HAITI 2010

The January 2010 mission trip to Haiti is now full!! The areas of service for the January trip are medical/dental, well drilling and VBS. Our hope is to make 2 trips to Haiti every year, so if you missed signing up for this trip, stay tuned for dates for future trips!

S.o.S. would like to thank everyone who contributed 40,000 tablets of vitamins & pain relievers that shipped out on the container with the van to Haiti! Additional medical, dental & well supplies filled the rest of the container for our January visit.

S.o.S. still needs to raise $10,000 to pay for the water wells that will provide clean, safe drinking water to the orphanage children who are drinking contaminated water that makes them sick every day (over 50% of deaths in Haiti are said to be caused by water-borne illnesses). As New Hope has adopted the Eden Garden Orphanage as our international focus, we should see these kids as OUR kids - to make a tangible difference in their lives and overall health , mark “S.o.S. Haiti” on your tithe envelope or through online giving at lookingforachurch.org or mailed to New Hope at 12350 Hall Shop Rd., Fulton, MD 20759. For more info, e-mail NewHopeSoS@comcast.net or visit the S.o.S. booth in the lobby at New Hope.

CONTAINER SHIPPING TO HAITI / WELL PROJECT

In Mid-October, S.o.S. will be sending a container to Haiti with the van that New Hope donated to the Eden Garden Orphanage. This container will also include some water well drilling supplies for the new wells that will be drilled to replace the current well which is contaminated with parasites and causes all of the kids to be sick.

S.o.S. has committed to raise $10,000 for the drilling of 2 new water wells - one for the orphanage and one near the orphanage gate as a goodwill and prevenative health measure to the surrounding community as their drinking sources are also contaminated, causing much sickness.

Aside from financial donations for the wells, we are also requesting donations of MULTI-VITAMINS and PAIN RELIEVERS for adults and children that we can send in the container. Since these items are very heavy, we would like to send them in advance for our next trip there in January 2010. There will be a donation bin in the lobby.

We took 25,000 vitamins to Haiti on the last trip and ran out. Vitamins are very effective in improving the nutritional deficiencies that cause so many illnesses - this one item can make a huge impact on a person's nutritional health as we have seen over and over again!

Ways to donate towards the Haiti project:

1. 
   
   New Hope tithe envelope (specify "S.o.S. HAITI")
   


2. 
   
   Make a "DROP IN THE BUCKET" in New Hope's children's Sabbath School classes and kids church during offering time


3. 
   
   Mail a check to New Hope at 12350 Hall Shop Rd., Fulton MD 20759


4. 
   
   Donate through online giving at lookingforachurch.org

THANK YOU for caring about the kids at Eden Garden Orphanage and the people of Haiti! These new water wells will make a HUGE impact on their overall health and well-being!

THE NEXT MISSION TRIP TO HAITI

Dates for the next trip to Haiti are Wednesday, January 13 - Tuesday, January 19. There will be both a medical and dental outreach again, as well as possibly other areas of help needed. Space is limited and several have signed up already, so please e-mail us at NewHopeSoS@comcast.net if you are interested in joining the trip.

Follow link for more pictures

Click here to view more pictures: http://newhopesospics.shutterfly.com. More will be added soon!

Magdalene's Mom

Saturday, we treated Magdalene , an adorable little girl who lives at E.G.O. and whose mom lives close by with her other children. She had approached Charles for help in St. Marc (a few towns away) and he then moved her to Montrouis near E.G.O. so that he could help her more easily. Charles said all that she owned was a rug and 3 pots and pans.

While we were treating Magdalene, her mom was standing a ways away, looking despondent and detached. We weren't aware of her living situation at the time, but after learning who she was, Glenn invited her over. While Dave finished applying the anti-fungal cream to Magdalene's legs, her mom started talking to Kelly (one of the boys who was interpretering for us), who then informed us that she had told him that she sometimes "feels crazy and wants to kill her children". Whoa.

