Bobi Bender

Hi,

Well my mom and dad got here, so I won't promise you that you'll hear a lot from me directly. But hey, I've found a way for you to keep up with some of my doings and even to see some pictures from here. Bobi here managed to get her blog up with pictures, so check that out. We do almost everything together, so a lot of her activities include me. OK, so maybe it doesn't tell you what I think but it tells you what I'm doing and involved in. Her link is on my list.

Elsie  

Friends

Sunday, Nov. 23, 08

Hi everybody,

Seems like awhile since I've written on here. Is it really not a week? I guess a lot has happened. Sister Gladys came home while we were gone last weekend, sister Boni is back till May (she's the children's hero and advocate and playmate and teacher and friend and mother all in one, plus all the things I haven't mentioned.) It's good to see her around again.

On Wednesday, a team of 31 arrived. It has kept everyone busy preparing. The girls working in the kitchen are LOVING making food for this quantity. It's a challenge they are meeting wonderfully - very organized and great tasting!! The team is also getting lots of work done - they finished pouring the cement for the roof of the little kids' dorm - across from our cafeteria. They have also made and set up a pingpong table, and they brought a net and balls. I think that will be an everlasting need here now - new balls! They love banging them with the paddles, which at least 4 are bare now. They don't understand the balls work better. One young boy just started ripping it off - I think for him it was in the way or something. But they're enjoying it.

Saturday afternoon, all of us and the older kids packed up and went to spend some time at a beach house owned by P. Henry's brother-in-law. It was a great place!! We had a bonfire, though it was too windy to sit around it - grilled hot dogs and chicken and a time of singing and testimonies and reflexion.

This evening, Bobi and I went with our friend from down the road - Matt, and his two visiting friends to hang out at the hotel where they're staying for the weekend. It was a wonderful relaxing time. We hung out on the roof of a 4 story hotel, watching the stars, chatting, and getting a massage from Renee, who is a massage therapist. There was a wind, and everything felt wonderful! 

Monday

Well the generator was cut off unexpectedly last night, so hope to finish this tonight. It's been a busy day at the clinic again. That's becoming the norm nowadays, it seems. It's to the point where one person can hardly do it alone anymore, which means it's difficult for me to take a day off. Malaria was the most common ailment today I think. Funny how it seems people come in in spurts with the same things.

This week is looking just as busy, but pleasantly so. Tomorrow I'm planning to go to Port again, this time with two patients. The one from last week, that we didn't get to a doctor with and also Maikel. His dad finally showed up last week, and we're needing to do an Echocardiogram on him - see if he really has a big hole in his heart. I put the fear of death into the dad when he was here - after all, that's what will happen if he doesn't bring his son regularly. The said thing is, I realize it is very difficult for him. It takes him 3 hours to get here on the taptap, and he works in Port, which is the other side. If he quits the job, where's the money???

We're celebrating Thanksgiving here on Wed (we're not in the US - who says we have to abide by their days???). This way we can serve it with the team. I haven't been here for one so we'll see what it's like but sounds like it'll be a feast. In past years, all the kids, including the youngest, get one whole turkey leg. They almost fall asleep eating it. So this will be fun for everyone!!

Then on Friday - back to Port. This time for a very special reason. My parents are coming to visit for 2 weeks! It's their first time (actually my first visitors here). They're from Costa Rica, so used to third world cultures, but I think they're still gonna be a little surprised.

OK, nothing is getting cleaned in my room tonight so I better close my ramblings here. Thanks for reading and keeping us here in mind. God's blessings to each of you!!!

Elsie

Jacmel

After a wonderful long weekend, I was back at the clinic full swing again today. After 20+ patients, we still had the Mamba clinic. We had a great turnout today. Our little marasmus child, who looked like skin and bones had gained a whole kilo!!!! Amazing! Especially since his mom is a bit mentally handicapped and we didn't know how much she was getting what we were telling her. But we drilled the "12 tablespoons, 8 times a day" into her so much, she was answering that for other questions as well. She was really in a good mood, and we made a huge happy deal about him gaining so well. You could just literally see the difference in one week. I looked at him before weighing him and thought "wow, there's some fat on him - I bet he'll have gained".

Another good but kind of heart wrenching patient was Matiana. She's the one who's little brother we buried a couple weeks ago. She graduated today, which is awesome, but it means we won't see her sweet smile anymore, now that her brother isn't coming either. She didn't want to leave. The mom's like "you could just keep her". We get that so much. The sad patient we had today was a little 4 yr old that looks like two. He is SOOO thin but he's been in the program only a couple weeks. Now the mom said she has to go up in the mountains and won't come back till January. I don't think he can survive that. He came to us swollen, which means his heart is having a hard time. The swelling has gone down pretty much, but he's still so thin. Keeping him here is also such a responsibility! If anything happened.... or if the mom didn't come back.....



So I'll talk about my weekend. Last Friday I took a 5 yr old patient to Port that has been having throat problems. His airway was almost obstructed a few weeks ago. I gave him enough medicine that that cleared up and he was able to breathe ok again, but now he can't talk out loud, so I want to take him to a specialist. Though I didn't get much done, it was good to get out.

Then Sat. morning, Bobi and I went with our friends, Chris, Leslie and Matt to Jacmel. Jacmel is a city about 1 1/2 hours over the mountains south of Port. The area hardly felt like Haiti. The city is much cleaner than what I've been used to here, and the people seemed more relaxed. It's an old city, used to be a port city, so maybe a little more well-to-do.

