S.o.S. Haiti

Monday, Jan. 16, 2012: Day 7 (Departure Day)

2012-01-20T22:26:00.000-05:00

We could only get the 5:30 p.m. flight home out of Port-Au-Prince on Monday, so we had a few hours to spend at the orphanage before leaving for the airport. We arrived at Eden Garden around 7:30 a.m., just in time to see the kids for a few more minutes before they headed off to school.

We watched them emerging from showers, getting their hair done, eating their breakfast, finishing up last minute homework, loading up their backpacks. To me, it looked somewhat similar to school mornings in my house. These 37 children (and the staff who care for them ) were acting just like a family.

Before the kids left for school, one of them prayed for the group. Then Pastor Marcel prayed with them - first in English for us to understand, and then in French for them to understand, asking God for blessings on their day as they learn and study. It was just the same way that we pray over our kids every day before they go to school. We are all part of God's family.

There were sad faces as we said our goodbyes, and the question was asked (that is always asked) as we are leaving...."When will you come back?" "Soon!" we promise them. As they walked to school, we were informed that we needed to report to the school for a special presentation.

When we arrived, we found the children sitting in open area of the school, sitting in the 21desks that had been designed and built for them during our visit. How exciting it was for all of us to see the desks actually in use! The children sang to us, and then there was a special presentation by Christian Toussaint, principal of Eden Garden Academy, to the various people that had done things to improve his school throughout the week.

Big thanks went to the Master Carpenters, Sean, Kurt and their helpers who built the 21 desks and a new desk for Christian (the principal) as well. The leads on the Solar Power team, Larry Wooster, Allan Rainey and Terri McGregor, received their certificates and handshakes for their hard work and life-changing contribution. The completion of the solar power system allowed for other improvements such as the wiring of fans into the classrooms, which are like brick ovens in the hot Haiti sun. Scott Kramer and Ron Chapman took on this project and the kids are able to be a little cooler in the classroom now.

Marcel, Dave & Misael worked on various parts of the water hydrant project, running the water line over to the school so that the children now have access to clean drinking water during the school day.

This work was also done in preparation of the future bathhouse project. See picture below to decide if our students could use a better bathroom?

The bathhouse for the students is just one of many projects that would improve the conditions for our kids and the school kids Eden Garden. We also have plans to renovate the kitchen at the orphanage, and when that project is complete, we want to add a school lunch program for all the kids at the Eden Garden Academy. Lack of nutrition causes many problems, among them are learning difficulties which are evident in so many students each and every day. If we could provide a school lunch, we would know they are at least getting fed one meal everyday.

Many ideas and plans for Eden Garden are in the works, providing us with many obvious reasons to return to Haiti. However, there are 37 BIG reasons to return - our growing, changing, awesome kids who don't really care all that much about what we do while we are there, but just want us to be there with them. After all, we are family.

Director Jean Claude Monasse, Dave & Caryn Wooster, Ronise Monasse

and just some of our 37 kids at Eden Garden Orphanage

SUNday, Jan. 15, 2012: The Difference That SUN Makes!

2012-01-20T21:52:00.006-05:00

Most mornings, when we arrive at Eden Garden, we hear the familiar sound of the generator screaming in the background as the ladies in the kitchen use the blender or other appliances to prepare lunch for our kids. Each month we spend between $350 - $500 dollars on fuel for the generator. Power is something that our team in Haiti has learned to not to count on when we make these trips. We know that we will have to structure our work around when the generator runs, so we can charge our batteries for drills, etc. This trip was no different in that respect until Sunday - the day that everything changed.

Scott, Ron, Misael & Terri working to get the panels installed on the roof

Our team arrived early in the morning on Sunday, knowing it was our last full day to get our projects completed before heading home on Monday. We arrived to silence...all that was heard were the sounds of our kids running and playing together as they enjoyed their day. Breakfast was being prepared without the sound of the generator. It was then that it hit me - the solar panels that you see in this picture had now been connected to the dual 3500-Watt inverters that you see in the next picture ... and WE WERE PUMPING AMPS!!! The solar team had nearly completed its installation already, but Sunday was our first day to see how the orphanage would run on solar power only. Our solar team of Larry Wooster, Scott Kramer, Misael Henriquez, Kurt Kesselman, Marcel Pichot, Sean Ryan, as well as our partners from Sonlight Power Company; Allen Rainey (Founder) and Terri MacGregor (Electrical Engineer) had overcome obstacle after obstacle to "GET 'ER DONE"! Now, we were watching the meter as the sun began to fill the photo cells on the roof with energy.

Larry Wooster & Misael Henriquez

All I could think of when I watched the energy in our batteries climbing was the same thought I had when I watched the clean clear water pumping from the water well we drilled in May of 2010...... THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING! Now, the team that has been working all week to install new wiring to the school with fans for each classroom was going to have the power to get those fans working in time for class on Monday morning. Now, our students and teachers can teach and learn in comfort. Now, our kitchen staff can better plan their meals, keep food longer and more fresh as they will have power for the fridge and kitchen tools that they need. Now, Jean Claude and his wife (who left their home to come live in the dorm at the orphanage) can at least have a rotating fan blowing on them as they sleep in the miserable heat. Now, all our kids can have ceiling fans running in their rooms tonight. We now will be able to use the critical security lights that can stay on all night to help keep our kids safe. Why? Because the SON provides us with the SUN in Haiti. There are many things this country is lacking, but sunshine is certainly not one of them. This solar project (made possible by the fund-raising from the New Hope Adventist Church's S.O.S. Missions Team) has changed everything! I (Dave Wooster) spoke to Jean Claude after our return and asked how many times they have had to run the generator since our departure on the 16th. and he said ZERO!!! This funding, this talented installation team, this SON and HIS SUN has changed everything! For that we are more thankful than words can express. NOW it is on to planning for things like a computer network and distance learning and many other things that reliable, affordable power now makes available. Thank you to all of you who have contributed to this LIFE-CHANGING project!

"School Desk Project" by Sean Ryan

2012-01-20T21:48:00.003-05:00

There are many experiences thatI can write about in the week I spent in Haiti. I feel EXTREMELY lucky tohave been able to experience and work with this great team of people. Themost rewarding about the week for me was seeing the older/younger teams ofyoung men use their skills and abilities to help others at Eden Garden andbeyond. I believe we were able to demonstrate that doing good work onbehalf of others ends up in reward and recognition of their efforts. Mr.Christians’ Monday ceremony with all of the school kids sitting at their newdesks was an incredible feeling of pride for me, and I hope, for Nicholas,Gregory, John Weber, Bichard and Merlens.

I feel like the medical teamthat supported this trip ended up being the unsung heroes. To see thesnapshots is one thing (and they are powerful!), but to watch them in action,healing communities and bringing comfort and hope to people was a beautifulthing. This was both the hardest and most powerful part of the week forme. I tip my hat to Elizabeth, Erin, Stacey, Mary and Ed as they areincredible human beings and I am blessed to have spent time with them.

Finally, I would like topersonally thank all of the donors who continue to provide for the children ofEden Garden. I have never been involved in a charitable effort with suchtransparency, generosity and focus on making sure that the dollars are spentwhere they can have the largest impact first. It is to you, the donors,that helped provide the materials and allowed us to make an impact on Eden Garden, thecommunity and for the Ramon family’s damaged home. The certificate thatI received from the principle of Eden Garden Academy fully belongs to thedonors, Eden Garden's board, the fantastic TEAM of individuals on this trip and thosefine young men for a job well done all around. Thank you for a fantasticexperience!

Sean Ryan

Cisco Systems/Virginia

Trip Participant/Builder

Sunday, Jan 15, 2012: Medical Team Re-Cap

2012-01-20T17:32:00.001-05:00

The medical team decided to hold another clinic there on the orphanage grounds on Sunday, inviting children from a neighboring orphanage and sending word to a nearby village that they could come to the clinic for free treatment. One of our patients was a little girl, (probably 9-10 years old) who had horrible burns on her leg and foot from cooking oil that had fallen on her. I heard her cries across the clinic where I was in the pharmacy, and came to see what was going on. I watched as nurses Ed and Elizabeth slowly removed dead skin that was still attached, cleaned out her wound, applied Silvadene burn cream and dressed it. As she wailed in pain, Elizabeth got really close to her comfort her, just as a mother would, assuring her that she would be ok and told her that she was being a brave girl. She returned to the clinic as instructed the next day so that they could re-check her wounds and teach her how to apply her own cream (shown in the picture on far right bottom of collage).

The Ramons and Home Repair

2012-01-19T12:13:00.002-05:00

Over four years ago, Eden Garden invited Mr. andMrs. Ramon to eat at the orphanage. Each day they come (spoons in their pockets), and wait patiently for their lunch, which is often their only meal for the day.

They are a fixture at Eden Garden. Between the two of them, they have one good eye - she is completely blind, and he has one working eye left. We watch as Mr. Ramon lovingly cares for his blind wife, and they are a picture of what marital love in action looks like.

Unfortunately, during the earthquake 2 years ago, the home of this 90 year old couple was damaged, especially their roof, which allowed rain and wind into their bedroom.

After assessing the structural damage and the tornroof, the construction team sent members

Kurt Kesselman (neighbor of Dave's from Booz Allen Hamilton), and Sean Ryan (co-worker of Dave's from Cisco), who are both very skilled carpenters. These men wanted to fix the roof so that the Ramons could enjoy a rain-free bedroomagain. Dangerous problems they encountered were walls and cement blocks thatcrumbled from the slightest touch.

Charles and Kurt assess the torn roof and damagedhome

Imagine sleeping in your bedroom with a roof with ahuge gap for one year

Two boys from the orphanage, Merlens andBichard, helped Kurt and Sean during the day, and into dusk, to repair their home as much as they could.

The Ramons were appreciative and very grateful forthe efforts of Sean and Kurt who fixed their roof.

As they repaired the roof, Mrs. Ramon sang and praised her God all day long. "Merci, Jesus, Merci" - "Thank you, Jesus, thank you", she was saying, over and over again. We marvel at how a lady who has so very little, finds so much to be thankful for. It is a lesson for us all.

The Story of Michou

2012-01-19T09:10:00.003-05:00

Thursday morning, Michou, a fragile-looking 17 year old girl found our makeshift clinic in
Fond Paul village, several miles away from Eden Garden. She presented herself for treatment to nurse
Elizabeth who sadly determined that there was not much we could do for Michou except make
her more comfortable, ease her pain and rehydrate her.

Unfortunately, Michou was suffering from end-stage H.I.V., and told Elizabeth that her parents and
family had abandoned her. From the unmistakable look of pain and desperation in her face and
eyes, it was clear to us that Michou was enduring the last days of her disease alone and in the worst environment.

Elizabeth began an IV line of rehydration fluids, and Misael laid a mattress on the floor for her
and cared for her during the day giving Michou water, and when she could eat, some nuts and
granola bar. At the end of the day, Elizabeth determined that she did not want Michou to go
home by herself because she was so weak.

Charles, nurse Erin, interpreter TiTi, and Arden volunteered to walk her to her village up the mountain a mile or so away. And although Charles and Arden walked on each side of her, Michou stumbled and fell hard on the ground, scratching her elbows and knees. She sobbed quietly on the ground, tears flowing, as she could not get up.

Charles and Arden helped her up and took turns carrying Michou home. Sensing that she was a burden on Charles and Arden (whose huffing and puffing indicated that they were struggling with the uphill walk), Michou whispered that she would try to walk. They got to her village, found her two room home, and
placed her on a mat. After praying with her, they left her bottles of water and protein bars, and
later sent some supplies for her wounds and skin with another person. Michou was silent, and
could not even wave goodbye. Her eyes were full of sadness.

On Saturday afternoon, a group led by Elizabeth, and including Glenn, Sean, Kurt, Stacey, Ron and Arden decided to visit Michou at her home to give her more supplies and food. Unfortunatley, Michou was not there, so they left the supplies with her family, who we couldn't even be sure that they would give them to Michou.

Shortly after our group got back to Eden Garden, they were surprised to see Michou and her sister who walked at least three miles in the hot sun to Eden Garden to see us. They heard that we had visited Michou’s home. Michou told her sister that she knew “the Americans would never leave her.” After some refreshments, we were able to put take her home with a bag of medicines, clothes, towels, water, food and some money.

When we said goodbye, Michou hugged and kissed Arden on the cheek, as did her sister. We saw a smile on her face for the first time. And this time, she was able to wave goodbye.

Sat. Jan 14, 2012: Day 5

2012-01-17T19:26:00.002-05:00

CHRISTMAS IN JANUARY ?!?!

As much as we were hoping that the bus we shipped over would arrive well before our visit, it did not. However, it did come in the (Saint) nick of time so that we were able to share in the joy of watching our 37 kids at Eden Garden have Christmas in January! The timing was perfect, after all.

