Wednesday, June 18, 2008

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!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

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!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

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.