Canaan new kids

And lives continue to be changed.....

Today, life changed for 3 Haitian children. They came to live at Canaan Christian Community, and with it the opportunity of a totally different life to what they would have had before. Not everything will always be glorious for them I'm sure, but they will have the normal future opportunities that all children in the world should have - a chance to be loved, a chance for an education, and a chance for a future. So many Haitian children don't have all three.

Juveterson (nickname Sonson) and Stephania (nickname FaFan) Plaisir are brother and sister - no mom. Sonson is 5 yrs old and Fafan is 3. Mykenly Saintelmy will be 5 months old on the 19th of Sept. I took them down to the clinic for a bit of a physical.

I also took Caleb and Maralucia for weight checks. Caleb is 7 months old today and weighs 16 pounds. Honestly, that's a lot of weight to be carrying around all the time. My shoulder is feeling it (or is it because of my age :( ? I feel this last month he has become a lot more solid weight. Having said that, I guess he's not all that heavy, cause the other babies seem to be passing him. Mykenly (2 months younger) is the same weight (he was breastfed). Taina was only about 300 grams behind him a month ago. I'm not worried. Nobody looking at Caleb thinks he's malnourished. :) I guess I just got what I wished for in the beginning - I said I'd rather not have a baby with all those big rolls (though they make the baby look healthy, I don't want to carry that weight around - selfish, I know). Caleb continues to be such a joy - with a pleasant personality, very quick to laugh, and catching on to things quickly.

This last week, we had a preemie come to the clinic - the baby was born from 7 months and weighs 1.2 kg. (2.6 lbs) The mom needs a breast pump - would anyone have or know of one they'd be able to donate? We have people coming soon that could bring it if you could mail it to them (Both US and Canada). Can't be electric.

So Chibelson, the baby we took in 2 weeks ago is doing so awesome!!! He gained more in 4 days with us than the 10 weeks prior with the family (and we gave them Mamba for him as well). He's becoming more active and happy too, holding his head up well, and alert to what's going on (after all, he's 9 months already. He weighed 4 kg (8.7 lbs) on Tuesday). You can hardly see his ribs anymore. He's also following Maira around with his eyes. She's leaving next Monday - has done such an awesome job with him. This Friday we have Ashley coming to take over for her. Which is just in time. He needs a little more care, since he gets fed Mamba basically every hour. Pray about his future in 2 months. I don't want to give him back (nobody else does either). I think everybody is hoping the family won't come back for him, which is a possibility. They haven't proved they want to take care of a baby.

We have hired another baby caretaker (Asmine), just in time. We now have 5 babies under a year at Canaan. That's interesting, since it's been probably 7 years since they had a baby here. In the mornings the 2 ladies take care of at least 4 of them (Yolene takes care of her own usually, and sometimes helps with the others). They're a little overwhelmed by it today since the new one came, but they'll get the hang of it. First while he may be a little hard because he's used to breastfeeding. The mom just felt she could not take care of him; she has a two year old as well and since the earthquake can't find their father. I can't imagine I guess how difficult that would be - not having anything and losing the one person that might help with the family. He's a cute, chubby baby, as you'll see in the picture if I ever get it uploaded. It's so difficult to upload onto the blog.

OK, gotta go.

P.S.

I gave up with the pictrues. See if this link to my FB works:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1564603&id=1058022139&ref=fbx_album

Benjamin Chivelson

I look at what my life was like 3 years ago and what it is now, and nobody would recognize me by what I do. Before, my life revolved so much around myself - all I did was work 9-5 to make money for myself, read, watch TV and once in awhile visit people. Now it's been weeks since I read a book, don't own TV, and my work doesn't pay. In my free time, I take care of my baby, write blogs, clean my house, talk to people that are visiting here, and to unwind at night, sometimes do suduko. Right now I wouldn't go back to the old life. Yes, it has many advantages, like drop your clothes in the washer at any time, pick them up half an hour later, drop them in the dryer, and voilà - they're done! Or, driving on the road without getting frustrated at the incourteous drivers, or the comfortable weather (if it's hot, switch on the fan or a/c). Instead, I spend all evening doing my laundry in a washing machine where the ONLY thing that works is the washing motor (all the switches and the spinner have stopped working), plus you do it in the evening, it's hot (WHEN will summer be over here?), and I try to figure out what to do with a malnourished baby.

