Sweet Baby Girl

Rosetaina Bertrand came to live with us on March 20th, brought in by her mother and big sister. What a precious little bundle she is. But she is so frail - 20 months old, 10 1/2 lbs.!

She had just been released from the hospital after two weeks of treatment for malnutrition. Released! This sweet baby girl has AIDS and I think her emaciation is more due to AIDS wasting syndrome than ordinary malnutrition. She has refused all food except small bits of cheezits and peanut butter crackers. We give her Pediasure thru an NG tube. She has gained 1 lb since coming here and has gained enough strength to crawl and pull up to standing. She is miserable most of the time but does laugh sometimes. She makes us laugh with her imperious demands!

Kez and Casey enrolled her in the AIDS clinic yesterday. She will go back tomorrow for tests. The tests done by the other hospital show her CD4 count at 273, 6.6% (she's very sick). Pray that she can get the help she needs.

Haiti Update - March 17 2009

March 17 2009

Dr. Karen McCarthy was in town again! She often sends us babies she sees at medical clinics and this trip was no exception. Eliezer Pierre came to stay with us on February 25th. He is 15 months old and weighed 14 lbs. His lower legs were starting to swell from a protein deficiency (kwashiorker malnutrition). The swelling is going down but the skin is still stretched so tight it is shiny and scaly looking. His blood tests look good except for infection and anemia. I expect he will recover fully in time and return to his family. He is adorable!

We started homeschooling Kervens recently. Casey brought books and lesson plans. I am searching for books and movies to make school more exciting. He will study astronomy in science. Do you have videos, DVDs or books that you don't need anymore and would be willing to share? Homeschoolers, please let me know about great resources you have found. Kervens is very bright and needs a variety of materials.

It's time to give the next round of DPT and polio immunizations but - guess what! Haiti doesn't have any vaccines! We'll just have to wait until they get a new supply. The kids who are old enough to remember 'pickies' (as they call them) are very happy.

Thanks to Janice Taylor and lots of very nice people in Kansas and Missouri, Mickenson got his surgery! He is home now and pretty much recovered. Praise God!!

Our dry season is so wet we had 3 inches of water downstairs on March 6th. About 9 pm we had to go down and bring up all the children and mattresses and put up anything that could be damaged by water. The children and nannies slept in the living room. Even though water still comes in when we have heavy rain it has not again flooded so badly. Unfortunately, the water comes in under the walls so there isn't much we can do to stop it. We hope to get a new house in the next few months.

Please pray for Claudia Dorvil, one of our nannies, whose home is scheduled to be totally destroyed April 5th. She doesn't have any idea what she is going to do. She and her daughter could come here, at least temporarily, but we can't house her pig and chickens. She will need money to pay rent at least 6 months in advance, around $600 USD.

The mother of one of the children we have sent home has 5 children. Her husband is abusing her and last week tried to kill their oldest child. We hope to be able to help her find a home for herself and the children. We will also need to help her start a business so she can support her children. Please pray for both of these desperate situations.

Frantzo is 3 years old today. I can't look at him without thanking God that he is alive. He is truly a miracle baby. Twice, 2 years ago, I saw him on the brink of death - the doctors were sure he couldn't live. But he did!!! I prayed very hard for God to spare him and not let him have severe brain damage. Though his development has been delayed, he is now developing like a normal little boy: he is beginning to talk and to tease us and to do all the things he should have done at 1 to 2 years of age. Rejoice with me and praise God for miracles!

We had a fun week with a group from Dublin, Georgia. Will Cooper was pastor of my church in Jacksonville when God told me to move to Haiti. It was a joy to see him and three members of his new church in Dublin, Karen, Paul and Anthony. They did lots of work, especially by building shelves on the front porch and in the depot. Our cat and dogs are happily catching the mice that were displaced when food was moved off the floor. I am happy that our food supply is now safe! Karen fell in love with the kids and was in tears when she had to leave them. All of this wonderful group blessed us. Thank you, Lord!

God bless all of you. I love you and thank you for your support.

Dorothy Pearce

Why did the Mayor write on our wall?

During the past many years of governmental neglect, desperate Haitians have built their "homes" anywhere and everywhere, including on sidewalks and in streets. Wealthy people have ignored right-of-ways. Now that Haiti's government is trying to bring the country back under control they are destroying all structures that are within the right-of-way. Thousands of poor people have lost their homes with very little notice and no recompense.

Whether the owner of my house ignored a right-of-way or, as she said, built before there was a right-of-way, I don't know. But someone allegedly acting on the Mayor's behalf wrote on our wall after dark on March 12th. The message says that 1 month from March 11th 2009 - which will be Easter weekend - the Mayor will send a bulldozer to destroy our wall. I take the arrows to mean the the house in line with the wall (most of the living room and dining room and cistern) will also be destroyed. The owner thinks only the wall will be destroyed, or maybe nothing will be destroyed. In the picture the black gate on the left is our gate. The wall wraps around our living room and dining room, then protects our back yard where the children eat and play.