After asking a few questions, Elizabeth determined that she was suffering from Pellagra, which is caused by lack of niacin (Vitamin B3). Pellagra is classically described by "the four D's": diarrhea, dermatitus, dementia, and death. Other symptoms include aggression, red skin lesions, insomnia, weakness and mental confusion. This happened because her diet, like so many others, is so lacking in required vitamins and nutrients.

Thankfully we had a nice supply of vitamins (Thank you, vitamin donors!) and we were able to give her a year's supply.

The miracles we saw here:

1) That Magdalene's mom was at E.G.O. when we were treating her daughter which was a spontaneous event that we hadn't planned on.

2) That Glenn felt "the nudge" to invite her over to where we were treating Magdalene when we weren't even aware of the family connection.

3) That she felt safe and comfortable enough to confide in Kelly.

4) Given her mental state, that she was aware enough of her "bad feelings" to know that they were wrong and that she needed help.

5) That Elizabeth was able to diagnose her condition

6) That we had the vitamins that she needed (we ran completely out of vitamins on Tuesday.

Elizabeth told her that she should start feeling better in as little as 2 days. She is pictured above on Tuesday, with a smile on her face. Based on her disposition and responses on Tuesday, she is feeling much better and we are hopeful that a simple vitamin (along with God's divine intervention) will help her to continue to care for her children. When asked how she was feeling, she gave a thumbs up!

Eden Garden Orphanage Information

Eden Garden Orphanage was founded in 1998, by Charles and Gigi Le-Morzellec, a French couple residing in the state of Virginia, USA. After seeing the poor conditions and hopeless life of those precious little children in Haiti, the Le-Morzellecs started dreaming of a way to offer those little ones the hope of a better future. Today, this dream is a reality. It has not been an easy path, but with God's help and the generous donations from those who have supported the project thus far, they have dramatically changed the life of many of these children. To be a part of this dream, visit: http://www.edenchildren.info/.

It doesn't take long to see how much Charles loves these kids and how much they love him. At any given time, he will have 2-3 kids on his lap, rubbing his shoulders, holding his hands. He is their Papa and they are thankful for what he's done for them.

Charles and Gigi have given these kids a much better life than what's outside the gates of the orphanage, but they still have so many needs - better drinking water, more bedrooms for the children, mosquito nets, screens on the windows, educators, people to spend time with and love the children, and most of all, people to adopt these beautiful children. The adoption process takes about a year and around $5000. It is a quick trip to Haiti (only 1.5 hrs from Miami) and tickets run around $500.If you are interested, please e-mail us at NewHopeSoS@comcast.net and we can put you in touch with Charles.

More pictures

PICTURED: Minnie Raju treating a dehydrated Libson / Charles, Scott & Dave talking to Jolina, the lady who works at the orphanage whose house the guys were working on / Typical concrete homes in Haiti

TUESDAY, MAY 26: Last day of work

Ricardo made it through the night with his on-site nurses monitoring him closely! We were able to get him some formula and he has a good appetite after not eating for 17 days! Things are looking up for this little guy and he accompanied us to the same village where he was brought to us for our final clinic on Tuesday. Mom & Dad did show up yesterday looking for him after Mom got out of the hospital, but she didn't want to hold him and we're not sure if she even wants him. We've observed a real lack of attachment from parent to child, and our triage and providers all had been asked multiple times by various mothers if they would like to take their children. I think it's just such a miserable life here and that they're barely able to care for themselves, so they want to spare their children their hopeless lot in life by passing them off to someone who could provide a better life for them. We expected to see Mom & Dad on Tuesday, but they didn't come. For now, Ricardo will become one of E.G.O.'s latest additions (though Mom & Dad were told where they could find him). There are a few in our group who would like to take him home right now, but legally they would have to wait for the adoption process which takes at least a year.

One of the patients that came through the clinic on Tuesday was a 17 year old girl who is dying of AIDS, though unaware of her condition. She was skin & bones and so weak that she had to be carried in. She was given some hydration solution and some pain relief and carried back to her home via our 4-leg drive ambulance (see picture). Glenn, who escorted her, said her home was 4 concrete walls with barely a rug. She has a few weeks of life left (at best) and there was no one there to be with her when she arrived.