Photos (clockwise) 1) David Wheeler & Arden Brion, otherwise known as "The Wrappers", wondering why on earth I did not just send gift bags over for the 60+ gifts that required wrapping. My answer of "Kids like to rip the paper off" did not seem to satisfy! 2) We sent the kids away and started an assembly line of elves who transported the gifts from the 2nd floor office to the shelter where we would have Christmas. 3) Glenn Gibb, elf in yellow 4) Misael, Ed & Benny making the final drop at the shelter 5) Erin placing the gifts on the appropriate "girl or boy" table 5) The kids coming in with their eyes closed in anticipation

Photos (left to right) 1) Dave leading the kids in, anticipation was high! 2) Mona waiting patiently for Christmas to begin 3) Sean passing out gifts 4) Still waiting... 5) Stacey playing Santa 6) Georgy and 7) Mika & Mona tearing into their gifts

Photos (clockwise) 1) Stacey helping Maydaly open her dolly accessories 2) Sabine & Woodline 3) Sean and Reline 4) Maydaly and her twin dolly! 5) Arden and the kids 6) Scott and Frisnell (Scott's family had donated many of the Christmas gifts) 7) John got his "MAHchine" he had been asking for 8) Dave playing "Beyblades" with the boys (our son's favorite toy, chosen and purchased by our daughter Sabrina, who contributed her piggy bank savings of $126 for the Eden Garden Christmas).

Fri. Jan 13, 2012: Day 4

2012-01-14T10:39:00.001-05:00

Friday was a busy dayand there is much to report, but for now I am just going to give you a glimpse of our day with the medical team through these photos. Info and stories to come later!

Clinic location of Ville Seche, Haiti

Patients waiting to be seen in medical clinic

Reading their medical information paper from triage while waiting to be seen

Elizabeth Wooster, R.N.

Father waiting in line with his sleeping son

Benny Hass passing out candy to kids waiting to be discharged

These two girls asked me to take their picture

Betty Wheeler fitting people with reading glasses

David Wheeler serving water to patients waiting for their prescriptions

Misael Henriquez making friends by taking pictures and showing the kids - they love to see pictures of themselves!

Thursday, Jan. 12: Day 3

2012-01-12T23:33:00.001-05:00

Triage under the tent in the village of FondPaul

Today the medical team took it on the road and visited the nearby village of FondPaul.This is a more remote village at the base of a mountain where we have held clinics in the past. Again, we saw a lot of the same types of illnesses we typically see (dehydration, parasites from unclean water, malaria, malnutrition, etc.). There were a few more unusual cases today - a little girl with a bead stuck in her ear, sitting right on her timpanic membrane which likely have required surgery to remove back home. Fortunately, it came loose by irrigating the ear, a true miracle and answer to prayer according to one of our nurses. There was also a 17 year old girl with H.I.V. who had a heart rate of 200 when she was examined. She was immediately hooked up to I.V. fluids, and within an hour, her heart rate was down to half that. She stayed most of the day receiving her fluids, and was down to 88 by the time she left. It was discovered that she had very little food, so she was given received a number of snacks (granola & protein bars), and we sent her home with more oral rehydration solution and food. At the end of the day, Charles and Arden (my dad), walked her back to her home, where she will soon die. Even though in the end, we could do nothing to change her terminal prognosis, rehydrating her and feeding her helped her to feel better, even for just a little while. Sometimes, that's all you can ask for.

Erin Yoder, R.N. investigating a family's health issues with the help of a translator

Ed Green, R.N., pulling dead skin off a little girl whose wrist was burned when a pot of hot, boiling water fell on her.

Stacey Torrens, R.N., giving medicine to a baby, disguised in peanut butter.

Marcel Pichot brought his guitar along to play and teach the kids some guitar basics. Bichard, John Delet, John and Woodline enjoyed his company today.

Solar Supervisors Allan Rainey (Sonlight Power) and Larry Wooster, with helpers John Rico and Merlens. These young boys so desperately want to be involved and included, and appreciate the opportunity to learn something. Today, the inverters (the hardware and brains of the solar panels) were installed (shown to the right). All of the exterior wiring has now been finished, and tomorrow we will light up the system to run the orphanage on solar power.

Weds Jan. 11, 2012: Day 2

2012-01-11T23:36:00.000-05:00

After a good night's rest, we were ready to jump right in and get to work! Today's solar crew included Allan Rainey & Terri MacGregor of Sonlight Power, Misael Henriquez, Kurt Kesselman, Scott Kramer, Marcel Pichot, Ron Chapman, Dave & Larry Wooster. 9 solar panels were installed on top of the roof above the office at the orphanage.This was the first step in the process,and tomorrow they will start hooking up to the inverter and will hopefully have power! Sean Ryan spent his day engineering and designing new desks for the students at Eden Garden Academy. The desks will seat two students each, and include a space to put some of their school supplies.Currently, our kids sit on old, rickety benches so these new desks will replace some of those.

The medical clinic saw over 100 patients at the clinic on the grounds of the orphanage. News travels fast and the line of people waiting to be seen by a medical professional grew s quickly. The team mainly saw malaria, parasites, and dehydration. One 18 month old boy came in with H.I.V. and had a variety of issues from that, and consequently will not live for very long. This is sad realization for many mothers in Haiti, which has such a high mortality rate for children under age 5. Tomorrow the medical team will take go on the road and hold a clinic outside in the village of FondPaul, just outside of Montrouis. We ended the night with dinner at the hotel and a re-cap of the day's events, sharing observations and experiences with the team. We stayed and chatted until the dining room closed down, then moved to the outdoor lounge area and visited some more. Then there was that late night karaoke dare between Sean & Dave, but we'll spare you the details on that one.... :o)

Ron Chapman, Terri MacGregor of Sonlight Power, Scott Kramer and Misael Henriquez with the solar panels that were installed today.

Allan Rainey (of Sonlight Power) and Dave Wooster

Kurt Kesselman and Sean Ryan working on the school desks

The line of people waiting to be seen at the clinic

Mary Speicher working triage at the clinic

This baby was severely dehydrated and got an i.v. line put in.

Tues. Jan. 10, 2012 : Day 1

2012-01-10T22:14:00.002-05:00

What a day! We started out real early this morning, leaving our house around 2:30 a.m. and working on about 2 hours of sleep! 16 of us flew out of D.C. into Miami where we picked up another 5 people who flew in from St. Louis, Toledo, Cincinnati and Tampa. We arrived in Port- Au-Prince before noon, collected our 40+ bags and ventured into the chaotic scene of the airport, where we were greeted by our friends Johnny, Jean Claude (director) and his wife Ronice. We boarded the bus that was waiting for us and headed for the orphanage.

What you see out the window in between the airport and Eden Garden is a life far different from what most of us are accustomed to seeing. Almost exactly 2 years after the earthquake, there are still people living in tents, but not anything like what we have seen in the past. Each time we come, things seem to be getting better, with less and less tents and tent cities around. We passed through the busy markets, saw kids getting out of school, and got a taste of the "no rules on the road" style of driving in Haiti! We were spectators, catching a small glimpse into typical life for most Haitians.

About 2 hours later, we arrived at Eden Garden. Our kids were lined up waiting for us, sang us their welcome song and then "rushed the crowd", greeting their new friends with hugs and hellos. We then mingled a bit, some walked around and toured the campus, everyone with 2-3 children holding their hands or holding on to them in some way. These kids just love having visitors!

Shortly after we arrived, Charles (founder and now outreach director of Eden Garden) pulled in with a van loaded down with the contents of the school bus that we sent over. Now mind you, this bus sat in the port of Palm Beach since it was dropped off there on December 5 and it finally made it onto a cargo ship that just sailed for Haiti LAST THURSDAY, nearly a month later! We didn't know if it was going to arrive in time for our visit, and have been super stressed because on that bus were all of the trip supplies needed to operate our medical clinic and solar power project that we brought this group of 21 people over to work on! The bus arrived on Sunday, (just in the nick of time), and although the port would not release the vehicle just yet (this can take days and lots of money), they did allow us to unload the contents which was the most important thing. We would like to say thank you to all who donated loads of goods such as crib mattresses, clothing,vitamins, fans, and even the bus itself from Mr. Wade Compton of Compton Bus Service in Southern Maryland! Everything was unloaded, dispersed into various locations and we are breathing much easier tonight, knowing that we now have what we need to work with. WHEW!

Here are just a few pictures from our day today:

New friends: Mary Speicher and Erin Yoder

Welcome song from our kids

Stacey Torrens meets Mika & Sherlida

Cricilia, Woodline and Berlindea said their hellos and then got back to working on their homework!

Dave Wooster & Sean Ryan unloading the van

Kurt Kesselman (our neighbor)

Misael Henriquez unloading solar panels

Terri McGregor and Allan Rainey (from Sonlight Power Company) surveying the solar situation with Scott Kramer and Marcel Pichot

Mission Trip to Eden Garden Orphanage - January 2012

2012-01-09T19:35:00.011-05:00

This picture below is what our house looks like before these trips - notice my stowaways as they devise a plan to finally get to Haiti! For me, the hardest part of these trips are to leave behind my kids. They are happy that we go, even though they are sad for us to leave home, because my kids love the kids at Eden Garden even though they've never even met them. They pray for them every day, and see them as a part of our family. Both of them are just waiting for the day they can join us - it can't come soon enough for them!

This time, we are a group of 21 headed to the Eden Garden Orphanage from Jan 10-16, 2012. Eight people are members of New Hope Church, the rest are friends, co-workers, family and even a neighbor of ours! 2 people are also coming from the Sonlight Power Company to help with the long-awaited solar power installation project. We have a medical team, a construction team, the solar team, a gardening duo and a few others that will float around and fit in where needed. We are looking forward to a good and meaningful trip - it's always an adventure in Haiti!

Please check back here daily for the latest updates - internet access is only available for us in the evening at a slow and frustrating pace, so we ask for your patience in advance :o)

Next Mission Trip to Haiti: Jan 2012

2011-11-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in joining our next mission trip to Haiti, visit:
http://www.lookingforachurch.org/haiti2012

Until next time...

2011-10-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

6-7 days in Haiti is just long enough for me. At the end of the trip, I think we are all pretty ready to go home and return to our "normal lives". Quite honestly, Haiti just a MISERABLE place. You feel uncomfortable ALL THE TIME. It's hot, smelly and filthy. Haiti is a difficult place to work with all it's issues of corruption, sabotage, and the mentality that often comes from living in such dire poverty. It is always frustrating, and you often feel like the hamster running around in that wheel but going nowhere. We completely understand why so many NGOs have thrown their hands in the air and turned their back on this place. It's not easy to be here.

The problem is, we can't stay away. When you allow yourself to stop - long enough to step away from all the "tasks" and "projects" that we come to Haiti with the objective of accomplishing, you'll see it. It's not the place that keeps us coming back - it's the children. We want MORE for these kids, even a fraction of what our kids at home have. As a mother, I feel the weight of wanting to make sure all our kids at Eden Garden are taken care of. That they are loved. That they are healthy and are eating right. Groups of these kids swarm around us just to be in our presence, to be touched, or to hold our hands. Just like our own kids, these kids want to be SEEN. They want to know that they are special and that they matter.

During this visit, I was struck when one of the kids sitting next to me said "Sabrina? Yours?" He was asking about my daughter and had remembered her name. WOW. That means a lot to me, as my kids talk about and pray for the Eden Garden kids every single day. They desperately want to come to Haiti with us to meet the kids that they hear so much about. It's wild when I look around the orphanage and see several of the kids wearing my own kids' clothing or toys that we have sent over. Aside from being thrilled that they are getting more use out of them, it sort of ends up being a visual for me that these kids really are a part of our extended family.

When we left the orphanage that day to go home, some of the kids just hung their heads and cried. We hugged them and promised that we would be back in January. Later that night, we arrived back home and our kids ran outside to greet us. It was past their bedtime but they waited up for us, showering us with hugs and kisses. They were happy to have us home.

We are studying the book "Radical" by David Platt with a small group that meets at our house. In the book, we read this quote: “We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.”

The author is right - everything HAS changed. It's personal now. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to go back to that miserable place, but I do. There are 37 kids who will be waiting up for us, ready to shower us with hugs. We can't disappoint them.

Day 7: Tuesday - To the Airport

2011-10-23T13:56:00.001-04:00

Driving the 2 or so hours from the orphanage to the airport, you see a lot - I sit with my eyes glued to the window, getting a glimpse into the lives of average Haitians. As we neared the airport to fly home, we were turning the corner and I saw a big pig, sniffing through a pile of trash looking for food. Then, I looked next to the pig and was horrified when I saw a boy, probably not much older than my son. He was doing the same thing - sorting through a pile of trash looking for food. He was dirty, wearing no pants and his shoes were worn out.

When we arrived at the airport, I pulled out some snacks I was saving for our flight, and passed them off to our director, Jean Claude, and asked him if he would please deliver them to that boy, along with some bottles of clean water we left in the van. I don't know if he was able to find him or not, or if that boy went to sleep with the pain of hunger in his belly like so many in Haiti do every singe night. I can't get the image out of my mind.