That has been the challenge this week, and I'm left astounded at how God answers prayers!! I'm praising Him! Not 24 hours after posting on Facebook about needing someone to help with this baby, I had someone offer to pay for his care. Not 48 hours later, I had someone actually respond saying she might be able to come do it for a month. Thank you, Ashley!!! I think God has a plan for this child. He's almost 9 months old and weighs 3.9 kg (about 8.5 pounds). He came to us about 10-12 weeks ago and was put in the Mamba program, but he has not been gaining well. There are only 2 reasons why a child does not gain well in the program - one is if they have HIV, it can be very challenging, or some other severe disease (though they can still gain). The other is the more common reason - THE CHILD DOES NOT GET THE MAMBA. This is what I believe is the case with this baby - Chibelson. (HIV is negative) I don't think the family is giving it to him. His mother died, he's brought here by a young aunt, but the sickly grandmother takes care of him at home. He has a dad, but apparently does not take care of him either. He has that unkempt look. I am really looking forward to seeing how he will look in 2 month of taking care of him. I will post a picture of him then.

I asked the family to bring him tomorrow for our decision. Please pray that everything goes well. We always make a paper with the judge, just in case something happens to him while he's in our care. Maira, a nurse that is visiting here from Edmonton, has offered to take care of him till Ashley gets here. That is so good of her, because he will need a lot of care and there goes most of her free time. Kendall, our first grade teacher, has also offered to help when out of school, so "many hands make light work".

School opened here today and most of the kids are excited. They're all walking around in their crisp uniforms, looking good. Kendall came for 3 months to teach the learning to read class. We're hoping she likes it enough to stay the year (I think there's a chance of persuading her :) - if she can just get used to the cockroaches. Teri is here for a couple weeks now, but planning to come back in October long term. Pray for her as she returns and prepares everything. It is a huge commitment, but her heart is here in Haiti, and I think she'll do great. She is overseeing the school, kind of being Gladys' eyes and hands.

Maira, who is a nurse (muslim) and a great person to have around, came for a month. We have lots of fun conversations about the differences in culture and beliefs. She is not Suni, the traditional muslims, so it's not so strange for her. She's leaving the 20th.

Sunday a week ago, we had a baptismal. Kendall had never been baptized and really wanted too, and then two of the other guys requested it too. Estime and Dionel. This was special. These guys came to work with the pigs a couple years ago, and have slowly through their faithfullness, learned to do a lot more. They get to all the odds and ends jobs, many of the difficult ones. Estime has learned construction and does a lot of the building now. It's great to see them opening up slowly, from very shy guys, to participating more in things.

We are in the process of hiring a couple doctors and an RN for our clinic. This will change a lot of how we do things, but it's good. We still Both need to sit down again and decide on the last things. As soon as that's done, they can start work. Both are trained in Cuba, so have a bit better education than locally trained. are Christians and seem to have the desire to help people, rather than make a lot of money.

And Caleb is continuing to grow beautifully, learning things like standing up in his crib, holding his own bottle (it's fun to see him learn to do that. He holds it, then gets distracted and it falls and he quickly grabs it). He still loves people but is becomming a little bit more of a mommy baby. His delight at seeing me is so evident, it's hard to say no. He's eating quite a bit and loves it. Which is good, cause we're running out of formula for our babies. We'll have to see what we do about that, especially if we're getting two more. Besides Chibelson, we have another baby waiting to come. The only reason he hasn't is that we haven't been able to afford hiring someone to take care of him. He was two months when we agreed to take him - now about 4 or 5.

Here's a way to help if someone wants to. We're finding out how much it costs to have babies. The salary here is more for taking care of babies than other jobs (more responsibility, I guess). It's atleast $100.00 a month. Right now Canaan isn't able to add that salary to what they're receiving. We've already got one person offering to pay the salary of one. We'll probably have to hire two people (maybe not right away, since Ashley is coming) but having 4 babies (not counting the one that has a mom here), will take 3 people for when they need time off, etc. So if you have it in your heart to help with the salary or supplies, or to come here for a year, let me know!! :) I take care of Caleb, but still need someone for him when I work.