It is hard to leave as place where there is so much need, because you want to help as many people as you can and there are not enough hours in the day or time in the world to fix the problems or the people of Haiti. Throughout the day and especially at the end, we were just passing out meds to people randomly that we knew 99% of the population needed, which was choloroquin for the rampant malaria, and Albendazole for the parasites that come from their drinking water. EVERYONE is affected by these two conditions which give them fever, lesions, headaches, night-sweats, skin conditions, upset stomachs, etc.

As we left the village, we were seen off with smiles, hugs and well wishes by the villagers who were quite aloof the day before. It takes a while to earn trust here, and the people aren't as warm and welcoming as they were in Africa, though it seems equally as destitute. It's just a hard and miserable life they live and we understand why it's hard to be happy here.

Last evening, we were treated to a show by the E.G.O. kids with songs and skits and laughter and it was pure joy to watch the children having fun and enjoying themselves. There were lots of tears and sad goodbyes on both sides as we left, and the only way we could get through it was to promise that we would return. A few were sent off with letters expressing love and friendship and asking for a home and a family.

It is now Wednesday morning, and we are in the dining hall getting ready to leave for the airport in about 1/2 an hour. Our hearts are heavy as we leave today, for the friendships we made, and the beauty and misery that we saw and experienced. We are thankful for the experience and the opportunity to serve, and are resolved that we will come back, so we will only say "We will see you again". Until next time...thank you for taking this journey with us.

MONDAY, MAY 25: Medical Clinic

PICTURED: Ricardo being worked on / Ricardo tonight sleeping soundly at the hotel

Today we took our medical clinic on the road and set up in village about 15 minutes from the hotel. We parked on the street and then walked about 1/4 mile and set up our stations in various homes in a row of people that Charles had helped. It was a beautiful setting with the mountains in view and banana trees everywhere!

Today went more smoothly than the previous clinics, as we are finally getting our routine down pat and making adjustments so that we have become more efficient (just in time for us to leave!). This morning when Dave was giving a short devotional thought, he said "Today, I want you to watch for the miracles". This evening when we had our de-briefing/reflection time, we had 2 miracles to report on! Their names are Ricardo and Lisbon.

Ricardo is a 17 day old baby who was brought to us by his aunt. His mother was in the hospital with pneumonia since giving birth. Ricardo had not been fed since he had been born 17 days ago. He was skin and bones and so cold and lifeless - he was in shock. He was so dehydrated that his head was sunken in on the top and his veins were hard to find. He was about an hour away from losing his life, and they had to act fast. Ann & Elizabeth first fed him with hydration solution in a syringe. while the I.V. fluids were prepared. We gathered around as Pastor Ann held Ricardo and Dave prayed for this little life to be saved. Seconds later, Elizabeth was able to get the needle in and start the fluids. We watched as different people took turns holding Ricardo and we watched as Ricardo's demeanor and disposition improved within a matter of minutes! Tonight, Ricardo is here at the hotel with us so that our medical team can monitor him through the night and take any necessary action.

Miracle #2 is Lisbon, a young boy (12 years old?) that was carried in to us and was also in shock and they could only find a coratid pulse on him. He was dehydrated, and suffering from symptoms of malaria. Elizabeth Wooster, (our medical team leader who is a shock trauma nurse), estimates that Lisbon was about 10 minutes away from death. They got Lisbon hooked up to I.V. fluids as well, and by the end of the day he was being fed a banana and feeling much better.

I think we have all gone to bed at night feeling overwhelmed by the vast problems and great need in this country. It's just too much to even explain...you have to see it to believe it. It feels like we're barely scratching the surface and making little impact when you see how widespread the poverty and desperation is. We all acknowledged that Haiti's situation can only be fixed by the return of Jesus Himself. However, today God chose to involve us in the plans HE had for the lives of these two boys and for today, a difference was made in their lives. What an awesome privilege to have even a small part in His plans!

