Kids,,

Time is going so fast - It's two weeks since Maralucia came to join our group. She has gained very well - gone from 3.5 kilos to 4.6 kg. That's about 2 1/2 pounds in 2 weeks. Her ribs aren't showing anymore, and her legs don't have loose skin hanging off. And she's only on normal formula. Amazing what enough of it can do.

Caleb is also doing excellent, gaining well, and tightening his fingers around my heart. Please, nobody think of adopting him because I don't think I'd be able to let him go.

Sat. we went to the resort and I introduced him to the ocean and pool. OK, a bit early (he needed a bath anyway) so I'll wait for the next time till he at least enjoys his baths.

Then today Caleb's aunt, who brought him here, came. I was glad to talk with her. Apparently his mom didn't die the day he was born but a week later. When I asked her why she had died, she said she died from hunger. I think I need a better history. She was happy to see Caleb so well, and also likes the name we gave him. She's a Christian, and knew the story of Caleb in the Bible. She has 20 people living in her house - refugees from Port, so we've been giving her food and stuff for them. She's not from the mountains like we thought, but outside of Montrouis.

Last Tuesday a couple came to the clinic with their twins - in July they'll be 3. I think the boy is one of the worst cases of Kwashiorkor that I've seen. He was swollen from top to bottom. Even the back of his head was cushiony, his eyes almost swollen shut, his genitals huge. His twin sister was swollen from feet to knees, and the rest of her as skinny as can be. I was worried about them, and being they're from 4 hours walking away, I arranged for them to stay at our convalescence dorm so we could keep an eye on them. The dad went home the next day and brought the other two children - a 4 and 6 year old.

This has born in me another vision. Since we're in the middle of getting a "tent village/field hospital" going, we're going to keep some tents for families that have severely malnourished kids or that are from really far away that need it desperately. Or other patients that just need to be kept in observation for a bit. We've quite often gotten kids that I really hate to send home, because who knows what will happen. Or kids that aren't doing well - we can keep them for awhile to see if they're sick, or if others eat it.

On Thursday we went up to Ivoire again. We have to get the malnourish kids there. So far we've mostly seen the sick ones. I think we easily saw 50-70 kids. We have a PA (Physician Assistent) here for almost 2 week, so there were two of us seeing patients. We're going to start going every other week.

This already feels like top of the mountain.

Today we got a visit from someone in Cross International (they're one of Canaan's biggest supporters). He told us about a pastor he knows that came to visit, went home and moved down here two years ago. He's in Gonaive - the city devastated by two hurricanes in the last 8 years or so. People that left after that and went to Port are now returning after the earthquake. (What's that - reversed refugee status?). Anyway, this guy is in the poorest of poor of Haiti. Even the Haitian with him when they went to visit was amazed that that existed in Haiti. So next week the 7th we plan to go visit - they were asking about starting the Mamba program there. It's 2 hours north of here. This pastor apparently is attending to all the needs of the village - medical, starting a school, etc, and he's doing this on his own, without a lot of support in any way. We'll be able to give a better report after having been there, but pray for them there and us to know how best to help. They said even 12 year old boys were running around naked because they don't have clothes.

This week Canaan is busy! It's the week of their 19th anniversary, and they make a 3 day celebration of it. They have a day/meal for the church people. Usually they invite a lot of people from churches. This year for one meal they're inviting the refugees in the area.