We're working with getting Canaan's paperwork finished (becoming a Cresh) so adoptions can start. Meanwhile, I'm working at gathering all the things I need myself. Just getting a list of what I need is taking frustratingly long. But, "Patience is a virtue", right?

Well these are the highlights of what's going on around here. Please continue to pray for us, that God will provide all our needs, in His time.

Elsie

Mamba

Tuesday

Today again reminded me of how blessed we are. Something I forgot just now as I was complaining with myself because one of our inverters burned out, which means, right now no internet (maybe things can be rewired later), and for me personally, no fridge in my room, no fan at night, and a dictated time to go to bed because no lights. But during the day I got a glimpse into the lives of others, and I have NO REASON to complain.

One lady especially touched me. She has a 1 yr old who's in the Medika Mamba program. She hasn't been doing the greatest so I'm trying to probe into her lifestyle to see why. She gets up at 4 a.m. to walk to where she works the corn fields all day. She takes her little girl with her. She arrives home at 10 p.m. Every day she says. And I'm trying to tell her to feed her girl 8 times a day. She feeds her twice a day. Imagine for a minute replacing your life with hers....

Two other babies, one 10 days older than Caleb and one 2 months older, weigh exactly half of what Caleb does. It's so hard to compare the two. Caleb is so joyful and a picture of health. The only difference is - Caleb got milk 6 times a day. The one that's 8 months is especially hard to see - I so badly want to take him from the family. He doesn't have a mom but does have a dad. He's been in the program for about 7 weeks and hasn't gained much. I know it has to do with the family feeding him. Is it decent of me to take the baby away from them? I'm not one to do that, but would it save his life?

We had 49 kids in the program come today - long day. Today was Jessica's last day. She came 2 months ago, and was a godsend, what with Bobi leaving. We have someone coming to replace her but not until end of September, so I guess till then, I'll be helping my Haitian nurse with them all every week.

OK, it's Thursday night by now. - Laundrys finished, Baby bathed, and internet will go out in an hour and I still have more to do.... So I'm ending this here. Our internet has been off because one of our inverters burned. We're hoping to get a part from the US with someone coming on Sunday. Pray they'll find it. Two days' not a lot of time. That requires patience here too. It means no battery backup at night for fans and fridge, and we can't have all the freezers running and no internet during the day. So praying for a speedy fix.

God bless you!

Back at Canaan

So Monday, after a bit of a rough start, I'm back full swing. A 2 hour delay because of engine problems in Miami resulted in not arriving here till after 8 p.m. Then there was no water, which meant no shower and no cleaning a very dirty house - which gets much dirtier here after 3 weeks of no use - after all, it's not empty. There were lots of spiders and lizards still inhabiting inside. Caleb was asleep but it was wonderful to hold him again!

Yesterday was Mamba day, and busy as ever. 53 medical patients (many of them babies) and almost 50 Mamba patients made for a lot of children. In the afternoon it was housecleaning emergency, then later some of us went to visit a 10 day old baby they had sent to the hospital the day before. He is malformed - his genitals and belly button are almost in the same place, which can easily cause urinary infection. Hopefully the surgeon coming next month can fix him.

It's been so good to be with Caleb again. He is such a happy baby - I don't think it is just because I'm back. At first I didn't think he recognized me - he's so interested in all that's going on about him and we were outside. But when I got him to focus, he reached for my face and started almost screeching, like he had so much to tell me. The funny thing was that was his reaction almost every time throughout the day. He didn't do that with others. So needless to say, he's happy.

He had his first fall today. One of the girls was holding him, and standing him on a chair. Not sure if she let go or what but all of a sudden he was tumbling off like a ball. He made a clean summersault onto the tile floor, landing on his back. After a crying spell, he seems OK - didn't seem to injure his back or neck.

We have a team of 8 people here from the World Race group. They go to missions in 11 countries, in 11 months. Sounds exotic but I imagine they have their many challenges. This group is leaving Friday and another group is coming, I believe.

Today we have another group of 12 coming.

