God for medical insurance and a Christian doctor and hospital who will help with the cost!


Natasha is going to to extend her stay so she will be with the children while I am gone. In spite of being sick with fever and cough, she did a great job with the kids the 2 weeks I was gone. It is a huge responsibility and she is very brave to accept it for 2 months. We hope that friends of hers can visit during that time and possibly others who can help with the children's health needs. Please pray for her!

Getting ready to leave in April was hectic. Nerlande (10-11 mos.) had been very sick (vomiting) for over a week. As she was finally recovering, Nephtalie (5-6 mos) had to be hospitalized for a respiratory infection. She was released just before I left, after several days on oxygen and IV antibiotics. The bill for her stay at a private hospital took a huge chunk of our operating funds but God somehow still provided all we needed. Praise God for the recovery of these children and for His miraculous provision for our needs.

We really miss Jessica (1 year) who returned this week to the orphanage that brought her to us. They are starting to process her adoption. We took her in last July because her mother has AIDS and we were afraid Jessica would get the virus from breastfeeding. Jessica was positive but we all hoped she didn't actually have the virus and would revert to negative eventually. That is what happened! Praise God for sparing her from that horrible virus. Pray for her to be placed in a loving Christian home.

It is impossible to care for an baby, nurse them thru illnesses, hold and rock and sing to them, watch their firsts - turn over, crawl, walk, talk - without falling completely in love. It is hard to let them go. But it is our preference that children either be returned to their biological families or moved on to permanent families. Soon it will be time for Nerlande and Izaola to go home.


Several others cannot return to their families or be adopted. We will provide a permanent home for them. Pray that we will continue to have the funds necessary to educate and nurture these children until they become adults who will be Christian leaders in this country in desperate need of Jesus.

I am still learning about blogging and still have tons of information to post. Please feel free to make suggestions. Your comments are welcome, too. God bless you all!


Dorothy

April 21 2008 newsletter

April 21 2008

Port au Prince has been peaceful for the past week. Everything is back to normal. Praise God! Thank you for your prayers.

Baby Regina saw the doctor last Friday. He confirmed she has spina bifida and will never be able to walk. The goal of therapy and any surgery would be to move her legs to a more normal position. Her mother was devastated by this news. We have tried to reassure her that Regina can have a normal life in every other way but she will need her mother’s help.

Since there is nothing we can do to improve Regina’s condition, it is time for her to return to her mother’s care. Unfortunately, mom does not have a home of her own so we invited her to stay with us for a while. As I observe this young mother with her baby, I see that she knows absolutely nothing about how to be a mother or even, for that matter, how to behave in a home. All of us, especially our Haitian staff, will try to bring this young lady to Jesus and teach her how to be a mother. This is a tough situation for all of us. Please pray for this lady and baby.

Mackenzie, who was 3 years old in December, took his first steps alone this weekend. He is the little boy who has brain damage from being abused by his mother. When he first came to us almost a year and a half ago he could not even sit up. His progress is one of the most amazing things I have seen over the past few months. Praise God for saving his life!

Next week, on April 30th, I will fly home to Jacksonville for approximately 2 weeks. I will see a knee surgeon about repairing my right knee so I can go back to doing everything I could do a year ago. If surgery is indicated, it will be planned for late summer or early fall. Natasha is a little nervous about being responsible for all these children while I am gone so please pray for her.

Sadly, our puppy Goldie was poisoned. She died a very painful death Friday. We are still sad; I am angry at the person who did it; Kervens prayed for the person. I felt ashamed (of myself) and proud (of Kervens) that I wanted revenge but Kervens prayed for the person’s repentance and salvation. God is doing wonderful things in Kervens’ heart.

Natasha has been very sick for the past few days with a GI virus. She is finally getting up and around again. Baby Nerlande is much better. Baby Nephtalie is upstairs today getting the best treatment we can give her for croup: a bucket of hot water beside her bed with a sheet spread over the bed and bucket to make a tent. (A cool mist humidifier would be better but we don’t have one yet.) Our nanny Sr. Jesula’s 5 yr old son, Harry, has the same GI virus Natasha had. We brought him to our house today to rehydrate him.

This afternoon Gertie, Richardson and Isna rode in the car with Kervens and I to take our nanny and her son home. These three little ones - 4, 3 and 2 ½ years old - seldom get out of the house. Isna has almost never been out. It was so fun driving and hearing hushed voices in the back seat exclaiming with awe: “Gade!” (gah-day, meaning ‘look’). We stopped at the store and bought candy on the way home. They giggled when we went over bumps, a frequent occurrence since many roads haven’t been maintained for 10 to 20 years and driving is like off-road mountain driving. It was a wonderful end to the day.

Blessings to you all, and many thanks for your support in this ministry to poor children and families in Haiti. We love you.

Dorothy Pearce

Introduction to Haiti Infant Rescue

My first blog - how exciting! I have been dying to share news about the precious Haitian children who live in my home.

Faith Hope Love Infant Rescue is a Christian organization founded in 2005 in Port au Prince, Haiti to take in sick and malnourished infants from poor families who have no other hope. Whenever possible, we return children to their families when their health has been restored.

As of today, May 29 2008, we have 18 children in our care. They range from 6 months to 9 (almost 10) years. Most are still in diapers.

I am Dorothy Pearce from Jacksonville, Florida. God sent me to Haiti in 2004 to work with needy children and families in Haiti. I have two grown sons, one daughter[-in-law], one grandson, and am 60 years old and proud of it! Working in Haiti is the best job I have ever had and that is saying something as I have had some wonderful jobs in the past as a real estate paralegal.

To introduce you to our everyday life I am going to post emails that I have previously sent. Here is a picture of me, Natasha Taylor and Mary Dekoter (l-r). Natasha came in January 2008 to help out for 6 months. We have persuaded her to stay a little big longer. (She adds so much joy and love to our household we never want her to leave!) Mary is a nurse from Canada who visits twice a week to check on the children. (We would be lost without you, Mary!)