DAY 7: Tuesday - School Days

2011-10-23T10:44:00.004-04:00

We stopped by E.G.O. on our way to the airport to say goodbye, and got to see the kids in their school morning routine for the first time. I saw them fixing their hair, finishing up on some homework, having breakfast, drinking nice, clean water from their new cups we brought over, wiping their faces, singing and praying before heading off to school with their new backpacks and school supplies. There were hugs and tears as we said goodbye and wished them a great day at school like we do with our own kids.

To most of us, this may sound like a regular day and nothing out of the ordinary. However, when you are able to witness what kind of life kids have outside of the walls of Eden Garden, you would see what a better life our kids have at this orphanage. We are so thankful to our director, Jean Claude and his wife Runice who live there and treat these kids as their own - they have made Eden Garden a real family as they are mother and father to 37 kids in addition to their own 2 (who they are separated from as they attend school in Port-au-Prince). They have sacrificed their home and their lives to live in the dorm just like the kids, with very little in the way of comfort. They are doing a job not many would want to do. They are our heroes and we couldn't do this without them.

Jean Claude (Director) with Dave and Gregory, one of our older boys who has grown up at E.G.O.

Jean Claude, wife Runice and daughter Jayney, a typical teen.

Day 6: Monday - Ready for school

2011-10-23T10:43:00.003-04:00

The first full week of school began the day before we left Haiti. We brought over 6 suitcases full of black shoes (required as part of the school uniform) and backpacks that the kids needed in order to start school. The kids were thrilled with their new diggs, boys not seeming to care if they picked up a girly Dora backpack, but the girls trying on different pairs of shoes until they found the ones they liked best - some things are universal! Thank you to all who gave shoes, backpacks and school supplies including the New Hope church community and Beltsville SDA School in addition to the many individual donors. Thanks to you, our kids are ready for school!

Day 5: Sunday

2011-10-09T23:47:00.001-04:00

Our day started off with turning on to the road where the orphanage was located, and we saw a half-naked body lying on the side of the road. We weren’t sure if she was dead or not, then saw her move and realized she was alive. Her one eye was swollen shut, and there were cuts on her face that were oozing. We grabbed an interpreter from the orphanage and asked a number of questions, but she wasn’t answering the questions and seemed confused. She was filthy, wearing nothing but a dirty tank top that had blood on it, which barely covered her emaciated body. We learned from some locals that around 2:00 a.m., she was beaten and raped and left for dead on the street. Everyone seemed to hear what happened, so we wondered why, at 10:00 a.m., not one person had stopped to help this woman?

We picked her up and walked her over to the clinic at the orphanage to examine her. Then we hooked her up to an I.V. and started examining her, wiped her body down (which was covered in dust and dirt), cleaned her face wound and applied steristrips to close her wound shut. We found some of the kids clothes that fit her, fed her a protein bar and put her on the dental chair and let her just rest there all day while she took in 3 bags of fluid. At the end of the day, we sent one of the interpreters to walk her home with some bottled oral rehydration solution and some food and told her to come back to the clinic again tomorrow.

Day 4: Saturday

2011-10-08T23:22:00.002-04:00

Today we spent some time on the road, checking out a village we had held a clinic at before, out in the middle of next to nowhere. People that live further out from the city are usually more poor, and have even less than those who live in the cities. We saw a lot of naked kids and homes that were even more meager than the city dwellings around Montrouis. We made a few stops and passed out some more clothes, granola bars and candy. At one of our stops, a young boy had sutures from a head wound that needed to come out about 5-10 days prior, so Elizabeth cleaned the wound, removed dead skin and put anti-fungal cream on it. This was performed on the bumper of the van, and the problem was that a group of 40-50 kids came out of the woodwork and were surrounding the van, and the van was shaking back and forth, making the procedure a little difficult to complete! We also met a sister from a mission in the area who invited us to come back and hold a medical clinic there on our next trip.

In the evening, we walked to the beach with the Eden Garden kids which is something that they really enjoy and look forward to. Though the waters were a little rough, the kids had a ball being tossed around in the waves, hanging all over Scott, Marty, Erin and Jean Claude, and we’re pretty sure they all slept well that night.

Day Three: Friday

2011-10-08T10:02:00.002-04:00

Today the medical team visited a village located near the base of the mountain, about 15-20 minutes outside of Montrouis. It was amazing to see how different life is just a short ways from town. The people were definitely more poor there. When our van pulled in, we immediately drew a crowd of people, mostly children, many of whom were completely naked. I had brought a box of clothing that was donated to the orphanage by a local girl scout troop in Maryland, hand-made by the girls in pretty bright colors and lightweight fabrics, just perfect for the heat and dingy landscape of Haiti. We opened the box and started eye-ing kids and dressing them in their new dresses, tops and shorts. They were thrilled!

Then we headed out on foot with our medical backpacks (with a large crowd already surrounding us) and stopped in to a house and just started asking if anyone was sick. Before we knew it, we had enough people that came to us to keep us busy for a couple of hours. As we have seen before, most of the illnesses are these: Dehydration, parasitic infections caused by unclean drinking water, malaria, malnutrition, and back pain from carrying heavy loads on their heads. The parasites can show themselves in many different ways – where you can physically see them floating in someone’s eye, or in the eye tumor that they have caused, or in skin lesions which accompany the upset stomach described as “feeling like worms are crawling around in your tummy”. This again shows us how vitally important clean water is and the downstream affect of all the problems that result from not having access to clean water.

From there, we traveled to another village called Bois Blanc (“White Wood”) where we held another clinic under the awning of an old, abandoned school. It was so sad to see all the children around town who were not in school, wondering what kind of life they were growing into in this poor village. We gave out some more clothes from the girl scouts as naked kids emerged from all over. Once the other kids started realizing that the naked kids were the ones who were getting the clothes, everyone started stripping down so that they were sure to get some clothes as well! From there, we packed it up and headed back to the orphanage to find the maintenance crew and call it a day. They had worked on hot rooftops and stuffy rooms all day to try to get the power on the 2^nd floor of the dorm, working furiously on it and finally accomplishing their goal. While they finished up, the rest of us spent time with the kids and enjoyed singing with them and then enjoying little performances by various children and groups of kids until it was time for us to go.

Day Two: Thursday

2011-10-08T09:03:00.001-04:00

This was our first full day in Haiti. The 8 of us arrived at Eden Garden Orphanage first thing in the morning, and we divided into our 2 teams (medical and maintenance/repairs) and got right to work. The medical team (Erin Yoder, Elizabeth & Caryn Wooster) spent the day in the clinic unpacking and organizing the boxes of medical supplies that we had shipped over in a school bus about one month ago. The maintenance team, consisting of Scott Kramer, Rob Freeman and Larry Wooster, spent the day replacing unsafe wiring and electrical panels in the kitchen and main utility room. They also ran electrical wire to the 2^nd floor of the dormitory. Due to poor infrastructure, the orphanage only has access to power from the city for about 1-2 hours per week. This is the reason we are planning a solar project for our next trip so that the orphanage can have a more reliable power source.

An interesting phenomenon in the community of Montrouis (where Eden Garden is located) is that there are over 40 orphanages operating in this town with a population of 13,000 people. Approximately 50% of the children at E.G.O. actually do have parents, but their parents cannot afford to care for them and it is a culturally common practice to give up your children because you are not able to care for them. Dave Wooster, leader of this trip and member/former director of New Hope church’s International Missions Ministry, “Sharing Our Strength”, also serves as board chair of the Eden Garden Orphanage and handles the administrative, organizational and operational issues. He spent his day meeting with various employees of the orphanage as well as 2 mothers that came off the street to see him to ask for the children to be taken in by the orphanage. With 37 children already living at E.G.O., we are just not able to accept any more kids. We also believe that children belong with their parents, so we would rather work with these parents to find an alternative solution to giving up their kids if at all possible.

The first mother was a lady with 5 kids whose husband recently died. She came to the orphanage proposing to “sell” her baby to us so that she could use the money to take care of her other 4 children. Dave explained to her that we are not in the baby-buying business and spent the next hour asking questions, trying to understand her living situation and motivation behind wanting to sell her baby. In the end, it was all a matter of being unable to financially support her family. The solution was to help her set up a micro-business where we give her money to buy produce up in the mountains (where it is less costly) then sell them on the street in town so that she can make a profit. She will be reporting back to E.G.O. on a monthly basis to let us know how this new plan is working out.

The second mother was a young girl with a 2 month old baby as well. Her intention was to drop off her newborn for a few years, and then come back and pick her baby up when he was a little older, hoping she would be in a better financial situation to take care of her child. When Dave explained to her that her child could potentially be adopted and she would not be able to get him back, she was surprised by this news and changed her mind, deciding to keep the baby. She will be returning on Monday to discuss a possible micro-business that we would help her with so that she can earn an income to support her and her baby boy.

This was ONE day. This happens ALL the time. Can most of us even imagine living in conditions so desperate that we would be willing to give up our children in order for them to survive, and for the rest of the family to survive? What if it was the most logical thing we could do, the only solution that might permit a better life for your kids? These are questions that we ask ourselves as we try to put ourselves in the shoes of a Haitian. As a mother, the very thought of it makes my heart sick as I imagine what a sacrifice of love that would be –what if giving up my baby was the most loving thing I could do?

Day One: Wednesday

2011-10-07T01:27:00.002-04:00

8 of us arrived here in Haiti on Wednesday. It's hard to believe how drastically different life can be just a few hours away from home, and the ride from the airport to the hotel near the orphanage is an eye-opener and instant immersion into Haiti as we are exposed to life lived outside on the street as we get to observe the multitudes of people walking, selling, buying, bathing, eating, etc.

You can't look anywhere without seeing the abject poverty that is Haiti, and it can be pretty overwhelming. We are advised to not give money to people, because once you help one, there will be 10 more that appear behind them looking for help as well. I think that often, our first instinct is to look the other way - to avoid eye contact and hope the light changes so you can get away without feeling any worse. We have observed an amazing ministry of "Mama Heidi" Baker in Mozambique whose philosophy is this: When you are surrounded by so much need that it overwhelms you, realize that although you probably can't fix a nation, you CAN help the ONE. The ONE in front of you. The ONE God puts in your path.

On our way to the hotel, traffic was heavy and we were moving slowly. A boy on the street, probably 10 years old, was begging and approached our van. With his hand held out, we locked eyes and he gave me the sweetest, most innocent smile. Just then, I saw the face of my son and imagined what it would be like if HE was the one standing outside the window of a car, looking for food that I could not provide for him, or worse yet, that he was on his own with no one to take care of him and begging was his only way to survive. I immediately started scrambling through my backpack to find a protein bar and some money to give him. I wasn't quick enough - traffic cleared, and we sped away. My heart sank as I realized I might have been this boy's one chance to eat today. It could so easily be MY son, fending for himself out there on the street with nothing to eat. I would hope and pray that even just one stranger would extend compassion to him and feed his hunger. I can still see his face, and my heart is heavy for him. His lot in life is one that no child should have to live.

Lesson learned: Don't be afraid to SEE. To connect. To be affected. And be prepared to ACT. You might just be the ONE who has the opportunity and privilege to change someone's day, or even their life.

Thanks!

2011-08-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

S.O.S. = Sharing Our Shoes

2011-08-30T21:14:00.001-04:00

Dave & Caryn Wooster carried down enough sandals/crocs for every child at the Eden Garden Orphanage on their recent trip there, thanks to the generosity of the members of New Hope! From the pictures, you can see how needed they were - these kids spend most of their lives outside, so shoes get worn out quickly. The rest of the shoes that were collected will be carried down on a future visit.

July 2011 visit to Eden Garden Orphanage

2011-07-31T07:50:00.002-04:00

New Hope SoS member Dave Wooster (who also chairs the board of the Eden Garden Orphanage), just returned from Haiti. See pictures below.

Click here to view these pictures larger

IN THE NEWS...Marty Chappell, school teacher and Haiti trip participant

2011-01-07T09:29:00.000-05:00

To read the article, click here: http://patch.com/A-ddHd

Mission Trip Postponed

2010-12-22T09:20:00.003-05:00

Due to safety concerns surrounding the presidential elections, the trip to Haiti scheduled for January 13-19 has been postponed. The situation on the ground is being evaluated by local contacts and another trip will be scheduled when they feel it is safe for us to return, which likely will not be until after the election run-off is held.