Guess what I would ask prayer for this week is just for patience. With so many people coming and going, it's hard to stay in a routine that's established and sometimes even an invasion of personal space. I suppose I should be used to it by now, and it is great to have them come but ... Patience is always needed with a lot of things - patience till the hottest time of the day is over, patience when things aren't done efficiently to our American mentality, patience in getting rid of spiders, .... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture. And when it can't be done, God does miracles. Yesterday our generator wasn't working. When the guy didn't show up to fix it, Pastor Henri told one of the other guys: Let's pray, then go start it. It started perfectly. Praise Him, who knows our needs!

I'm not gonna make this a long one, but want to try and keep more up to date.

God bless you for your interest in the work here and for praying. Thank you!

Elsie

p.s.
I was going to try to upload pictures, but the pictures symbol isn't appearing. Internet's been too slow anyways. If I can later I will.

Long time...

Hello

I don't even want to look at the date when I sent my last blog. I apologize for the long time. Things have been extremely busy and I guess my focus has been elsewhere. I promise I will try to do better next time.

Here's a little recap on the last couple months.

May: We had 3 teams in. First an electrical team that started redoing the wiring at Canaan (much needed). That is a big project and of course they couldn't do all. Then we had a team of hard workers come from Colorado. These guys started digging the big cistern for water on top of our hill behind us. That is an extremely difficult job, as you have to dig and pick at rocks. We're still having guys digging but the rain and mud in it are holding up the progress. Then a family from my church in northern BC and friends of theirs came. They're also electricians and they wired the new clinic (YEAAA!!) They worked hard and probably did the wiring in about 2-3 days, but we're in Haiti so they had to go into Port a couple times for needed items. It was awesome to have them here.

June:

The 1st, we had 3 girls come to help with Mamba and whatever - Morgan stayed a month, Chelsea 6 weeks, and Jessica 2 months. They have been a big blessing.

On the 1st we also got a team that came for a week to do VBS with the kids.

The day they left, another team came for a week. There's always lots to do here.

The day they left, the ACE group leaders came. A couple days later, 50 more people came. They are from the ACE school that we use, and they were busy working on redoing all the school desks and making large bulletin boards. I was amazed how well it worked, hosting so many extra people. They had great leadership and direction.

One thing that happened that was monumental, and not so nice for Canaan was that Marcus and Bobi left. With Bobi expecting a baby, they decided to go home. They will be missed a lot, but we pray God's continued blessing on their lives as they settle back down in the US as a married couple to raise their family. Marcus was at Canaan for one school year, and Bobi was there for about 20 months.

We also had 3 med students plus Stephanie, a friend that is now a nurse practitioner for a week. They were kept busy at the clinic. We had many sick and challenging patients that week.

Caleb continues to be very much in the center of things when I'm not at the clinic. He is loved by everyone, and growing well. He is a happy little fellow. Even when he was sick with diarrhea, he remained cheerful - only less alert and energetic.

He captivates everyone's attention - even tourists from Mexico at the resort, which we enjoyed for the day.

During the time he was sick, one day he wouldn't eat, despite being so hungry. The nurse in me found a solution - syringe feeding him. He was happy with that.

We saw some really sick patients that week. This girl is almost five and was struggling with heart failure. The medicine we gave relieved her difficulty in the next 2 days and she is able to wait till our American pediatric cardiologist comes down in August. He'll give her a good check up. He brings his cardiogram machine.

This girl is 12, but more like a small 8 yr old. She's an orphan of several years, living with a now sick aunt. A friend brought her to our clinic. We found out she is HIV positive and got her admitted to the program in St Marc. Pray for her. She will need a lot of prayer and care to get her weight and health back. Right now she has a lung infection and who knows what else.

Another VERY sick baby we got is this 2 month old, in with a high fever. I was happy to have Stephanie there. Ismaylove, this baby, really came in this white (and she's a black baby). We found out she had malaria - the youngest I've ever seen with it. She was dehydrated and very weak, and feverish - too dehydrated to get an IV in, so we just made sure she got other fluids. We were able to get one in the next day. Because the mother came from hours up the mountain, we kept them in our dorm for kids for two nights. We didn't feel comfortable the way she was doing so Stephanie and I took her to the University of Miami field hospital in Port au Prince. Her hemoglobin was 3.4 (it should be minimum 9 or 10 for that age). No wonder she was so pale!!!! They got blood from the mother and one other person and gave her a blood transfusion.