Tomorrow is our last full day here in Haiti. Our plan is to go back to the village where we were today, and then spend the evening at the E.G. Orphanage where the kids have a special program planned for us. We'll leave our hotel Wednesday morning and arrive back at National airport Wednesday evening. It is unlikely that I'll have a chance to blog again before we leave Haiti, but will post our final update on Thursday after we're home. Thanks for following our trip! It's been hard to put into words what we have experience here but I hope you were able to see even a glimpse of what we saw here. And we'll be back!

MONDAY, MAY 25: Building and Dental Teams

The house that the building crew is working on is coming along quite nicely! As much as they wish they could stay to finish the house, they are happy with the several courses of brick they were able to lay in the few days we had here and were pleased to present Charles with a check from New Hope to pay for the completion of the house. The guys had so many helpers today that people outnumbered tools, so they came over to the medical clinic site this afternoon to see how that whole process went.

Our dental team consists of JD & Mischma Brutus and Mischma's cousin from Port-Au-Prince who met us at the airport and joined our team. JD is a dentist in Bowie, and Mischma is a dental hygienist and both happen to be from Haiti. Mischma lived here until she was 11, and JD was born in the U.S. but his parents lived in Haiti before he was born and both of them are fluent in Creole which has been most helpful.

Their work has been challenging in that most people have either never seen a dentist before. Fortunately, Charles has a dental chair at the orphanage, but today in the village, JD saw patients either standing against a brick wall or sitting in a chair we borrowed from the hotel. He estimates that he has pulled about 100 teeth so far, 39 of which were done today. And as we had hoped, he allowed Dave to pull a tooth so that he could make good on a promise he made to New Hope before leaving (See picture above)!

PICTURED: Scenes from street life in Haiti / Baby Reggie getting medicine / E.G.O. boys

MORE PICS

Lunch at E.G.O.

The kids had a ball at the beach!

E.G.O. director Charles and one of his precious children, MISSY CLEAN - see story at the bottom of this blog if you haven't yet read her amazing story!

PICTURES

Karen Tejeda enjoying a coconut at the beach Parasite lesions visible on Magdeline's legs

Giovanna (a nursing student) and all her new friends!

SUNDAY, MAY 24

PICTURED: Dave (driving) and Scott on the back with all the guys. This is how they ride here! / Charles and some of his many kids at E.G.O. / Shirley Tejeda working in the pharmacy with Mr. & Mrs. Raymond, a really sweet couple.

When we arrived at the orphanage this morning, there was already a line of people waiting for us, and we learned they had started coming at 5:00 a.m. The crowd was so large and was getting quite rowdy, and we had to close the gate by 10:30 because we knew we already had more people than what we could see by the end of the day which turned out to be around 250+ people. A lot of dehydration, malaria, parasites and malnutrition again in addition to tuberculosis and H.I.V. One man had been suffering from pneumonia for a few months already and was so dehydrated that we hooked him up to I.V. fluids which made a huge difference.

On the building site, Dave & Scott made a lot of progress on the lady's house. Their eager friend Anewl did show up today, and they told him he had a job at least until our last day on Tuesday. He was so thankful for the opportunity to work! The desperation and lack of anything good here is just heartbreaking. Dave & Scott already promised their tools and supplies to their helpers and you would have thought that a $4 pair of gloves and a $25 hammer was worth $1000 cash to them. They were so thankful and appreciative for something that could help them work.

Now we are back at the hotel and sorting meds to take a sampling with us as we go out on the road tomorrow with our mobile medical clinic. We look forward to telling you what we see!

SATURDAY, MAY 23

PICTURED: Dr. Sandra Abraham-Hebert at the beach enjoying coconut with the girls / Lidia & friends

We made it to church just in time for the service to end, finding out that they had started earlier due to the heat (it is HAITI HOT here!). So instead, we hung out with the kids and then saw about 15 more E.G.O. kids that we hadn't seen the day before and re-checked others from the day before.

After lunch, we loaded all the E.G.O. kids into the vehicles and drove over to a piece of property that Charles owns on the water. It is a special treat for the E.G.O. kids that only happens a few times a year, so they were so excited! When we arrived there, they put on their bathing suits (which consisted mostly of old, ratty underwear) and we all enjoyed an hour or two in the water, with 2 or 3 kids hanging on to us at all times.