Next Haiti Mission Trip Announced

2010-10-08T08:02:00.000-04:00

S.o.S. HAITI MISSION TRIP ANNOUNCEMENT:

WHEN: January 12-19, 2011

WHERE:Montrouis, Haiti / Eden Garden Orphanage

COST: Airline flight + $700 trip fee (meals, lodging, on-ground transportation and insurance)

WHO:

Medical personnel

Dental professionals

Individuals with electrical/wiring or solar power experience

To join the trip, e-mail us for application instructions at NewHopeSoS@comcast.net . A deposit of $200 will be required to secure your spot on the trip. To see the list of required vaccines, click here:
http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinations/mamerica_carib/haiti.php

Shoe Distribution at E.G.O./Haiti

2010-06-01T14:46:00.000-04:00

I remember putting a pair of shoes on my son Nate, who was about 4 years old at the time. “These are too small - time to give them away” I announced. “NO! Those are my favorite Spiderman sandals! I don’t want to give them away!” he pouted. “Nate - they don’t fit you anymore, so we’re going to share them so another little boy can enjoy them”. “Momma!” He exclaimed “ALL little boys ALREADY have shoes!” I looked at him in amazement, and realized that in his privileged little world, he doesn’t even know a child who doesn’t have shoes.

While previously in Haiti, we learned that the kids at Eden Garden Orphanage (E.G.O.) share everything – toys, clothes and shoes. The girls will take turns wearing the pretty dresses to church, and when we bring items to give to the kids, they are kept and shared communally. Before the S.o.S. Missions Team left for Haiti, Pastor Ann had an idea to do a shoe drive for the 27 children currently living at E.G.O. During the March visit, she created medical records for each child, and traced each child’s foot on a piece of paper. Back at New Hope, packets were prepared containing each child’s footprint along with their picture, name and age, asking for a new pair of sandals and sneakers for them. As the congregation got word of the collection, the 27 packets were quickly swiped off the table in the lobby, leaving many potential shoe-shoppers disappointed. Off we went to Haiti, with Pastor Ann hauling 2 suitcases full of shoes for the E.G.O. kids.

While in Haiti, we attended the local church on the E.G.O. grounds, and a little girl sat on my lap during the service. When I looked down at her feet, I noticed that her white patent-leather shoes were not only too small for her, but that the straps were broken so that she could only wear them like slip-on shoes, the heel bent down to accommodate her foot that was too large (see picture). Just after this, we gathered all the kids together and presented them with their brand new shoes. Each child’s name was announced and they came up front to sit in a chair, where they were given a personalized fitting (as if in a shoe store). Some kids even received notes written by the New Hope families that had purchased their shoes. Shy and excited, they proudly tried on their new sandals and sneakers and smiled. It was fun to observe their joy with such a simple gift! I wonder if any of those kids had ever even worn a brand new pair of shoes before - shoes that weren’t used and worn and passed down from someone else? Well, at least for right now, they have two new pairs of their very own.

May 6-12, 2010 Trip Summary

2010-05-31T14:01:00.000-04:00

On May 6, nineteen S.o.S. mission team members from New Hope SDA Church in Fulton, MD arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti. Several members on this trip were part of the group that was just hours away from flying out to Haiti on January 13, the morning after the earthquake hit. From the airport, we boarded a big yellow school bus and headed out of Port-au-Prince traveling north along the coast and through the countryside dotted with blue tents belonging to those displaced from the earthquake. Several of our group were also in Haiti this March on an evaulation and assessment/water well drilling trip and observed that things did seem to look better, with less tents than they had seen several weeks earlier. After a few hours, the hot, dusty and weary travelers arrived in the town of Montrouis, home to the Eden Garden Orphanage that New Hope has had a supportive relationship with since 2007. We were greeted with hugs and a welcome song from the 27 children currently residing at E.G.O.

The purposes for this trip to Haiti were to conduct medical and dental clinics and to complete the water project that began with installing a new water well at the orphanage during the March trip by our team (in partnership with "Hands Together" organization). During our May 6-12 visit, the medical team saw over 600 patients with ailments that included typhoid, TB, pneumonia, malaria, H.I.V./Aids, fungal/parasitic lesions, malnutrition and dehydration. Although their nutrition was better (most likely due the humanitarian aid), their overall health was deemed to be worse than before with minimal clean water and shelter available, which corresponded to a rise in the amount of skin disease, rashes and lesions. The dental team also held clinics at E.G.O. and pulled 165 teeth. If you’ve ever suffered with tooth pain before, you can imagine the relief of those who were able to see a dentist and put an end to their pain.

The water well team completed electrical repairs and plumbing work that was needed around the orphanage. Shower heads were replaced, faucets were repaired, ceiling fans were wired in and 5 new water storage tanks were set (replacing old tanks that were contaminated) which increased the amount of water that is available for use. A chlorinator pump was installed which gives regular, measured injections of chlorine into the water to keep it clean and bacteria-free. The team also put in the water lines which carry water out to a water station bordering the orphanage (6 sinks and 4 showers) which had been inoperable until this visit and is now accessible to the community. Most importantly, the water was tested and found to be free of bacteria, which will dramatically impact the overall health of E.G.O. and the community of Montrouis.

Aside from the 4 days of clinics and repair work, the S.o.S. missions team enjoyed a few hours at a nearby beach on Saturday with the E.G.O. children, as well as a shoe presentation at the orphanage where each child was given a brand new pair of sneakers and sandals, sent with love from the New Hope church family. To see pictures and stories from this trip as well as a video of the water project from the March trip, see below.

Haiti/New Hope Water Video from March 2010 mission trip

2010-05-15T18:36:00.000-04:00

Untitled from New Hope Adventist on Vimeo.

WEDNESDAY REPORT: Going Home

2010-05-14T10:43:00.001-04:00

After finishing up our clinics and work at the orphanage on Tuesday, we said our goodbyes to the kids and staff which is always a hard piece. When you enter into their world and their pain and connect with them on an emotional level, you become bonded, even though you don't speak the same language. The kids cry and hold on to you and you see their broken hearts after they have enjoyed your hugs and attention for the last week. Even the staff and helpers show the sadness that they feel about losing our company and our presence, asking when we will come back so they have something, anything, to look forward to.

Wednesday was a relaxed morning at the hotel, with a later breakfast and departure time than we had enjoyed all week. We said our goodbyes to the friends we had made and boarded the big yellow school bus and set out for Port-au-Prince. While we were in route, we got a message that American Airlines wanted to bump us to the next flight leaving a few hours after our scheduled flight and would give us some travel vouchers to make the change. After some phone calls with the airline and taking a vote, we agreed, as it was only going to get us home about an hour later than planned. We dropped off the 2 Drs. Koh that were flying to New York and decided to take a little driving tour around while we had a little more time to kill.

U.S. military and U.N. soldiers were seen on the streets from the U.S., India, Canada and China, and so our presence did not seem to draw the same amount of attention that they did pre-earthquake. We got stuck in a traffic jam for about ½ an hour on a road filled with abandoned and destroyed cars from the earthquake, essentially leaving enough room for one lane of traffic, yet 2 and 3 rows were formed, horns honking and cars going in different directions with no order whatsoever. Widely exposed and very visible, we were smack dab in an area that we learned the next day home had been called out as a place for foreigners to avoid after some robberies and political turmoil that had taken place this week. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose, since we didn’t realize that we should have been a lot more concerned.

It was market day, and everyone was out buying and selling – mangoes stacked on the ground, clothes being displayed in huge piles on the concrete as a woman sat in the middle of them, sorting as people were looking for something specific. Men pushing carts full of shoes, or bottles of brown water, or sodas in used bottles. Tent cities were everywhere, and we can only begin to imagine the heat trapped in those with no air movement. It had rained, and we saw some flooding in one of the tent cities that must make for a muddy mess. There is no escape from the heat, or from the crowds of people, or from the filth and dirt and trash that is everywhere. No privacy, no quiet, no relief. Everyone lives in such squalor.

Those in our group that were here in March thought that things had improved, but there is still so much devastation. I wondered what kind of home or school or business it was, and what precious lives were still buried under the rubble. We saw a young girl being pushed around in a wheelchair because she no longer had legs, and I imagined how difficult it must be for her to get around on the bumpy gravel roads. We drove around and we watched life. Even there in the city, life in Haiti is lived primarily outside – Moms were out washing clothes in a pan outside their tents, cooking a meal over a little charcoal fire, kids were running around that should have been in school but either had not the privilege of attending, or maybe their school was destroyed in the earthquake and they have no school now. I wondered how do the children find their tent home among the hundred others that look the same?

Our new flight ended up being delayed and making our connecting flight into DC from Miami was in jeopardy. Dave was at the ticket counter and on the phone with the American Airlines group desk for about an hour, trying to make arrangements to ensure that we did not get stuck in Haiti and had the best chance of making our connection in Miami where we still had to retrieve our bags and clear customs and immigration. American decided to move our group to the front of the aircraft so that we could disembark first - I don’t think that flying first class could have come at a better time as we enjoyed our pre-flight icy-cold drinks, a nice meal, fresh-baked cookies and air-conditioning… you couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces as we relished in what surely felt like a gift from God after feeling so uncomfortable for the last week (I got some great pics of this on the plane but unfortunately, lost my camera on that flight). When we reached Miami, we all ran through immigration, baggage, customs, security, and off to our gate which was literally about a 3 mile trek start-to-finish, according to the stewardess. By the skin of our teeth, we made it - the last ones on the plane. We were on our way home! Quick goodbyes at the DC airport and one lost bag, and we went our separate ways.

We rolled in to our house around 2:30 a.m., and washed off Haiti before going to bed – a shower without shoes for the first time in a week felt good as I melted into my cool and comfortable bed and fell quickly asleep. It was good to be home. Throughout the next day, I found myself enjoying the simple things that I had come to miss for one week such as cold water with that familiar chlorine taste that ensures me of its safety, a cool spring day where I wasn't sweating profusely with dirt and dust caked into my skin, toilets that flush properly, clean surroundings – we are back to the good life once again.

I felt the dichotomy and disparity all day - enjoying my blessings with a heavy heart for the Haitian people for the lives that they live. We were uncomfortable for a week - they are uncomfortable every day. Life for us here will quickly return to normal, and our week in Haiti will soon be a distant memory that we will re-live through pictures and videos and by seeing our group we traveled with – some who were strangers to us a week ago now feel like family for what we experienced together.

Our lives are changed each time we go and we see, what the pictures can only give you a tiny glimpse of. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe it. You have to hear it, feel it and smell it to really understand Haiti. S.o.S. will return to Haiti again in January 2011. Come and see for yourselves.

TUESDAY REPORT

2010-05-12T01:58:00.000-04:00

W spent our last working day in Haiti holding medical and dental clinics at the Eden Garden Orphanage. When we arrived this morning, we already had a crowd waiting for us.

The dental team concluded the week with a record breaking 65 extractions today! It started with 40 patients, each one eager to be first. Dr. JD Brutus reassured everyone that every patient will be seen. Each patient had to make a heartbreaking decision to identify the worst teeth to be extracted since many had multiple areas of pain. The work here is not done, it's far from it. But as promised, every patient was seen and treated by our dental team. Our goals for the future is to provide more than just emergency care (extractions) and to extend into preventative care.

The well team had a really productive day repaired faucets, replaced drains and showerheads, installed 4 ceiling fans in dorm rooms, hooked up the water station outside the orphanage where there is 4 showers and 6 sinks which is now operational for the community to use. On the roof, the tank installations were completed, the water was tested and came back negative for bacteria. The chlorinator was hooked up which sends measured amounts of chlorine into the system whever the pump pumps.

The little boy with HIV that we saw yesterday in FondPaul came to E.G.O. to be re-checked today and was feeling much better, looking much better, and smiling like his mother was. The little boy with the burn also came to have his dressing changed and re-checked. Along with the standard ailments of malaria/dehydration/malnutrition/parasites, the medical team also saw some typhoid, and depression/headaches/stress all of which the people said began "On January 12".

We finished up the day having seen about 165 patients, including the E.G.O. kids and kids from a neighboring orphanage.Throughout our day today, it was exciting to overhear someone say "when we come back next time"...especially from those who are visiting Haiti for the first time. This place is miserably hot, terribly filthy, and the suffering that is everywhere can make you feel very hopeless and that the problems are too overwhelming and big for us to make a bit of difference. However, when you catch a glimpse of a dying boy smiling, or see an orphan being loved, or see someone drinking clean water for the first the time that won't make them sick, we see that joy does exist.

MONDAY REPORT

2010-05-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Today the medical team held a clinic in the village of FondPaul, where we held a medical clinic when we were here previously in May '09 and March of this year. Again, about 160 patients came through the clinic showing the usual dehydration, parasites and malaria in addition to a burned child, and a 6 year old boy with end stage H.I.V. who also has typhoid and malaria. They administered I.V. fluids for his dehydration/high fever in hopes of helping him feel a little bit better, even if just for a while.

2 others also received fluids for their severe dehydration, aside from the countless bottles of rehydration salts that we sent home with the many dehydrated patients. It is just HOT here, well over 100 degrees with horrific humidity, which makes it really easy to become dehydrated - even for us who have access to clean and safe water and who are constantly reminding each other to drink, drink, drink. It's just not enough - we have all had to add electrolyte additives to our bottled water to keep up our stamina and have ourselves even resorted to drinking the nasty, salty hydration mixture that we mix up for our patients.