This is the next day, post the transfusion. What an amazing difference. She's still doing ok. (These picture colors are true to life!)

Remember the Kwash kids that came in one of my last blogs? At least, I think I blogged about them. Here they are. They're almost 3 years old. This is SEVERE malnutrition. The boy was already swollen all over and the girl starting, up to her knees. We got them going on the mamba program pronto....

Before and after pictures. This took only 8 weeks!!!

One unexpected blessing I received this month was that my Uncle Henry and his son Glenn came to visit me for a few days. That was special!!!!

Also Joel Busby and 2 of his friends came for a few days.

Then on July 9, I flew to Miami. It's such a contrast. I found I had to do some adjusting yet. But that's probably easier then the other way. We had a great couple days in a meeting with some of the key people working for Canaan, reviewing and strategizing, and prioritizing.

July 11 I flew home for 2 weeks. Home for me this time is in Costa Rica. I'm loving it and getting rest (and I'm wearing a sweater a lot). I hadn't realized how tired I was till I got here. Naps, not doing anything, bowling, Pizza Hut..... Time's flying. The one big negative though, is I miss my baby, but I know he's in good hands, thanks to Jessica and Naomi and all the Canaan people that love him!

OK, I better end this. I'm hoping with lots of pictures, you'll forget how long it's been since I wrote. lol

God bless you all!!

Elsie

Container

Many of you have expressed desire to help fill a container for Canaan. We appreciate this very much. Below we have compiled a list of stuff we need. There are probably things we haven’t mentioned.

We realize shipping costs a lot too, so if you prefer to donate money, we can buy it in West Palm Beach. In that case you can send the money to Chris Hlavacek, making a note what it's for. His address is on our website: www.canaanorphanage.org.

We have the warehouse till the first days in June, so please have everything there for the container by June 1^st. Jeremy is receiving the smaller items in his home and the bigger things at his church.

Address for smaller items:

Jeremy Hopple/Canaan

1714 17^th Lane

Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33418

The address to send the big stuff to is:

Jog Road Baptist Church


855 Jog Road
West

Palm Beach, FL 33415


Plywood (2x4, 3/4, 3/8, 4x4 - all sizes)

Wood for Cupboards/shelves and supports for shelves

Unfinished wood for construction

Several corke boards and push pins

Tin

Pipes

Latrines

Water and oil based paint

Paint brushes and rollers

Electrical wires (#2, 6, 10, 12)

Outside/patio furniture (all weather)

Kitchen sink

Bathroom sinks

Microwave

Paintings (for wall decoration)

Christmas lights

Ice cream maker (electric or hand held)

Washers

Concrete mixer

Block making machine

Cutter sander router

Air compressor with accessories

Air nails and air gun

Regular and concrete nails

Ladders

Wheelbarrow

Rakes

Shovels

Pick Axe

Door locks with handles

Hand tools (hammer, levels, screwdrivers, wrenches, saw)

Electric rebar cutter

Power tools

Power tool accessories

Drills, saws, grinders

Circular saw

Cordless drills

Table saws

Windows and screens

Welder with gasoline motor

Mechanical tools (wrench, screwdriver, vice grips, pliers, etc etc)

Doors - hospital doors (we need 12, sizes 36x80 inches)

Musical instruments (trumpet, saxophone, flute, guitar, drums)

P.A. system

Chairs

Folding tables

Folding chairs

Coffee tables

Mattresses/beds

Single bedspreads

fans

furniture (couches)

nursery outfit (changing table, dresser, 2 high chairs etc)

Desks

New or good used T.V. (3-5)

Plastic

drawers (rubber maid)

Refrigerators

freezer – 2 big ones

Commercial oven

Water coolers 7-10

Baking pans (bread, cookies, muffin, cake)

Serving trays

50 gallons drums

Canned goods: vegetables (not hominy), Tomatoe paste, Meats

Wedding dresses and suits of all adult sizes

Cubic zirconium rings

(These are for us to lend to other churches (esp Eben-ezer churches) in order to encourage them to get married rather than live together. Many don’t get married simply because of the cost of a wedding)

Other things for Clinic:

Desks, chairs, fans, filing cabinets!!,

For others: (The people are starting from scratch)

household stuff like:

pots, pans, dishes, utensils/cutlery, sheets, pillows, towels, bathroom stuff

Daycare – we want to set up a daycare , so anything that would go with that.

