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

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.