The well team had a productive day, working into the night in the darkness but feeling like they accomplished even more than they had hoped for today. It was determined shortly after arriving here that the amount of work awaiting them at the orphanage would more than fill their time and that there would be no new well drilled on this trip. Work continues tomorrow to make the water produced by the new well at the orphanage available for use by the surrounding community of Montrouis.

We woke up this morning to no water in our hotel, and as we rode back to the hotel sticky, sweaty and tired, we wondered if water had been restored or if we were going to be taking a bath in the warm ocean water tonight. I know I walked into my room and shouted a "THANK YOU, LORD!" when I turned the faucet on and water came out - what a relief! After our evening discussion tonight, Glenn Gibb commented to me that today, he was looking forward to coming back to the hotel, taking a cold shower, eating too much for dinner and getting a good night's rest in his air-conditioned room. Outside the guarded gates of this resort, how many Haitians would be enjoying those same things tonight on the muddy floor of their hot tents or broken homes? These things that we would consider basic necessities are unattainable luxuries to most people in this country. It is not right and it is not fair. It is Haiti.

Over the river and up the hill to FondPaul we go

Nurses triaging under the trees

A kettle of boiling water burned this baby

Pharmacy on the porch

'The little boy with H.I.V./typhoid/malaria

SUNDAY REPORT

2010-05-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

The medical team drove to a town called Ravine-Seche which was out the direction of the beach where we were on Saturday and beyond. It was quite a ways down a bumpy dirt road in the middle of nowhere. This little village along the water was where we set up our medical clinic today, and saw around 160 patients. Much more malaria and parasitic infections were seen today, which was understandable when we saw the dirty river that people were bathing in and then scooping up the same water to use for cooking and drinking as well.

A Ravine-Seche villager hauling the dirty water that is making his whole village sick

Medical clinic set-up

Glenn making friends

Dr. Rowena Manalo Koh

parasite lesions caused by unclean water have overtaken this little boy's body

The dental team worked out of the orphanage again today, pulling 50 teeth between the 2 dentists. Many of the exatractions done here, due to the pain, can easily be avoided if proper dental facilities and dentists are available. And yet many have lined up just to "get rid of the pain". The one common theme from the young to the old is how brave each face the task at hand. They wait patiently for hours to be seen, stay still through it all, and leave so grateful for such a small gift.

The well team worked again on the water distrbution system at the orphanage today, getting 4 new 500 gallon tanks on the roof to replace the old tanks which were in disrepair. Plumbing and connections were also made from the well drilled in March to the exisiting water station bordering the EGO property. This water station has 4 showers and sinks which people will be able to use. This station has been abandoned and out of use for about 5 years so we are sure the residents of Montrouis will be happy to have this available to them again.

SATURDAY REPORT by Caryn Wooster

2010-05-09T20:55:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, we enjoyed a more relaxed morning, then attended part of the church service at the church that meets on the grounds of the Eden Garden Orphanage. We then presented all the orphanage children with shoes that had been donated by New Hope church members. One by one they were called up to sit down and be fitted for their new sandals and sneakers and some notes from the families who purchased the shoes.

Then we took the children to the beach for a few hours of fun in the water, which was a real treat for them and something that they don't get a chance to do very often. It was a treat for us as well, as we got to see the kids splash and play and just experience true joy as they hung on to all the adults and played with them in the water.

Charles &Gigi LeMorzellec, Eden Garden Orphanage directors

Dave Wooster and Rob Freeman enjoying the water with the kids

Nurse LJ Rowe and her friends

In the evening, we took a tour of the orphanage and then visited the home of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond, an elderly couple that we have met on a few occasions as they have come through the medical clinic. Mrs. Raymond is completely blind and Mr. Raymond is blind in one eye. During the earthquake, the roof of their home collapsed, leaving them with a gaping hole in their bedroom ceiling along with a broken arm for Mrs. Raymond. We watched as Mr. Raymond tenderly cared for his wife, and proudly showed us his delapidated home. For income, they raise goats and chickens which they will sell to make a little money, but it would be impossible for them to earn enough to pay the $450 it would cost to repair their roof. When we realized that our meal at our hotel was going to cost around $22 per person that day, it was an easy decision to skip a meal and put those funds towards a new roof for Mr. &Mrs. Raymond instead.

Mr. & Mrs. Raymond's home

Mr. Raymond/The Raymonds' bedroom (Mrs. Raymond resting in bed)

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE by Pastor Kumar Dixit

2010-05-08T00:28:00.000-04:00

We finally made it to Haiti. After a long ride from the Port au Prince airport, we were reunited with the Eden Garden children whom we have fallen in love with. Hugs and kisses were shared not only by the kids, but the staff who see New Hope as an extention of their family.

We spent several hours working in the hot sun, organizing all of the medicines we carried over in our suitcases.

It was 98 degrees. Not too bad for May.

On Friday, the medical team will open up the clinic to see the first patients of the week. Word has already spread that we are in town. The well drilling team will spend the day fixing some plumbing issues and chech the purification levels of the the new well. There is a huge list of plumbing and electrical projects that will be tackled as well. The well drillers will also spend the day scouting planning for the next well to be drilled in Caberet, a small town not too far from Eden Garden.

Enjoying a drink from the water well our team drilled here in March

FRIDAY REPORT

2010-05-07T23:56:00.000-04:00

Today started out with our medical team being first responders to an accident that happened right out front of the hotel. A Haitian taxi called a "tap-tap" had overturned after hitting a truck. Thankfully, there were just a few minor injuries so our medical team attended to them, cleaning up and bandaging their wounds. One young boy did break his femur so they assessed him, wrote up a report on what happened and what they saw and then paid a driver to take him to the nearest hospital.

We then headed over to Eden Garden and set up the medical clinic where people were already lined up waiting for us. We saw about 130 patients through the medical clinic and about 25 dental patients. Most of what we saw was dehydration, malnutrition, parasites from drinking unclean water, infections, and malaria. The heat was overwhelming (about 103 with 100% humidity) , causing some of our own group to have to use dehydration salts early in the day. We saw a few patients that had come through in March that came in, one of which was the little baby who had a hot kettle of water tip on her and cover her body with burns and was looking so much better. The girl with the tumor in her face/neck also came in and had a tooth pulled.

When we had our discussion tonight after dinner, we talked about how overwhelming the needs and health situation are, and how you wonder if what you're doing even makes an impact or scratches the surface of needs here. Then the little girl with the burns comes through and she looks so much better than she did in March, and you can see a positive result and an impact made that makes it all worthwhile.

Scroll down to see the story and pics from our March visit of this little girl who had burns on 40% of her body and how much better she looks less than 2 months later!Dr. Elsie Joel-Morse in the dental clinic pulling one of 18 teeth the dental team pulled today.

This little baby is probably going to lose her eyesight due to the parasites that have clouded her eye.

Dr. Leong Koh (Portland, OR) treating a little boy.

HERE IN HAITI by Caryn Wooster

2010-05-07T09:55:00.002-04:00

16 of us met at DC's Reagan National Airport at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday and began our journey to Haiti via Miami where we met up with our 2 docs from Portland, Oregon. It's really hard to believe that in just a few hours, we would find ourselves in another country and a completely different world. The small group that came in March said that things were much less chaotic and crowded at the airort than when they were here just 2 months earlier, as many of the relief workers and military presence have headed home. We were on the road from the Port-au-Prince airport headed north-west to Montrouis before noon, as we looked out the window of the big yellow school bus in wonder at our surroundings. We caught little glimpses of the devastation of the earthquake, but did not pass through the areas which were really hit hard. They also noticed that many of the temporary tents had moved out into different areas where before, many tents were right along the main road. There are still tents cities set up all over the place, and as we melted in the heat on the bus, we wondered how hot the temps got inside of those tents with little ventilation. It is HOT here.

The countryside was scattered with skinny cows and horses looking for something to nibble on in what used to be a lush landscape years ago, but is now barren and desert-like. Life here exists outside - people are in the streets selling anything and everything, bathing in a bucket out front of their stick-homes, talking with their neighbors, kids playing with sticks and broken-down bicycles if they are lucky.

Eden Garden Orphanage, our host, is located in Montrouis which is about 50 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince, but it took more like 2 1/2 - 3 hours it seemed, to reach our destination. When we arrived, we were greeted by the children with a welcome song, and then they spread out into the crowd for hugs and handshakes, looking for the right person that would be their friend this week. Some people, like Pastor Ann (the EGO rock star) had several kids hanging on to her, hugging her, playing with her hair. Everyone chose someone, and it wasn't long before babies were asleep on shoulders and friends were made.

Then we started going through all the luggage of medicines that needed to be sorted and separated for out medical clinic that would begin on Friday, and then decided to head to the hotel to get a shower and a meal. Oh, did that shower and an air-conditioned room feel good after hours in the sweltering heat. Supper was rice, goat meat, coleslaw, beet salad. We had a little talk about the day's events and got to hear from the first-timers what their impressions were of Haiti. They agreed that nothing could prepare them for what they saw. Some planning was done for Friday, medicines were dosed and bagged for the medical clinic and we called it a night.

Headed to Haiti!

2010-05-05T10:06:00.000-04:00

Our 18 member team leaves for Haiti for our mission trip from May 6-12. The focus of this trip will be to do water well and electrical work along with medical and dental clinics. Check back here for daily updates to follow our trip!

HAITI MEDICAL SUPPLY DRIVE:

2010-04-15T11:13:00.002-04:00

S.o.S. is in need of the following for the medical clinic at the upcoming mission trip to Haiti (May 6-12).

MULTI-VITAMINS:

Adult tablets

Children's chewable (except the "complete" formulas containing iron which can be toxic when overdosed)

PAIN RELIEF (Ibuprofen & Acetaminophen):

Adult tablets

Children's chewable or "meltaway" formulations

Infant/baby liquid bottles with droppers

Please bring your donations to the S.o.S. booth in the lobby at New Hope. Last day for drop-offs is May 1.

The Right Place at the Right Time

2010-03-12T14:12:00.007-05:00

Monty Jacobs and Dr. Edmundo Justino, (a Gastroenterologist practicing in Maryland) stopped by the hospital in Port-au-Prince on the way to the airport to fly home on Wednesday. They were there to drop some equipment and medicines off that the hospital could use. While there, one of the nurses that Dr. Justino met on the previous visit remembered that he was a gastroenterologist. They had a patient in the hospital that had been unable to swallow any food for more than 1 week - it looked like he had a stricture (narrowing of his esophgus) not allowing him to pass food into the stomach. They had tried on multiple occasions to pass a tube in to the stomach but up to that point, were unable to advance the tube. Well, this what is Dr. Justino does, so he did a few maneuvers first by advancing an oral gastric tube and once he had that one in, was able to place a more permanent Naso Gastric tube through the stricture and into the stomach. With that, the patient is now able to eat, swallow and get some nutrition.

Dr. Edmundo Justino and an Eden Garden child

MONDAY - Medical/Refugee Camp report by Kumar Dixit

2010-03-11T09:58:00.010-05:00

On our first day of clinic, a “blanc” (white man) came through the doors out of breath and in a panic. Behind him another man carried a woman in his arms. She looked dead. “Please help us, these people are very sick.” He brought another two patients in behind them. He was right. They were very sick. They had malaria, typhoid, with spiked fevers. They were extremely dehydrated. The woman who had been carried in hadn’t eaten in days. The medical team quickly put her and another teenage boy on an IV drip.

“Where did you come from?” I asked “I am just a kilometer from you. I am running a refuge camp. There are about 200 displaced earthquake victims living in a small room. They are sick and hungry. We only have food to last us three more days.” We couldn’t believe what we were hearing. If the people he had just brought in to our clinic was any indication of the kind of sickness that was in his refuge camp, they could have monumental problems. Since several of the people had typhoid, an outbreak was bound to happen. Next would be cholera.

I (Kumar Dixit) volunteered to visit the refuge camp to get a better understanding of what was going on and how severe the situation was. Before I left, I was ordered to wear double masks and double gloves before entering the premises which was suspected to be full of infection and disease. I caught a ‘tap tap’ (motor taxi) and drove 2 kilometers to the location of the site. As I entered the site, I was startled to witness what was before my eyes. It was a dark room without electricity. My eyes had to adjust to the darkness as I saw mothers and children laying motionless on the ground. In this room no larger than 40' x 80', over two hundred people slept in cramped quarters amongst one another.

A young boy about the age of 10 pulled on my arm. He spoke English. “Please sir, take me to Port au Prince.” “I'm so sorry, I can’t,” I replied, trying to move my arm so he wouldn’t touch me. “I need to go. I have to find my mother. She needs me" he said. I looked down at him, into his pleading eyes. He was desperate. We both knew his mother was dead. Lost in the piles of mass graves dug in the hills.

