LIFE IS SO HARD IN HAITI

          Do you ever wonder why we was born where we were ? Why we are so BLESSED as we were??  That makes us so responsible of what we do with our life. Yes, someday we'll have to give account of our stewardship on this earth. When I get that little nudging of the SPIRIT, do I ignore it or do what I can.  What a job I have to do, Lord give me the STRENGTH FOR THE DAY AND EACH DAY.
    I went to the states for a few weeks to check on my Dad and Mom. They are ok just needing more help and I'm here, but this is where I'm to be.  I also got to see most of the children and meet a new one . Niles Stull what a cutie, hope we can someday get to know him better. 

Stuart and Niles Stull - lots of action here.

Stu and Niles are very close to the same age - two busy two year olds. Ashley brought Niles home from Ethiopia last February. She is a very busy Mommy. Micah and his family was good. Very busy getting ready for springtime mulch sales. Jared and Carrie is doing great, Jared's new business  venture - selling cars is going good -, something he always wanted to do.  I got to enjoy several Birthdays while I was there.Where does time go?

Micah and Melissa's twins Gwyne and Gracie turned 4 -

Ashley's Sami turned 6

Philip called several times when I was in the states. Can a cousin of Dr. Jolius's stay at our house till he recovers? Also one young nursing mother was having some troubles. I'll start with the older man's  (Gaston) story. He lives way up in the mountains - where there is very little water. He was cutting sticks to make charcoal, which is a good money maker in HAITI  but it hurts all the trees that continue to get cut down. Most people cook with charcoal. A  splinter got in his finger, which he wasn't really aware of. Probably not much clean water and soap to wash with. Two weeks later the family brought him down the mountain almost unconscious to Dr. Jolius. His arm was very swollen and infected. Jolius took him to a hospital in Fond Parisien. He got  IV in and all the medicine that was needed for the man. Think what our hospitals do for us- we just don't realize. Philip went back with him the next morning because a team of doctors from the states was at Double Harvest which is close to us. When they arrived, nobody had done anything to Gaston. Jolius lost it, he just wailed and told people off, then went outside and  started crying. Lack of sleep and a tired doctor already. Philip and Joluis loaded up Gaston took him to see what the states doctors would do. They cut open his arm and hand several places called facsicotomy,  to relieve the pressure and infection. Double Harvest is just a clinic, not a hospital. So when the doctors left in 3 days they hired a Haitian doctor and nurse to care for him. After a week - suddenly they had other plans, and were leaving. Pocketed the money?? Jolius called Philip and didn't know what to do. His house was already full, Haitians take care of their own people usually.  Philip called me, could Gaston, stay here for a week??  When they went to pick him up, he came with IV's and night shift included. :) Philip was very busy getting up at 2 am and 4 am adding more medicine to the IV. He was changing his dressing once a day, which took awhile and Gaston was in pain all from a small splinter. His wife arrived and different family members come by to check on them and bring food sometimes. Philip had Jolius explain the toilet and encouraged them to keep the bathroom clean. They are used to a bucket bath. I think they get in the shower with a little pan of water and bath. :) I showed her how to turn the faucet on and off. Sometimes we find the faucet on. One day she called Philip didn't know how to turn off the kitchen faucet. Its been about a month and they are still here. Gaston is getting some better, but Philip is still concerned about several places on this hand. We encourage him to try to squeeze his hand, so it don't freeze up. I'm afraid he's not trying very hard, just don't want it to hurt.

Gaston hand when he first arrived - #OUCH

He was so cute when he wore his CURVE shirt from Fairbanks, AK

Philip doing the cleaning and redressing a time consuming job.

His wife sure takes good care of him-washing his feet.   

       

I walked home one day from market and found them both asleep outside, its always cooler on the cement floor.

