Haiti - home again!

Sep 21 2009

I got back in Haiti Friday late afternoon. It was great to come home! It has been hectic ever since I got here.

When I got to the house Friday evening I went downstairs to hug and love all the nannies and kids. Emmanuella was last as she was in her crib. She didn't look good. Brought her upstairs and Laura Lynn (visiting) walked her to Dottie's guesthouse where a doctor friend was staying. Big ER scene! She had pneumonia. She was so dehydrated the doctor couldn't find a vein anywhere for an IV. He gave her shots, put in a feeding tube. I sat up all night long giving her little bits of pedialyte at a time to rehydrate her. Praise God, she revived!!!! Still in bad shape but has a good chance. (By the way, she's up to 14 lbs!)

Pipes from the water pump had a leak so we were having to prime the pump every time we wanted to use it. The mechanic took it all apart yesterday and, si dieu vle (God willing), all will be fixed today.

The mechanic found a broken belt on the generator. He hopes to bring new belts today and get it running again. God is good!

We had very heavy rain last night. I was sitting in my chair reading - all the kids were tucked in - and wondered why my foot got wet when I put it on the floor. Looked around and water was pouring in through an electrical outlet! The whole room was flooded! So, outside with a flashlight and umbrella. Found that leaves had plugged a drain hole on the roof. Once the leaves were removed, the roof drained and the flooding stopped. Life is just full of surprises!

Saturday I found out new car dealers here don't sell used cars. Toyota wanted $53,000 for a new 4 runner, Hyundai wanted $36,000 for a new Santa Fe. I'm calling around for references to good used car dealers. Pray for a good find! We must have a 'new' car!

My visit to the states was wonderful. I praise God for all the wonderful people I was able to see. I am sad that there were many more I didn't get a chance to visit with. We received enough donations to get out of the hole we were in. People are so generous!

Now we just need to get monthly income up to adequate levels. Pray about sponsoring a child, or a staff position, or just contributing monthly. Even $20 a month is a help. Nothing is too small (or too big).

Praise God, we have a school sponsor for the triplets! Three girls get to go to school, $30 a month total covers all their expenses!!!!!

If you would like to receive updates by email, post a comment with your email address. I am on Facebook, too: dorothypearce47 I love to share stories and news about these precious, adorable, wonderful, beautiful children (I'm not at all biased: this is all true!)

Just found the camera last night! Will send pictures next time. Or, check my blog, I'll update it as we have electricity!

God bless you and keep you! Thank you for your love and prayers.

Dorothy Pearce

Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." I Cor. 13:13

Emmanuella's Story

A Sad Story
Emmanuella might be her name, or maybe not. She is somewhere around 3 or 4 or 5 years old. We have no way of knowing. What we know for sure is that, depending on your position when you look at the scale, she is 12 or 13 lbs. , unbelievably skinny. We know she has seizures that almost never stop.

On July 23 2009 a mission team found a woman carrying Emmanuella, searching for help. The Americans were appalled at her condition and frantic to help. They took them to a missionary, Sherrie Fausey. Sherrie had her driver take the woman and child to two different hospitals to try to find help. The first hospital - Port au Prince's finest pediatric hospital - said it was too late to save Emmanuella and sent them away. The second hospital gave prescriptions for amoxicillin and phenobarbital and sent them away.

The next day Pastor Luke (summer pastor at our church) found the woman wandering the same streets, again looking for help. Emmanuella was worse, if possible. Pastor Luke brought them to us at Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue. I thought Emmanuella was in a coma, dying even then. Luckily (if you can call Divine intervention luck), a medical group was in the neighborhood. Two of the doctors dropped everything and came straight over.

Except for constant seizures, muscle contractures from seizing over a long period of time, and extreme malnutrition, Emmanuella seemed healthy. That word, "healthy", doesn't seem to fit but the child's hair was black and thick, her skin good, lots of healthy teeth. The doctors started her on phenobarbital to reduce seizures, approved our normal routine for treating severe malnutrition, and returned to their clinic.

A strange twist
Another woman (I'll call her "the mom") who was staying with us for awhile said she knew the woman calling herself Emmanuella's grandmother ("the grandmother"). The mom said that she, the mom, found Emmanuella in the parking lot at a store, lying on the ground, obviously abandoned. The mom took Emmanuella to the Catholic sisters (Mother Teresa's order) but the Sisters could not take her in. So the mom left Emmanuella on the ground outside the Sisters' gate.

The grandmother came along and saw Emmanuella and picked her up to use her as a prop for begging. According to this vague story, the grandmother expected to use Emmanuella to get money. Blan (foreigners) get really teary-eyed over handicapped children and hand over cash, lotss of it, to help.

Apparently, Emmanuella was in worse shape than the grandmother thought so she went searching for help. After Emmanuella ended up at my house, the grandmother came to visit for the first couple of weeks. She never asked for money but hinted that she was homeless, etc. Our policy is to never give money. We give help. After a couple of weeks the grandmother stopped coming or calling.