There were six newborn babies laying on the dirty ground. Another dozen kids sat outside, some gazing off in space. Others stood in the filthy gutter water that was running outside of the building washing their face and cleaning their feet. “I hope I put extra mosquito repellent on.” I thought to myself, as I tied my surgical mask even tighter. A group of women cooked outside by a fire. They were boiling rice and making some kind of tomato stew. The smell of human body unbathed for days, perhaps weeks was pungent. Three women were pregnant. There was only three days of food left.

Paul, the man who brought me to the refuge camp was in way over his head. Because he wasn’t running an established organization or orphanage, he wouldn’t be recognized by any of the helping organizations for food rations, health check-ups, or financial assistance. The only hope was for the United Nations to step in. Now that I was involved by visiting, I was in over my head. “These people are going to die.” I thought. Now that I saw these people and the inhumane conditions they were living in, I couldn’t turn my back. To say, “God knows they are here and all I can do is pray for them,” just wasn’t good enough. What if God wanted me to help them?

Over the next several days, I tried to connect Paul with every person I knew in the group. Charles from Eden Garden orphanage offered food and water, and other resources. Pastor Henri from Caanan Orphanage extended assistance for the babies and their mothers. I requested the help of a European Union representative who was staying at my hotel. Monty Jacbos secured some milk and formula from ADRA International that will assist the mothers who’s breast milk has all but dried up.

This morning, Glenn Gibb and I drove to the refuge site for a follow-up visit. We brought with us a bag of soccer balls for the kids to play with. In addition, we brought thousands of immunity booster tablets, ointment for skin rashes and several dozen bars of soap. As we left the compound I kept reminding myself that I cannot save Haiti, but perhaps I can make a difference for even a few Haitians. I am not sure what the outcome of the refuge camp will look like. As the rainy season approaches, the cases of malaria and typhoid are going to spike. Death may be inevitable for some in the camp. I can only pray and hope for Haiti.

This refuge camp was such a stark contrast to what is taking place at Eden Garden Orphanage just a mile away. The mission that New Hope Church is committed to with Eden Garden is huge. I realize we spend a ton of our church resources (like donating our church van), raising funds (like $25,000 in one month from in and outside New Hope) holding colletion drives for medicines, vitamins, clothes, etc. As a Pastor, I have at times felt that this is a drain on our congregation. Perhaps it is. But it is of no comparison to the amount of suffering going on in Haiti. This is the very least we can do.

Because of the sacrifice of New Hope and the donations made by so many of you (across the country and even across the world) to our missions ministry "S.o.S. Haiti" and to Eden Garden, the orphanage kids have access to a physician and nurse four days a week, eat three healthy meals every day, attend a private school on the same campus, and play like any ordinary children should. These things are worth any minor inconvience to us. These"luxuries" are worth a daily diversion of our Starbucks funds, or skipping a meal out in a restaurant, if it even makes that much of a dent in our own personal finances. We’re literally talking life and death here. Thank you for helping make a difference for these kids at Eden Garden. It really is a safe haven and such a better life than what you find outside its gates.

Update: The United Nations gave the refuge camp 1,500 MRE (Meals Ready to Eat). A physician from the United Nations was also deployed to visit the camp for an assessment.

Pastor/Nurse Ann Roda checking the blood pressure on a deyhdrated woman while her son sleeps.
Mother and baby at the refugee camp
Sleeping quarters on the floor at the refugee camp
A meal prepared and served on the dirty floor - but at least it's a meal

"PLEASE HELP US" by Kumar Dixit

2010-03-11T09:50:00.004-05:00

There isn’t a day that goes by where Charles and Gigi (directors of Eden Garden Orphanage) receive letters from people in the community requesting financial help. This stack of letters represents just one days worth of letters. Every letter but one is written in same handwriting, because the requests come from people who are illiterate. The requests are for mattresses, plastic chairs, a dresser for one woman. Believe it or not, an American-made used mattress and box spring costs $250 – almost a year's wage for the average Haitian. Perhaps that is why most people sleep on the hard ground.

The day after I took this photo, Charles and Gigi drove into the town of St. Marc and purchased most of the items that the people had requested. Perhaps this is why they call him “Papa Charles.” I am amazed by Charles and Gigi’s stamina – their ability to withstand and fulfill constant requests without losing their patience in this hard and difficult country. It shows how much they love Haiti.

TUESDAY - Medical Report

2010-03-09T22:54:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, our medical team evaluated all of the children at the orphanage and then saw another 100 patients from the community. The most common issues seen are deydration, malnutrtion, malaria and parasites from unclean drinking water which can manifest themselves in various ways such skin lesions, upset stomachs, etc.

Elizabeth Wooster puts an IV in a 3 week old child who was severely dehydrated with a heart rate of 270 (this is not a typo) and a respiration of 64.

KING OF THE PHARMACY

While the medical team was performing triage and performing medical evaluations, there was one person dispensing the meds. Mr. Monty Jacobs – pharmacist extraordinaire met with every patient and gave instructions on how to use the medication they were receiving. An attorney who practices law in Maryland, Jacobs judiciously kept control of the pharmacy, despite his pharmacy assistant, Pastor Rajkumar Dixit who worried some with his own pharmaceutical ability. Both Dixit and Jacobs believe now that all pharmacies in the USA should have a self-check out line.

MONDAY - Medical report

2010-03-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

This little girl and her mother are earthquake victims who have been displaced. Her mother was carried into the clinic and stayed there all day on a I.V. drip. The child was terrified ,as her mother lay on the ground sleeping. I (Pastor Kumar) held the girl and gave her a lollypop to no avail. Finally, I placed her on the ground next to her mother, where she fell asleep for a few hours.

MONDAY - Medical report

2010-03-09T22:23:00.007-05:00

On Monday, the medical team opened up the clinic for the community. The original plan for the day was for the medical team to do an assessment of the medical facility on the campus of EGO and inventory the medicines that are on hand. Every day, people would stand outside of the clinic waiting to be seen, because they knew the “blanc” was in town helping the orphanage (blanc is french for "white"/and is how they refer to the white man). As a result of the great need, our team opened up for business .

The team consists of Dr. Edmundo Justino, a gastroenterologist and internal medicine physician, Nurse Elizabeth Wooster, and Pastor Ann Roda who is also a registered nurse. The morning started with three year old Saman Djine being carried into the clinic with a major burn wound. Burning hot water tipped over her during the middle of the night. She had 2nd degree burns wounds covering about 40% of her body. Elizabeth Wooster cared for the little girl, rubbing Silvadene over her wounds, and bandaging her up to protect her from possible infection. The poor thing just cried and cried through her pain and fear.

104 patients were seen by our group on Monday, including a full-blown AIDS patient and a woman from a refugee camp who was extremely dehydrated to whom they administered I.V. fluids.

*Update: Saman came for a follow up visit on Tuesday and showed some improvement

WE HAVE WATER!

2010-03-08T23:21:00.004-05:00

Today we finished the drilling operation of the water well, ending up at 80 ft. for total depth. The drilling here is very challenging in that it is a combination of rock drilling and air drilling. We chose to drill this well with the air-style rig. This meant we were well-equipped to handle hard rock drilling but drilling gravel was going to be very difficult. Unfortunately, most of what we ended up drilling was very large gravel. This meant we could not go as deep into the ground as we would have hoped. However, the formation that we found was very good and with the grouting and construction, this should be a great well for a long time. The well pumped 75 gallons per minute and will be able to provide E.G.O. with more water than they could ever dream of!

On Tuesday, (our last full day in Haiti), the focus will be on the piping of the system and installing the chlorinator system that will inject chlorine each time the pump comes on, which will eliminate any bacteria or parasites from being present in the water.

We have chosen to postpone the drilling of the next well (planned for the community) for our May trip. We now have information that we did not have before and our materials are here for that well, so we should be ready to go for next time. We also did not want to get in the middle of this second well and not be able to finish. We are glad we are able to bring this first well to total completion on this trip.

All in all, today was an awesome day for the well drilling team. A special thank you to all of our suppliers, manufacturers and many donors that made this life-changing event possible! When we board that plane, we will confidently know that E.G.O. staff and children will be drinking clean water and their lives and health will be significantly improved by this new water well!

A ROCK STAR AMONG US

2010-03-08T23:11:00.003-05:00

There seems to be a rock star at the Eden Garden Orphanage. She is always being followed by a large crowd of children everywhere she goes. In fact, they hang on to her, cling to her legs, and some jump into her arms – all the time. Pastor Ann is a beloved figure at Eden Garden. The kids cannot get enough of her. Perhaps it is the lolly pops that she hands out. Maybe its the medical exams and treatments she executes. Or can it be the countless hugs she gives to each of the kids.

Just for the record, Pastor Kumar has an entourage too. But, admittedly, it is very small. As you can tell, the boy on the left had to be coaxed into the picture, because I think he secretly wished he was with the real rock star.

Worlds Apart

2010-03-08T22:56:00.007-05:00

There is a reason they call this "Eden Garden" - a stark contrast from what is happening outside the gates.

Eden Garden Baby

It is interesting to see the stark constrast between the children in town compared to the ones at Eden Garden Orphange. The children outside of the orphanage walls often fend for themselves - wandering the streets, sometimes naked and without shoes or supervision. In contrast, the children at Eden Garden are supported and lovingly cared for by a full staff of adult men and women who watch over them carefullly. Each child is fed three meals a day, and all have the privilege of atttending school and church which many Haitian children do not. The children at Eden Garden are playful, filled with joy, laughter and love. Haiti needs more of this.

SATURDAY - Visit to Port-au-Prince

2010-03-08T11:06:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, a small group of the New Hope team took a trip into Port au Prince to visit the Seventh-day Adventist University and hospital. The university currently has over 26,000 displaced earthquake victims living on the campus. ADRA International is working with other international organizations to provide food, health care until the victims tranistion to a new location. During the visit, we met with New Hope member, Olivier Guth, ADRA Bureau Chief.
The trip into Port-au-Prince was a sobering experience. After spending a few days behind the private gates at Eden Garden, I forgot about the level of dispair that exists.

Here is what we saw:

Families living in tents made out of fabric tied to long stick. These tents are not waterproof or fireproof. Homes made of cardboard which were not holding up well after the rain.

Children running in the middle of the streets barefoot.

Mothers bathing and drinking out of trash-filled gutters as a large hog stands beside her.

Tens of thousands of people walking aimlessly, hungry - in search of jobs and food.

FRIDAY report from Monty Jacobs

2010-03-07T17:08:00.001-05:00

On Friday, March 5, a group from Eden Garden Orphanage traveled to the Adventist Hospital in Port-au-Prince to meet with hospital personnel. A girl, with what was thought to be a serious goiter condition, was taken for evaluation. During our visit, we were able to meet with Andrew Haglund, the temporary hospital administrator from Loma Linda University. We also met with Dr. Leslie Archer, Medical Director and Dr. Scott Nelson, the chief surgeon. We saw a large number of American healthcare workers providing care to the people throughout the hospital. These people are doing a herculean task in light of the needs and logistical challenges that exist to deliver quality care in Port-au-Prince. We were able to deliver some medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies that will be well-used and were highly appreciated.

After leaving the hospital we visited the ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency)offices on the campus of the Adventist University, just up the hill from the hospital. We met with the health coordinator and financial director. They also have huge challenges as they arrange for the sanitation, water and food needs for 20,000+ displaced people who are living in large tent cities on the campus of the Adventist University. The primary school and the women’s dormitory have both been condemned on this campus.

We were also able to meet with Darrell Hardy, Vice President for Latin America for Maranatha Volunteers International. Maranatha is building a 10-foot high perimeter wall around the entire campus that is estimated to be over one mile in circumference. They are also putting up some of the "1-Day church" structures to be used for housing by the medical volunteers at the hospital as well as the workers on the university campus. Maranatha will also be involved in helping reconstruct some of the destroyed and damaged churches throughout Haiti.

The amount of damage throughout the city of Port-au-Prince is hard to imagine. By God’s grace, we hope to be able to help make a small difference for the Haitian people to overcome this tragedy.

Note: After this was written we learned more - The girl's name is Evangelista and her mother died in the earthquake. The medical people believe she has thyroid cancer that has metasticized . S he was turned away in Port-au-Prince because they are not to equipped to help. She is one of many sad stories in this sad place.

Devastation in Port-au-Prince

"A New Friend" by Kumar Dixit

2010-03-07T09:49:00.003-05:00

I made a new friend. His name is Shermai. He lives across the street from Eden Garden Orphanage in a dangerous shanty town that nobody dares enters. Shermai asked me if I wanted to see where he lives. "Of course I do", I thought, but this is a very dangerous area. The last time New Hope was here, some in our group witnessed a gang rape about to take place in the middle of the road, across the street from where Shermia lives. "Yes," I blurted out. "Oh no", I thought.