Some of the older boys climbed the coconut trees and we had a coconut feast, first drinking the milk and then scooping out the soft meat of the young, green coconuts. The guys played baseball (using a coconut as a ball, and a machete as a bat) and the little girls gave massages, braided hair, picked grey hairs, etc.

We had light fruit supper at the orphanage and a little dance show by John Lee, one of our favorites who is blind but full of personality and knows English very well. He uses touch to discover and recognize people and then gives them names. JD Brutus, (the dentist on the trip) who is 6+ feet tall was given the name "Big Man" after John Lee felt one of his tree trunk legs. He calls Scott Kramer "Big Momma" (for reasons we're not sure of!) and he calls Dave Wooster "Bare Head" and recognizes him by rubbing his head! We have fallen in love with all of these beautiful children and wish we could bring all of them home with us!

FRIDAY, May 22: 1st day of work

We all enjoyed a good night's rest and a shower, then had breakfast at the hotel Friday morning. We set up the clinic in the church (on the orphanage property) and started seeing patients, first the kids from Eden Garden Orphanage and then the community. Most of what we saw was dehydration, night-time fever and chills and upset tummies from the Malaria that is so prevalent, and skin lesions and visible worms (in the eye and skin) from the parasites which come from unclean drinking water. Our two most memorable patients were a 100 year old woman (who was about 4' tall) and a 110 year old man. The average life span of Haitians is in the 40's, so these two were quite a rare thing to see! They are still spunky and get around pretty well! One baby we saw named REGGIE was really dehydrated and vomited as soon as I gave him his medicine. After it happened a second time, Elizabeth decided to administer I.V. fluids to him and he was so listless that he never even made a peep while she was trying to get his I.V. in which was difficult with his sunken veins (due to the dehydration). After a few hours, he was much improved and was visibly feeling better. Around 120 people come through the clinic day.

Dave Wooster & Scott Kramer make up our building team this trip, and they are building a house for a lady that works at the orphanage who is currently without a home along with her 4 children. They had lots of helpers that day, and one persistent boy who approached them twice looking for work. After a few hours laying block in the scorching heat, Dave & Scott realized they could use some more help and let this boy (named Anewl) help them. He turned out to be a better brick-layer than them, very neat and precise, and was a huge asset to their team that day. He is so desperate for work as there is no industry or much commerce to speak of here, and work is very difficult to come by. They plan to pay him as their helper when they get back to work on the house tomorrow - they were told that if they paid him $10 for the day, it is far more than he would be able to make anywhere else so they're hoping he shows up tomorrow!

We had a light supper at the orphanage of mangoes, pineapple and bananas and headed back to the hotel for our reflection time, pouring over the stories and details of the day

Reggie receiving his I.V. fluids / Pastor Ann getting stats on a child in the triage area

THURSDAY, MAY 21: We're here!

EGO's smiling children welcoming us
After a few minor delays (like the pilot not showing up for our flight from Miami to Haiti) and some great anxiety over the contents of our bags, we made it here safe and sound!
Fortunately, Charles (who runs the orphanage) paid enough money (just an expected way of life here) to get himself into the customs area and to usher us through without a single bag being opened (which was suggested, then Charles pleaded ignorance as if he didn't understand what they were saying in French Creole. He later told us that the last group that came got their ###things confiscated, and they only had 8 bags - we had 31 bags completely full of ###.

After all of us and our 46 bags got loaded on to the various vehicles, we headed out of Port-au-Prince. What we saw was very similar to what we saw in Mozambique, yet worse in some ways - mere shacks for houses, kids pawing through trash, dirt and filth everywhere, kids bathing in dirty streams. Glimpses into the lives of people who have absolutely nothing - people who live in absolute poverty like a great proportion of our world lives.