We had lunch at a nice resort but decided not to stay there. We went on to a different area and had a fun couple hours in the water, floating on tubes, after which we checked into an old hotel that used to be a home for a rich family in the 1800s. It was all kind of victorian. It was about 2 1/2 blocks from the ocean, which we again enjoyed Sunday afternoon. The waves there reminded me of home - about 5 foot waves, and tubes didn't really work.

The most fun part of the weekend: Sunday morning we rented 4 motorcycles with drivers, and they took us about an hour or more up the mountains - through a wide river where our feet of course got wet and some of us had to walk across, up and down such steep hills they asked us to walk them :( , pass all the Haitian people staring out wondering how many bikes there would be I'm sure. And finally after getting to the top - a 10 minute hike down to 3 wonderfully blue swimming holes, which came from a waterfall into the last one. It was absolutely beautiful and oh, so refreshing. I've never seen such blue, almost aqua colored fresh water pools!! There were some jumping off spots too, for the "high jumpers". The water was like 75 ft deep.

We took a different route back since the first one was really washed out by the hurricanes. It was still really steep at times. One hill was even wet, with slippery clay. My driver was in the front and by the time he realized it, it was some ways down the hill before he was able to stop, and in the process I got a nice muffler burn on my leg (ouch!). I was so grateful to stop our sideways descent, I hardly minded. WoW!

What fun it all was! On the way back, we stop in Port for some errands and culminated the trip at Epidore - the Haitian version of American fast foods place. We even had ice cream!

I'm going to post this without pictures since I don't know when that will get accomplished. Hopefully by this weekend!

We are all very busy getting ready for a team of 32 coming in tomorrow. They've never had one that big, so it's a bit overwhelming for everybody. Please pray that everything goes well, and that everyone can be blessed.

I'm praying that God will touch your heart with a special touch right now! He loves you, you know!

Elsie

Beach day

Bobi, Olivia and me relaxing on the hammock at Chris and Leslie's

We had a fun day at the beach. The waves were much bigger than normal and at first the kids were a bit scared - then they discovered the fun of waves!!

Exerson

Thursday

This evening I'm just going to let my mind wonder and see what comes out (the good thing is the delete button on this computer works, though you may not think so).

How am I? Not sure. Maybe I'll know by the end of this blog.

I've been dealing with Roseland, Exerson's mother. Exerson has been in our Medika Mamba program since sometime in the summer. He came to us very dehydrated, and extremely malnourished. On top of that, I saw immediately there was something wrong with his development but at the moment that was a minor concern. The urgent one was keeping him alive. We immediately took him to the St Marc hospital and he was admitted for dehydration and pneumonia and stayed for a week. (if you've followed my emails, you may remember the baby that died that we took to the hospital. It was the same week Exerson was discharged) so the two were always linked in my mind - same problem, one survived, one didn't)

He has been in the MM program ever since and it's been a struggle for me, because I don't think there were more than about 2 or 3 weeks when the mother did not report that he had a fever. And sometimes she'd bring him in between and he'd have a fever of 103, 104. I did tests, had doctors check him, a couple times she went to other doctors, and it would go on. He would have seizures.... 

I'd look at him and wonder how the mom does it. She's really poor, yet she faithfully fed her 15 month handicapped, malnourished child. I must say though, physically, he was looking much better. He had gained quite a bit of weight. A few weeks ago she brought another daughter who was starting with kwashiokor (severe malnutrition) and we admitted her into the program too. There are 3 more but not all live with her I believe.

Then on monday she came to tell us Exerson passed away at the hospital from a high fever and seizure. The number she said isn't possible so I won't repeat it. 

Here's where my heart started getting more involved. She has nothing and was wondering if we could help her with a coffin. Funerals are so different here - guess it depends how much money you have. They like to go all out and do it as well as their neighbors. People will go into debt that takes them years to pay. Roseland didn't seem that kind, but she looked so dejected about it. When you don't have money for food for your living children, how do you bury your baby? We ended up paying the grave diggers, the morgue, the coffin, the clothes for the coffin. She said she had nobody to help her.

This afternoon Jamil, our driver, got the baby from the morgue and one of the girls and me went along to the grave. I wasn't sure what to expect. The mom wasn't there. They unloaded the coffin and took it straight into the hole. They looked around, wondering if the mom was there. Somebody said she wasn't, so they started closing it. Probably the whole thing didn't take more than 10 minutes. No prayer, nothing. There were about 13 people there, including some onlookers and 4 from Canaan and the hired grave diggers. 

I left wondering about life. What's in a funeral? Is it all for the living? Does it make a difference? Why does it seem so wrong to put someone in a hole without some kind of "dedication"? There are times here when people are so poor they won't even take a body out of the morgue. (thankfully that doesn't happen a lot) 

What's the worth of a life that would never have been normal? Because I can't help thinking life will be much easier for the mom. Maybe the sister has a better chance now.

"God clothes the lilies of the fields.. will he not much more care for "one of his little ones"? I'm glad God doesn't base his love on how intelligent we are, or how cute, or how useful. This little soul had God's complete love. God loves... beautiful flowers, bright sunsets, powerful waves of the ocean.. and little innocent souls.  I'm glad I was able to help and once in a while make the last 4 or 5 months of Exerson's life more comfortable.

   

Mother Roseland, sister Matiana and Exerson