He smiled with happiness, exposing his brown teeth that were slowly eroding (we need a some dentists to come with us during our May trip). We entered the entrance to the villiage, a cluster of homes held up by rocks, discarded fabric, curtains, and tin. We hiked down a hill to a small home in a heavily wooded area. As we walked around the home, I came to realize that Shermai lives in a back room behind the house.

He opened the door, and invited me in. It was a small room no more than 5'x8'. One room, the size of my bathroom at home in the United States. "Oh my," I explained, looking for adjectives to describe my appreciation of his home. He sat on his bed - and old hospital bed that no longer worked. I wondered how in the world did he manage to get this three hundred pound metal bed down the hill and through his back door.

There was a huge smiled on his face as he explained to me that this is where he lived. He was proud. Even though there was no electricty, running water, or windows in his room, he was content.

The next morning, I spotted Shermai sitting in church. The the worship service was over, he stood up and proudly walked over to me and extended his hand to welcome me into his church. I stood up and we embraced. I made a friend.

"Medical Records for E.G.O."

2010-03-06T08:39:00.006-05:00

Pastor/Nurse Ann Roda and Klinton Kraft, E.G.O. board chairman

After spending 8 long hours in the sun at a remote clinic, Pastor Ann Roda put her nursing skills aside for a day and worked on some of the admistrative details at Eden Garden.

The S.o.S. team is attempting to develop medical records for each child who lives at the orphangage. During the year, many groups will visit the orphanage and will see children who need medical attention. We are creating medical forms so that the next group visiting can see a chart and follow-up on the medical treatment that was originally dispensed. "We want each of these kids to have an annual check-up," said Ann Roda (who is a pastor at New Hope, but is also a registered nurse) "and make sure they are current on all of their immunizations."

During the afternoon, Pastor Ann began taking pictures of each child and compiling a file with their name, and date of birth. On Sunday , a basic physical exam will be given to each child, so a record is started.

After initiating the medical records, Pastor Ann met with Klinton Kraft, board chair of Eden Garden Orphanage, who is visiting from Georgia to develop a long-term comprehensive health plan for the children of Eden Garden. "This is going to take many years to track each of these kids," Roda commented, "but each of these kids deserve the best care possible."

"Who Ate My Pretzels?" By Kumar Dixit

2010-03-06T08:26:00.007-05:00

It seemed like every obstacle was getting in the way of getting our drilling team to begin their important project. When we arrived to the orphanage on Wednesday, the rig was not on the property as we expected. On Thursday, the rig had a flat tire along the pothole-filled, maintenance-deffered roads leading to Montrious. Finally, the rig showed up on Friday morning ready for the well drilling team to start. Execpt, there was one problem.

Dave Wooster found a long twig and poked around to see if there was any diesel fuel to run the large rig. No gas. Again, another hurdle. Another hour passed as the team went in search of enough fuel to run the large equipment.

Finally the drilling process began, slowly. That was until we ran out of oil. Where in the world were we going to find 25 galllons of oil in this part of the country? We would have to travel to to the large town of St. Marcs. This is a busy city in compared to Montrious. The cars, moter bikes, large trucks, buses, goats, are all fighting for the road to travel upon, while merchants sell their wares in and out of traffic. The dust is so thick and consuming, that most people covered their mouths and noses as they traveled on the road.

Our search for oil had taken form quite abruptly. We knew we would be fighting with the sun and our time was limited to getting enough drilling accomplished before it was time to clean up before dark. We jumped into the truck without eating lunch. Luckily, Dave Wooster brought a small bag of pretzels that we could snack on during our road trip.

While we waited in town for the fuel to arrive, we split up in different directions. I decided to wander off around the streets, visiting the markets, and shanty villages where people lived - amongst the trash strewn all around them.

We eventually purchased 25 gallons of oil for $300, almost double the amount it would cost in the States. We climbed back into the truck, sitting in between 5 gallon drums of oil. I asked Dave for some of his pretzels. "Sorry, bro, I gave the entire bag to that lady," he pointed his finger to a woman sitting on the street corner, (pictured above), "she asked me for food, she was hungry." I looked down at the lady who was snacking on the pretzels. I knew I would eat something within the next hour. As for her, I couldn't be certain.

Man cleaning trash in St. Marc
Trashy inlet

Pastor Kumar directing traffic

The pretzel lady Photos courtesty of Kumar Dixit

FRIDAY - Drilling report from Dave Wooster

2010-03-05T22:55:00.007-05:00

The other drilling rig arrived and was on site and ready for us this morning - or so we thought! The first thing we found was there was very little fuel so we had to go buy fuel which cost $200. The rig also had a hydraulic oil leak so we ran out of oil and had to drive to St. Marc where we paid $350 for 25 gallons. Then we bought another $200 worth of fuel so $750 in extra expenses we weren't planning on today, but hopefully we are good to go now. FLEXIBILITY. PATIENCE. DEEP POCKETS.

HANDS TOGETHER sent a great crew of 4 - one driller and 3 helpers, none of who speak English, of course, which obviously makes communications a little difficult as none of our drilling crew speaks French Creole!

In rock drilling, there is a process of adding foam to water down the bore hole which helps carry drill cuttings out of the hole - like soap. This created a large (50'x50') area of foam which the kids thought looked pretty fun to play with. We drilled down 75 feet into the ground today and hope to make more progress next time!

Drilling crew hard at work

Dave watches the kids play in the drilling foam

Thursday, March 4, 2010

2010-03-05T09:53:00.003-05:00

After a long day of travel and a good night’s rest, the S.o.S. team hit the ground running on Thursday morning.

The evaluation team explored all the different areas of need for Eden Garden and came up with a good game plan for future mission trips. The drilling team had a frustrating day, after finding out that some of the equipment we had shipped over was incompatible with the drilling rig that was on site. Plans were made to bring in a different rig, which then got a flat tire en route to the orphanage and not able to drive to the site after dark due to lack of headlights. Hopefully, the rig will arrive Friday morning and the drilling process can begin. We are learning how very key it is to have flexibility, realistic expectations and loosely planned time schedules!

Our medical team joined forces with the large group of medical personnel that are also visiting Eden Garden Orphanage this week. This other group includes surgeons, who operated on a baby girl who came in with 6 fingers. The surgery went well and things look good for her. As they were getting ready to close up shop for the day, Glenn Gibb (our resident “bouncer” and keeper of the line and peace) did a scan of the remaining people waiting for medical care – sadly, there are always many, many people that have be turned away each time a clinic is held. Glenn noticed a young boy who did not look well. He escorted this boy over to Pastor/Nurse Ann who took his BP which was 80/50. Ann walked him over to Dr. Justino and Elizabeth Wooster, about 50 feet away. By the time he got there, his BP was falling and his pulse was 185 – he was in trouble. They immediately started an I.V. line in him and diagnosed him with severe Malaria. Thankfully he was able to be spotted and helped.

Well Drillers Danny Easterday and Larry Wooster enjoying the children at Eden Garden Orphanage

Cabaret Medical Clinic - baby with a polydactyl condition. Dr. Charles Wilkins from Jellico, TN and the team removed the extra digit.

THURSDAY report by Kumar Dixit

2010-03-04T23:59:00.001-05:00

Thursday, we visited the Caanan Orphanage just a few miles from Eden Garden Orphanage that we are working at. Our goal was to survey their water to see how clean it was. Since we have some amazing well drillling experts with us on this trip, we decided to take advantage of their ability. During our visit to Caanan, we met with Pastor Henry, who lives on the campus. His dedication to the kids were so clearly visible, it was remarkable. I was very impressed by the program that they have at Caanan, a superb system, educating, feeding, and providing solid health care for the community which is evident by their buildings and children who are impeccablity dressed and cared for.

During the rest of the day, the well drilling team spent most of their time trying to find the well supplies we had shipped to Haiti a few months back. Everything they needed was in various boxes and buildings scattered throughout the campus. Important tools, wires, and drill bits were slowly found. The current well system that they are using is completely exposed, so that everything and anything can drip into the water supply. As we have learned so quickly, clean water equals healthier kids.

The medical team left for an offside clinic, seeing approximatley 300 patients. Our medical team tagged along with anotherm medical mission group from Tennessee. Ann Roda, Elizabeth Wooster, and Dr. Edmundo Justino spent the entire day in the hot sun, seeing patient after patient. They never had lunch, and ran out of drinking water. After arriving back to Eden Garden, they were famished and exhausted, but had a meal to look forward to and a bed to sleep in tonight. I wonder how many of the patients they saw had these same luxuries?

A funeral service took place this afternoon just outside of Eden Garden. Pastor Kumar attended the processional that took place on Highway One, as a marching band played somberly while hundreds of people lined the streets and walked in the processional.

The Eagle Has Landed!

2010-03-03T19:23:00.004-05:00

After an early morning flight, long 4 hour layover in Miami, and 2 hr flight from there, we got word that our group landed safely in Port-Au-Prince this afternoon. They were then headed about 50 miles north along the coast to Montrouis, to the Eden Garden Orphanage.

This small team of 9 is in Haiti from March 3-10 doing assessment/evaluation (Pastor Kumar Dixit, Glenn Gibb and Monty Jacobs) and drilling 2 water wells. Dave Wooster and his father, Larry (owner of Wooster Drilling Company in Waldorf, MD) along with his well drilling associate (Danny Easterday) will be partnering with HANDS TOGETHER in Haiti to (hopefully) drill one water well on the orphanage grounds, and another well outside the gates of the orphanage for the community to use. Dr. Edmundo Justino and 2 nurses (Pastor Ann Roda and Elizabeth Wooster) will be doing medical clinics and evaluations as well. More details will be posted as they become available.

"New Hope Adventist Church Prepares For Mission Trip That Was Previously Postponed From January Earthquake." by Pastor Kumar Dixit

2010-03-02T22:09:00.002-05:00

New Hope Adventist church prepares to leave once again for their mission trip to Haiti. Their previous trip that was planned coincidentally for January 13 - 19 was postponed due to the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti only one day earlier. Their previous plan was to go visit the orphanage they sponsor, partner with Hands Together to drill 2 water wells, as well as do other mission work.

On their upcoming trip, members will make a post earthquake assessment of the orphanage the church currently sponsors. They will be deciding what other work must be done and what will be needed when they return to Haiti again in the future. The orphanage is located in Montrouis which is about 60 miles from the capital, Port-au-Prince. Over 20,000 refugees from Port-au-Prince have relocated in the surrounding areas of the orphanage. With the recent over population of people, problems are beginning to arise.

One major problem is water. During the trip, the members will attempt to ease some of the distress over the commodity by drilling two water wells. One well will be on the grounds of the the orphanage and the other well will be for the surrounding community. It will be a great asset for the people of the surrounding village.

Another area New Hope plans to address is to aid people who need medical attention. With them, they will be taking a doctor and 2 nurses. They will be doing whatever work they can with the materials they have.

To stay updated on the projects in Haiti by New Hope Adventist church, visit the mission blog, http://newhopesoshaiti.blogspot.com/, and/or visit the New Hope Adventist Church fan page or their "Sharing our Strength" mission page on Facebook.

The group will be leaving from Washington Reagan Airport on Flight 1879, Wednesday, March 3, at 7:05am.

Eden Garden Orphanage's meeting with Haitian Ambassador

2010-02-04T22:06:00.004-05:00

On Monday, February 1, Gigi LeMorzellec, co-founder of Eden Garden Orphanage (2nd picture, far left) and Glenn Gibb, E.G.O. Board and New Hope member (1st picture, far left), along with representatives from Reaching Hearts for Kids and Frontline Community Services met with His Excellency Raymond Joseph, Haitian Ambassador to the United States (1st picture, 2nd from right). During the meeting, the ambassador was able to learn of the work being performed by Eden Garden Orphanage in Haiti. He requested that Eden Garden Orphanage keep up the good work.

Food for hungry villagers in Montrouis

2010-01-31T21:47:00.004-05:00

Pictured: Charles LeMorzellec of E.G.O. handing out 4,500 lbs of rice, 400 lbs. of beans and 12 cases of cooking oil to the village of Montrouis today.

If you have read the earlier posts, you will remember that the Mayor of Montrouis has been asking Charles for help for his village. Charles was able to connect with the World Food Program and get food from them to distribute to this village whose population is approximately 12,000. WFP also told him that he could send someone back in 2 weeks to get more food for this village.

See what some in and outside the New Hope community are doing to help Haiti!

2010-01-28T17:33:00.004-05:00

COLUMBIA, MD:

Cheyenne and Chayne Wright (ages 12 & 10) had been watching the news about the tragic earthquake in Haiti. They just couldn't believe so many people had either been killed or displaced during this tragedy. Their mother (Michelle Wright-Berends) talked to the kids about New Hope’s S.o.S. mission to Haiti, specifically about the orphanage that we support.

At middle school church at New Hope that weekend, Pastor Ann was speaking to the children about the devastation in Haiti and about the children of the orphanage. Cheyenne & Chayne came up with the idea of going through the neighborhood to see if the neighbors would be interested in giving money to support the orphans. Chayne even talked their next-door neighbor (Nicholas Kim, 11) to walk the neighborhood with them.