We are in limbo, not knowing what is going to happen. This could be a wonderful opportunity for us to leave this house before our lease expires in October. We have wanted to move since the basement has started flooding in heavy rains, forcing us to bring the children upstairs to sleep in the living room. Please pray with us that we will know what is going to happen in time to make appropriate plans. Please pray that either now or when the lease expires we will find an even better house at an affordable price.

Catching up on Haiti news - 2-10-09

February 10, 2009

Much has happened in the last 2 months, mostly good but some sad.

Our most exciting news is that we started immunizations for the children. They have so far had DPT, oral polio, RR (which is either measles and rubella or measles and chicken pox), and HIB. The first 3 were donated free by the government of Haiti thru a local hospital. The HIB was purchased at great cost but, having had personal experience with this nasty bacteria, I considered it well worth the price. Praise God that the government of Haiti is beginning to work for the good of its people.

Our saddest news is that Mackenson, who was 2 on Oct 24th, died early in the morning on Feb 4th. Keziah and I were with him. He was severely handicapped: it was a struggle for him to breath and eat. He has lived with us since Sept 07 and we loved him. This baby is now in heaven and has no more pain and struggle. Even as we mourn, we rejoice for him.

Mireille, our nanny who gave Mackenson the tenderest, best care possible, was inconsolable. Her life has been changed by caring for him: she is softer and warmer and more loving to everyone. Her life appears more Christ-like. She and all who met or cared for Mackenson learned what true love looks like. We loved and cared for him even though he did not give - could not give - anything back to us, not smiles or affection or progress. All he could do was breathe and eat: those tasks were very hard work for him.

God’s love for us is so like that. It isn’t conditioned on how many things we do for him or for each other. He loved us so much that Jesus died on the cross for us so that we could have life: eternal life, yes, but even now, here on earth in the midst of all its problems, we can have a rich and joyful life.

Bethsaica is our newest baby, a 9-month old girl who came in Jan 2nd weighing just over 9 lbs. According to her shot/health record, she was a healthy baby until she was 4 months old. That is when her mother stopped breastfeeding her. She had been steadily losing weight ever since. She doesn't have HIV, TB or syphilis (praise God! we were worried about all of those) but she is anemic. We treated her for an infection and are adding extra calories and supplements to her diet. She is gaining weight well and has settled in nicely. What a cutey!

A couple of weeks ago Dr. Ed called and said he had a baby at his clinic that would die that day without IV fluids and antibiotics and even then his survival seemed unlikely. There was no time to get him to a hospital, could we take him? Keziah said ‘sure’. He stayed with us for 5 days, Keziah providing round-the-clock nursing care, until we were able to get him into an excellent children’s hospital. I believe he had tetanus. Moise has a dramatic story. Check out Kez’s blog for more info: http://myhaitiankids.blogspot.com/



5 other children have returned to their families: Emily, Mickenson, Patrick, and Naphthalie. All are in great health and doing well. Natasha’s mother raised money in Kansas City to pay for Mickenson’s surgery. We’ll see the surgeon today to set a date for the surgery.

JJ had 3 seizures in January for no apparent reason. He has had a CT scan and EEG and we only need to get back to the doctor now for results. Please pray with us that nothing serious is going on with him.

Poutchino’s seizures had almost completely stopped since starting TB meds but they are beginning to increase again. His health is a constant challenge for us. We thank God that we have found a Haitian pediatrician with some additional training in neurology. Hopefully he can help us get Poutchino’s seizures under control. Other than the seizures, Poutchino is doing great! He feels good so he’s always happy and interacts with us. At 6 years old I think he has reached his maximum mental development but could benefit from physical and occupational therapy. Please continue praying that a family in the states will fall in love with him and adopt him. He would give them much joy.

In November we lost a 6 week old baby girl. She came in on a Friday afternoon, appearing relatively healthy, and died suddenly Sunday morning. We didn't have her long enough to get any tests done! We thought her death might be related to an abnormal heartbeat the doctor had told us to check out but her father thought it might be related to the amount of blood she had lost when attacked by rats. (Why didn’t he tell us that before?!)

Casey Nichols has come from Georgia to live with us four about 4 months. She will be doing pretty much the same things for us that Natasha did. By the strangest “coincidence”, Natasha is going to be spending about the same length of time in Georgia doing the same ministry work Casey did there. It is exciting to watch God develop the lives of these young women with such beautiful spirits.

My health has returned completely. Now that I have recovered from my surgeries I realize just how much the pain I was in for the past year and how much it hindered the work I was trying to do here. Good health is a blessing not to be taken for granted. I am glad that God reminded me how blessed I am.

May God bless you all and keep you in his loving care. Thank you for your part in this ministry.

Dorothy Pearce