We were welcomed at the orphanage by about 40 smiling children, waving and lined up like little soldiers as they welcomed us to the orphanage with a special song. Then it began, just like we experienced at the Iris Ministries orphanage in Moz, where the children chose an adult, and immediately began holding hands, touching hair, hugging us.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at the orphanage of rice, beans and carrots, potato chips, and a pink-ish colored medley of beets and potatoes. Our tummies were happy! Then we started unpacking and organizing medicines by type and with the help of the kids, got that process done more quickly than we thought. It was a longer wait to get to the hotel, but so thankful for a shower and a bed after a long, hot day!

S.o.S. Medical Mission Team heads to Haiti on Thursday, May 21

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
for your generosity in donating so many of the medical supplies we asked for. THOUSANDS of dollars of medicines are being carried over by our team to help the over 1000 patients we expect to see in our 4 working days there!

THINK OF US WHILE YOU'RE EATING BREAKFAST THURSDAY MORNING!
Most of us are leaving our homes around 2:30 a.m. and carpooling with others to be at DCA by 4:00 a.m. for our 6:00 a.m. flight on American Airlines. We will have a short layover in Miami and should be on the ground in Port-Au-Prince by 11:00 a.m.

TRAVEL BLOG
Once again, we hope to have a travel blog for this trip to Haiti as we did for the Mozambique trip last summer. We're a little uncertain as to the availability/quality of internet access, but if all goes well, we hope to be able to communicate and share our trip with you! Come back and visit this site to see what we're experiencing along the way!

Medical Mission Trip to Haiti, May 21-27

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Based on statistics from the World Bank, 78% of Haitians live on less than $2.00 per day and 54% live on less than $1.00 per day. Life expectancy is about 52 years. About 50% of the population is illiterate and due to the lack of funding there are not enough public schools for all the children. It has been called a place with little hope.

On Thursday, May 21, 17 friends and members of NEW HOPE will be flying into Port-au-Prince on the west side of the island of Haiti. From there, we will travel north for about 2 hours to Montrouis (also on the coast). We will be staying at a hotel which is in close proximity to the Eden Garden Orphanage where we will hold our medical clinics.

Stay tuned for more info and pictures (as long as we can get internet access at the hotel)!

INFO on HAITI

Haiti Background: The native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by Columbus in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola, and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island - Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE and after a prolonged struggle, became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Population: 8,121,622

Median age: total: 18.03 years male: 17.63 years female: 18.44 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.26% (2005 est.)

Death rate: 12.34 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 73.45 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 52.92 years male: 51.58 years female: 54.31 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.02 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 280,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 24,000 (2003 est.)

Haitian Ethnic groups: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% (1982) note: roughly half of the population practices Voodoo

Languages: French (official), Creole (official) Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 52.9% male: 54.8% female: 51.2% (2003 est.)

On Thursday, May 21, a group of 17 members and friends of New Hope church leave for the week-long MEDICAL MISSION TRIP TO HAITI! Based on what we heard about the last group that visited, we expect to see over 900 patients our 4 working days there (we saw that many in 8 days in Mozambique)! One medical team will work out of the orphanage, and another team will go out "on the road" into villages to conduct more clinics.


PICTURE: One New Hope family donated all of these meds shown here for the medical clinic!

The story of "MISSY CLEAN"

About a year ago, a girl about 12 years of age, showed up at the gate of the Eden Garden Orphanage (in Haiti) in the middle of the night. She showed severe respiratory distress, and was taken to a doctor that happened to be visiting the orphanage from Tennessee. They had no equipment to work with, so they just stayed up and tried to keep her comfortable, praying over this little girl all night long. In the morning, they took her to the hospital - "hospital" being a very loose term in Haiti, where they had an X-ray machine with no film. After finally acquiring some film and getting a look at the girl's lungs, the best that the Tennessee doctor could figure is that the little girl had ingested some bleach, which was destroying her lungs from the inside out. The Tennessee Doctor said that if a child had come to them in this condition at the Level One trauma center where he works, they would have given her a 5% chance of survival even with all the technology and state-of-the-art equipment that they had. However, our God is a God of Miracles and He saw fit to heal this child and she began to improve a little more each day! Today, she lives and works at the orphanage and the New Hope team will get a chance to meet this girl, appropriately called "MissyClean", when they are there for the medical mission trip this May.