- Please ask if you need explanation

Volunteer needs:

We have a lot of openings and needs for people who would want and be able to dedicate at least a year of service in Haiti.

-Agricultural person

-Repair and Maintenance

-Trade school teaching

-School teaching

-Medical/Midwifery

Warehouse

Tuesday

OK, this has been awhile. In a way, it felt like not so much was happening to write about but at the same time, we're always busy doing this and that.

Today was Mamba day, and I like to be at the clinic more, since we have more sick kids come in - often some really malnourished ones. One that was hard to see was a 2 month old baby, 2 days younger than Caleb. He weighs about 1 kg (2 lbs). The mom is breastfeeding but only like once a day. She doesn't eat well enough to feel good herself. She does have milk, and I spent some time encouraging and training her on feeding. The poor baby has been losing a lot of weight since birth, instead of gaining.

More and more, I see the BIG need for a women and children's hospital. We have GOT to start one. This baby should be under constant care. Any partners with me for that??? In the next month I want to go visit 3 places in Haiti. One is 1 1/2 hrs north of us. They have a training program that teaches moms how and what to cook cheaply for their families. They have also trained community midwives. Another one is a mission in Port that does pre and post Delivery care and teachig to ladies. They feed them high protein foods on their weekly visits. The other is farther away from here - half way to Cap Haitian on the other route. Talking with a doctor who has been going there for many years, he was saying the community training that they've done there has resulted in the lowest mortality rate for kids in the whole country. Worth looking at.

Last night we celebrated Gladys Mecklembourg's birthday. Gave the kids a chance to decorate and the women a chance to cook a nice meal for everyone. The kids idea of entertainment was to do parades - kind of like a runway show and dance mixed together. It was hilarious. Funny how inhibitions fly out the window when doing that.

Naomi made a beautiful (and delicious chocolate) basket cake for her. A lot of people really thought the cake was sitting in a basket, so they were a little surprised that when they touched it, it was frosting.

I've been working many hours organizing my medical storage room. Bobi helped me a few days as well.

I'd put Caleb in is basket outside, but the sun moved so fast, he got really sweaty one day, poor thing.

Or he'd help me inside.

A guy named Don built me shelves so that has helped. It's fun looking for stuff now. Of course not everything was quite in it's place and now yesterday I got another truckload full of stuff (actually 3 small truckloads) so now I need a ton of hours again. But I'm so thankful for it, I'm not complaining. Only wanting the job done!

Gladys and Henri are working on getting a certificate or something from the Cult Department (which simly means Religious) and they've had some great contacts. It's something like getting an NGO status without all the paper work and close supervision. We should be able to bring stuff in duty free (not vehicles, though) which would be a great help. So we are now collecting things in West Palm Beach to fill a container. We have a guy that's offered to take the stuff to the warehouse, so he's accepting things in his home for us. Big things though have to be shipped elsewhere. I will include his address.

Besides for Canaan, we are also collecting things to build houses for other people. Many have asked what kind of things they can send. Here are some things, though not nearly exclusive. :) Things don't have to be new, but please, in good shape.

For Canaan:

Wood, tools, fridges, freezer, furniture (couch/chairs, ), nursery outfit (changing table, swing sets, etc), windows,

For Clinic:

Desks, chairs, fans, filing cabinets!!, fold up tables and chairs, wood for cabinets/desks, fridges (staff and Lab),

For others: Wood, tin, nails, household stuff like pots, pans, utensils, sheeets, pillows, etc. The people are starting from scratch.

Friday

OK, this didn't get posted because I gave up on the above list and wanted to talk to Sister Gladys about it. However, she's been either in Port or not feeling well, so haven't had the chance. Bobi and I will try to come up with a list this weekend that should help all of you asking out. Sorry about this! I know many of you have been frustrated!!!! So have we; if you've been to Haiti, remember we're in Haiti :(

I will include the shipping address here but remember it's for smaller items that can go into Jeremy's home till he can transport it to the warehouse. Thanks so much, everyone!!!

Jeremy Hopple/Canaan

1714 17^th Lane

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33418

Phone: 561-317-3355