Current status

We don't know what to believe. The mom, who told us the wild story, was sick with an infection that can affect thinking. The grandmother had absolutely no information about the child --- no idea when or where she was born, no idea of her medical history. The grandmother simply said that her daughter had gone away a few years ago and they had no contact until just a few days before when the daughter showed up, dumped the handicapped child on the grandmother, and left. A pretty suspicious story, I thought.

Whatever the truth may be, our goal is to protect the child, Emmanuella. I went to the police and to social services and told them the whole story. Both issued orders that Emmanuella is to stay with us and cannot be removed without their permission. Praise God! We were given the legal right to protect her!

Since Emmanuella started getting good food and high calorie supplements, she has started gaining weight and becoming aware of her surroundings. She is now trying to use her right arm to push food into her mouth. She still has seizures frequently but they are better since starting phenobarbital. We cannot evaluate her fully until the malnutrition is reversed: it can cause seizures itself.

Eulogy for Mackenson Edouard

Mackenson Eduoard
Born Oct 24 2006
Died February 2009


Mackenson was born with multiple congenital defects. Our Haitian pediatrician sent his mother to us for help in February 2007 when he was 3 months old. We provided milk and medical care to help his mother take care of him at her home.

By September 2007 she gave up, she couldn’t deal with him anymore, and brought him to live with us. He remained with us until his death on February 4, 2009. He was just over 2 years old.

At 10 months old, Mackenson weighed just over 9 lbs. We tried everything we could to get him to gain weight but he never weighed more than 12 lbs. Mackenson never interacted with his environment other than to call out at mealtime so he would be fed, too. He did not respond to sounds, toys, mirrors, hugs, laughter, or anything else we tried. But still we loved him. There was something very compelling about Mackenson; he couldn’t be taken casually.

He died in February 2009. I still mourn even though I know it was a blessed release for him. I was present at the moment he slipped away and the angels carried him to his Father. It was a very precious time. All of us who knew Mackenson were forever changed by his presence in our lives.

Natasha holds down the fort!

Natasha is in Haiti taking care of everything while I am in the States. She has taken in one new child, Tree, as well as a new mother and her infant. She is there with Kervens and Richardson for their first day of school.

Natasha is dealing with serious illnesses in the children, staff issues, inadequate funding, and all of the many things that must be dealt with every day in a family of 14 children, and she is doing it with LOVE, MERCY AND GRACE! She is an angel on earth. Here is the latest addition to her blog.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

follow up....

so the father of tree comes everyday almost...hes a good dad. tree is having diarrhea and vomiting, but i put him on sulfaprim and thank God no more vomiting and the diarrhea seems to be stopping. if that doesnt work we will put him on flagyl. i hope to take him to med lab sooner than later. i hope jeremie (the father) can get things together...funds for a home and job to take him back sooner than later. pray for him. when dorothy can she is thinking about buying some of his art work to help decorate the house....but that may be awhile....many things need to come first.

PRAY PRAY PRAY! she still needs a new car...a generator and invertor...constant sponsors to get funds for water, gas, medicine, doctor appointments for the kids, paying staff, etc.

the mother and baby that are staying here are doing well. i was informed on several things referring after birth and breast-feeding that helped tremendously. i tell you...chris nugester is still such a life savor to me when dorothy is not here and i am in charge. marie (the mother) has all her milk now...it just took a few days to come in with a good supply. her baby is very healthy, but a couple nights ago there was drama surrounding here umbilical cord. in haiti they usually tie a string around it after its been cut and then bandage it which often causes tetanus. chris helped me with this and now we are cleaning it...blessings. dorothy thinks that maybe we can help the young mother get into a sewing school so that she will have a trade, be able to get a job and get back on her feet. pray for this as well.

what else...i was able to get Kervens into school! he is going to TLC the same school that gertie had gone to and richardson will go to! its very exciting!! he will be the first child to come into TLC at his age...so its a lot of responsibilty and honor to have the opportunity. they are letting him in because his english is so fluent and its an english speaking school. its great because it gets him out of the house for about 7 hours a day, he'll be able to walk cha cha home, he'll learn french and he'll get to meet more kids his own age. i am very excited for him and glad to have been a part of making the connections! THANK YOU DOTTIE & TLC!!!!

so i think that is about it other than the fact that ours funds are farely low and i will not be able to take johnny or tree to med lab for tests...like i had planned for tomorrow. we didnt have funds to pay the staff this month so we gave them what we could and then with sr. claudias money missing we have helped her with school fees and then the triplets mom we always help. so its been a bit rough, but this is where you have faith...God will provide and where you can you do with out...but overall...at the end of the day we have a roof over our heads...and SO SO SO much more.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR DOROTHYS FUNDRAISING. it looks like she will not be back before i leave, which is hard for my heart...i am so used to changing my ticket when i am here (wink) and would be more than willing to if it would work out. i dont like them to not have someone here that can drive to all the doctor appointments...etc. God will make a way.

thanks to all of you for reading, for praying, for taking time out of your day to be a part of my journey...this journey...its full of blessings and each one of you are....Gods, grace, mercy and love fall upon you...

LOVE LOVE LOVE!