Gaston sure tells us a lot but we are not sure what all he's telling us. He's about 70 years old. don't know how long they'll be with us. Just wish we could understand each other more.
  Vonise the young mother with the very enlarged breast is very much a concern. Last year Philip took her and her husband to the hospital she was in labor. They live very close to us. Her husband came to Philip and had him look at her breast, very enlarged and dimpled. Said it had been like this for about a month. Philip decided to take her to Double Harvest  this is when the doctors still were there. The doctors treated her for mastitis but wasn't sure. I arrived home about a week later and saw this young mother with a very enlarged breast. I said Philip who is this and what's wrong with her. He told me this was Vonise, who he took to Double Harvest. Oh my, I said she should be better, she wasn't even nursing on that side. we didn't know where to start, we talked to Jolius. We decided to take her to IFM where he works at. There's an gynecologist Doctor there. We were there for most of the day. I just don't quite understand, the blood work was done early in the morning.  Philip had some done too and it was done. So we asked and pushed around a little bit. It was done just no one to organize and let people know and the doctor, to let them be on their way. How do you try to help ??? The Doctor wanted her to have several different -x-rays. One Jolius didn't think they did in Haiti. Well where do we go next. Talked to Simeon about the big hospital at Mirebalais. A free hospital but a very busy, plus its a 2 1/2 hr. drive. Simeon had a young woman there at least 2 times with a bad hernia and they hadn't got anything done yet. We decided to call Bernard Mevs Hospital - part of Miami University in FL. Teams arrive there weekly from the states. We made a phone call no answer but Scott called us back - whew- bring her in. They actually have a Breast Cancer unit. I'll insert here, Philip was taking classes at CAM for 3 weeks so I'd be the responsible person, for this job. OH! If I just could get this Creole figured out. We loaded up one morning her husband Erold and Vonise , very carefully driving through Port and without much conversation. Philip told me to call this Scott when I got there, maybe he could tell us where to go.We entered the iron gates after the security officers peered at us. There's not much parking space and lots of people walking and laying around. Parked the truck someone said something to Erold - so I had to pull the truck up tighter to the next vehicle so others could pass by. I then called this Scott, he answered. Wohoo! He said he'd be right with me, where was I? He arrived and told me to wait, the nurses weren't there yet- 15 minutes or so. Mostly so- but he came back and took us across the street to the cancer clinic. Picture this big kinda nice looking building - no screens in the windows - one huge free standing fan- some dusty drywall in the corner-florescent   light fixtures in various stages some had bulbs some did not -  desk, file cabinet in the middle of the room- nice chairs over against one wall - ladies in various ones getting chemo it looked like- other side of room - one nik intensive care unit- boxes and a nice cart with IV-bandage etc. across from the cart chairs of different sizes and sorts with men and women perched on them. The big fan then stops at some point, the street current must've quit. The reason I'm describing this is our thoughts  are so American directed , no its not a nice CLEAN AIR CONDITIONED ROOM its a third world country. Just to let you get a feel. Oh, yes there's a bathroom, no the sink doesn't work so buckets of water are in there one for flushing the toilet- please put T.P. in trash- septic isn't U.S standards - the other bucket has a spekit on it to wash hands- soap is on the nurses desk in middle of room. Dr. Vincent arrives -lives in Haiti but an American Breast Cancer doctor. He then sits on a chair and comes along to each patient and checks out their breast problem, no screen of course. Yes, I know its so different then our culture. Dr. Vincent is puzzled he said, he talked to them a long time in Creole. Then I got nerve up (doctors can be ever so intimidating)  and explained where we'd been because I didn't know how much  they had told. He thought maybe an infection or maybe a problem from this Chikunguya virus . He wanted a chest x-ray and a ultrasound done,  call him when they were doing the ultra-sound. We go back across the street and wait and wait. Remember the language barrier. Finally Erold goes to some different areas, they send him off somewhere else. He  pays some money, I ask to see the slip of paper and he keeps showing me the $ amount of the tests.  I think about then Scott came along and I asked him where we should be, he showed us. The x-ray tech called Vonise and I jumped up went inside to see if I could get the scoop. I asked do you speak English, yes he did. I said well, I 'm suppose to call Dr, Vincent when they do the ultrasound, he said don't call yet instead of its in another building. Are you a Nun he asked?  Sigh, just don't quite get it.    We went back outside not knowing where we're suppose to be, remember the language barrier. Erold gets up and goes in a office of some sorts then takes Vonise in there. I tried to asked with hand motions to see if she is laying down? Yes, he said. I had the phone all ready to punch call, I didn't want to let Doc down you know- maybe he'd be so impressed he'd think HEY SHE'D  COULD BE USEFUL AROUND THERE SOMEHOW.  I always get a tingling feeling when I'm close to hospitals - I want to help. Well, about then the Doc shows up glances over at me and Erold, the wife isn't there. He trots inside and I'm not sure what all is in that office but somewhere along the line Vonise had her ultrasound done. Dr, Vincent had talked to them and they had this slip of paper for an antibiotic.   I spied Dr. Vincent gathered my courage and went over to ask a few questions, the next step. He said  the x-ray and ultrasound was clear.  Asked us to get  the antibiotic and come back on Monday, to see if she had any change. He was still puzzled and would do a biopsy if no change. We left and I decided maybe Erold didn't have money for the antibiotic, because he didn't pick it up at the hospital pharmacy. Erold, Vonise rode out with Philip and I when we left the house to get the antibiotic. After several tries at  hole-in the wall pharmacies we found the antibiotic. Monday found us back at the hospital, we tried to pull in the gates, and I guess the area for parking was to full. So, Erold help me turn around on this narrow street . Picture a narrow street, people waiting to get by me in their vehicles and people walking to and fro, I was breaking out in a sweat.  Then I had to turn in another iron gate which they would only open one-half of it. My truck wasn't angled right and Philip's mirror was rubbing the other gate. A man got the mirror pushed in then I backed up, (as more traffic waited) I got straighter and squeezed in, sweating good by this time. Went in the clinic - no electric no fan. Doctor finally arrived and sat in the middle of the big room at the desk. He'd have patients come up and look at them there. :(  He decided to do a biopsy on Vonise after she signed the consent form. A consent form ??  I held Vonise's hand while the procedure was being done. I say OUCH, EVEN IF IT WAS NUMB! It will take about 4 weeks to get the results, so Dr. Vincent is treating it as benign cancer right now. Such a young mother, two children to care for, haul water for eating, bathing and laundry. Yes, and no laundry machine. Her husband seems to care and help good. I laid in bed that night wondering how I could help. Their laundry gets very clean when hand  washed, better then what my machine does. I thought I could take some hot hardboiled  eggs and get the laundry. When I arrived next morning not real early, the laundry was done and she was looking good. Tuff people.

Passion Fruit or Grendia bloom opening

We have grendia plants coming up in the garden. They make the best fresh juice. The first several blooms aborted. Hope we can figure out what's wrong, it took almost a year to bloom. the fruit is round, green and smooth. When its ready to juice after its been picked  awhile, it turns a yellow wrinkles up and is ready to juice. The Haitian say you use your blender (which is a fine mesh colander) and work the pulp with a cup to squeeze it thru the mesh. You add sugar and water with the pulp which is high in vitamin C. Yummy. I've learned you can do it in a vita-mix with water turned on low. The neighbors like for me to blend theirs too in the vita-mix . :)   

Open bloom

  God gave us another beautiful Sunrise over the mountains today. Please pray for Philip and I as we start a new day SERVING IN HIS KINGDOM. May we ever be faithful. Blessings and Prayers to all of you as you SERVE HIM WHERE YOU ARE. Philip and Bethany

Philip planting a tree by the well