The children knocked on doors and explained to the neighbors why they were raising money for the orphanage. In about an hour and a half, they raised $200 for the Eden Garden Orphanage! This family also reached out to people in their homeschooling community and as a result, some people have sent checks into the church and one Homeschool co-op has contacted them to tell them that they will be doing a penny fundraiser and making tie blankets for the orphans of Eden Garden Orphanage. As the kids turned the money in to the church office, Chayne said "Mom, I'm so proud that I could do something to help the kids in Haiti!”
_____________________________________________________

ROCKVILLE, MD:

Marty Chappell is a 5th grade Math teacher at Fallsmead, a school of around 400 students in Rockville, Maryland. Marty had been excited about his upcoming mission trip to Haiti scheduled for January and shared that excitement with his students and fellow teachers. This inspired one of the teachers to donate hundreds of dollars in school supplies for Marty to take over to the school that operates at the Eden Garden Orphanage in Haiti that we were to visit.

After the mission trip was postponed due to the earthquake, Marty’s students approached him wanting to help Haiti in some way. They decided on a campaign called “Handfuls of Hope” which equated to handfuls of spare change that the students would bring in. Each class was given a container to collect the “handfuls”. In just 4 days, they raised $1,012.54 for Haiti!

______________________________________________________
ELKRIDGE, MD

Alexander Eapen turned 8 years old this January. This year, after learning about the earthquake in Haiti, he decided to forfeit the elaborate celebration normally planned for his birthday. Alexander told his mother that instead of her spending a lot of money on his party and presents for his birthday, he would like those funds to be donated to New Hope’s S.o.S. Haiti project. Thanks Alexander!

______________________________________________________
ONTARIO, CANADA:

All of the publicity from the TV news and Facebook has encouraged an international effort to raise money for the Eden Garden Orphanage in Haiti. In Ontario, Canada, Reema Sukamaren read the S.o.S. blog after the earthquake and thought, “Wow, I wish I had hundreds of dollars to give.” She came up with and idea and took it to the Good Neighbor Committee her children’s school in Peterborough, Ontario. “The Good Neighbor Committee is a group of parents who strive to teach their children to do good for others for the sake of doing good, without an agenda,” says, Sanjeev Sukumaran, Reema’s husband. In and effort to teach their children about giving to those in need, the committee sponsored a spaghetti lunch for Haiti at their small private school on January 21st.

Peter Bouzinelos, another parent from the school contributed to the effort by cooking and donating food from his restaurant, the Pizza Factory in Peterborough. With the food donation, all of the money could go to Haiti. Students were encouraged to contribute a minimum $3.00 donation for a spaghetti lunch. “They wanted to contribute, and many of them brought money from their own piggybanks. I counted lots of change,” Reema said.

From under 200 students, the Good Neighbor Committee raised $1010.00. “The event has given everyone a buzz,” Reema says, “The kids are all wondering what are we going to do next?” They are considering challenging the local public school to see who can raise more money for the cause. They are also working on getting local businesses to match the donation. Reema says, “As a parent it is important to teach your kids that they can contribute in big or small amounts and still make difference.”

"HEARTS for HAITI" Fundraiser

2010-01-27T11:03:00.004-05:00

For $50, you can help Haiti AND have dinner and entertainment with your sweetheart on Valentine's Day Eve!

Tickets are available at the S.o.S. booth at New Hope (moved to the long hallway this week) or by e-mailing us at NewHopeSoS@comcast.net. Deadline to sign-up is Saturday, Feb. 6

Drilling Rigs Waiting on Us

2010-01-22T16:46:00.003-05:00

Here are the drilling rigs at the Eden Garden Orphanage awaiting our drilling team's arrival. HANDS TOGETHER (the organization we were partnering with to drill the 2 water wells) suffered their own losses and are busy with other things at the moment and have left the rigs on site at E.G.O. for now.

We are consulting experts as to when it will be safe to drill, but estimates are 3-5 weeks from the last aftershock. There was a 4.1 aftershock today where the epicenter was only 30 miles from E.G.O. so it won't be for the next month at least.

Haiti Update 1/22/09

2010-01-22T12:11:00.005-05:00

We are happy to report that Charles LeMorzellec (Eden Garden Orphanage director) was able to get his wife Gigi on a flight out of the Dominican to the U.S. and she is now safely home. Charles has stayed behind to continue to help at the orphanage in Montrouis for the time being.

Thank you to all those who have already donated to S.o.S. HAITI's goal of trying to raise $200,000 to help with the immediate and future needs of the Eden Garden Orphanage and its surrounding community of Montrouis. So far, $26,000 in donations have been received and we were able to wire some of those funds to the orphanage this week. After some frustrating days, Charles was finally able to get to the funds which was difficult with banks being closed in Haiti and funds being unavailable to distribute by local electronic wiring companies, even though the money was in the system. Charles was only able to retrieve the funds after we re-routed them to the Dominican where he drove to put his wife on the plane home.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN RAISING FUNDS FOR THE EDEN GARDEN ORPHANAGE! So far, those raised monies have gone to purchase food and water for the 240 orphanage and school children, E.G.O. staff members and their families. E.G.O. estimates that it has enough food and water to supply the needs of this group for the next 30 days.

Although our primary committment is to the Eden Garden Orphanage, the mayor of Montrouis has already reached out to E.G.O. for aid for supplying tents, water and food for refugees that have been arriving daily. When additional funds are available, E.G.O. will then be able to extend its reach to this community.

Religious groups concentrate on relief efforts to aid Haitians - baltimoresun.com

2010-01-19T21:23:00.001-05:00

Religious groups concentrate on relief efforts to aid Haitians - baltimoresun.com

Posted using ShareThis

"HANDS TOGETHER" Earthquake Report

2010-01-18T09:16:00.005-05:00

If you've been following our story, you will remember that we were scheduled to drill 2 water wells in partnership with an organization called HANDS TOGETHER at the orphanage in Montrouis, Haiti. HANDS TOGETHER has an enormous mission to Haiti, not only providing clean water through water well drilling, but feeding and educating 6,700 chilren every day and providing medical care.

The morning after the earthquake, we called their U.S. office to tell them our flight had been cancelled and we would be unable to meet them at the orphanage that day as planned. When Dave asked about their team, he was told that the organization's leaders had flown to Haiti earlier and were there preparing to meet with our mission team that day. She was in tears and told him they had not been heard from since the earthquake hit .

Thankfully, just minutes later, she called us back to report that they received news that these men were alive and safe. However, others in their organization have been lost as well as families of their local team. To read the stoy of what they experienced during the earthquake, to see what their plans are for Haiti and to donate to their mission, visit http://www.handstogether.org/

Photos courtesy of HANDS TOGETHER

S.o.S. / New Hope and Eden Garden Orphanage

2010-01-17T20:14:00.008-05:00

Since 2007, New Hope Adventist (Fulton, Md) has supported the mission of the Eden Garden Orphanage (E.G.O.) in Montrouis, Haiti. In May 2009, New Hope decided to dedicate its efforts to the Eden Garden Orphanage and started its S.o.S. HAITI Missions Ministry.

S.o.S.’s HAITI'S mission is to improve the quality of life for the children at the Eden Garden Orphanage and surrounding community by providing:

Medical and dental care and supplies

Drilling water wells to provide clean and parasite-free water for EGO and surrounding community

Financial support for the daily operations and capital projects such as construction of medical clinic

Transportation and other equipment

E.G.O. (founded by French-Americans, Charles & Gigi LeMorezellec ) currently cares for approximately 40 children of all ages and operates a school serving about 200 children. E.G.O. is a highly respected source of help and strength to the community in Montrouis, Haiti.

31 members and friends of New Hope were scheduled to fly over early in the morning on Wednesday, January 13, just hours after the earthquake hit. Charles (founder of EGO who was in Haiti with his wife preparing for the team’s visit) called New Hope S.o.S.'s Missions Director, Dave Wooster right after the earthquake hit as he was evacuating the children out of the buildings. He reported that all of the children and staff were safe.

New Hope's goal is to raise funds to help Eden Garden sustain the orphanage in the coming months. Eden Garden is asking for help in raising $200,000 as costs of gas, food and supplies have skyrocketed and so that E.G.O. can continue to provide help to its community. To donate to this effort now, see the paypal DONATE button on the right.

Find out more:
Eden Garden Orphanage: http://edengardenorphanage.info/
facebook: search for Eden Garden Orphanage and Sharing our Strength/S.o.S. Missions Ministry of New Hope

FACES of HAITI

2010-01-17T08:13:00.007-05:00

We are unable to disconnect ourselves from this tragedy and look the other way because each face we see on TV represents a real person, in a real place that captured our hearts when we were there, or when we thought of going there. This draws us to watch...to pray...to want to do something to help. This is real. These are the faces of Haiti.

Photos: Villagers of FondPaul, Haiti where we conducted 2 days of medical clinics/May '09.

2 missing are found

2010-01-17T07:48:00.005-05:00

Amose Barjon (far right) lives in Port-au-Prince and is the aunt of Mischma Brutus (far left).We got word Friday night that she was found alive and safe.

2 people that our group was particularly concerned about have been found safe after the earthquake! One is the aunt of one of our Dental team members who joined our group on our mission trip last May. Her house did sustain damage and she is currently sleeping outside a local school.

The other person we were waiting to hear about was Jean-Claude, the local caretaker of Eden Garden Orphanage who also lives in Port-au-Prince. Amazingly, though other houses around him were demolished, his house was untouched.

We were relieved that both of these people that we know are ok after so many the stories of un-happy endings we have seen this week.

Local Media Coverage on S.o.S.'s Haiti Mission

2010-01-15T12:31:00.003-05:00

WBAL TV: http://tinyurl.com/ylfzbyj
Note: Look for side-by-side article and video enitled "Md Mission Group Was To Travel to Haiti..."

ABCTV News article http://tinyurl.com/yhdxh7v
Note: Closing comment in article regarding our "medical supplies being useless" is not accurate and steps will be taken to correct this inaccuracy.

MESSAGE FROM EDEN GARDEN ORPHANAGE BOARD

2010-01-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Haiti is a country in distress beyond comprehension. The capital, Port-au-Prince, and the surrounding areas have been horribly decimated by the earthquake and aftershocks that occurred on January 12, 2010. Our Eden Garden Orphanage located in Montrouis, Haiti, is located approximately 50 miles north of Port-au-Prince. The orphanage survived the earthquake with minimal damage and all of the children are safe. However, Jean-Claude, our Haitian director for the orphanage still remains unaccounted for (he resides in Port-au-Prince).

We thank God for keeping the children safe through this tragedy and are praying for the safety of Jean-Claude. However, this tragedy does not end with just the earthquake. As the country begins to recover from this disaster, there is certain to be shortages of food, clean water, and other items essential for survival. Thousands of people need shelter. Demand for these essential items will cause prices to increase for people who were barely surviving before the earthquake.

A 31 person mission team from the New Hope Adventist Church in Fulton, Maryland www.newhopesoshaiti.blogspot.com was scheduled to fly to Haiti on January 13 to drill water wells at Eden Garden Orphanage, conduct medical clinics and engage in other humanitarian activities in the communities surrounding the orphanage. In anticipation of this mission trip, Charles & Gigi LeMorzellec, founders of the orphanage, had already traveled to Haiti earlier this week. They are currently safe at the orphanage and already evaluating how Eden Garden Orphanage can help those in need in the surrounding communities.

In order to sustain the orphanage operations and help the surrounding communities, Eden Garden Orphanage seeks to raise $200,000. These funds will be used to ensure the continued security of the children and staff of the orphanage. In addition, with Charles and Gigi on the ground in Haiti, we are assessing ways that Eden Garden Orphanage can help meet the huge needs in the surrounding area. People know that Eden Garden Orphanage helps those in need and we want to be able to respond to the requests that are sure to come. These additional funds will allow us to make a real difference in the lives of our neighbors at a time when all seems lost.

We ask that you do the following:

• Pray for the people of Haiti as they recover from this tragedy.
• Pray for the continued safety of the children of Eden Garden Orphanage and for Jean-Claude, our director.
• Consider making an immediate donation to help our children and the people of Haiti during this time of crisis. You may donate online by going to www.edengardenorphanage.info and clicking on the “Donate” button.
With God’s help, Eden Garden Orphanage remains committed to serving the children and people of Haiti. Thank you for your prayers and support.

UPDATE ON HAITI CRISIS

2010-01-13T18:19:00.004-05:00

By now you are all probably aware of the devastating 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday. The images on the news show just a glimpse of what the conditions and suffering must be like. We can attest that the living conditions were horrible in Haiti before this earthquake took place - we shudder to imagine what the country is feeling and experiencing today as loved ones are lost and injured and found dead. The lack of infrastructure, the absolute poverty (at 80% with most Haitians earning less than $1/day), lack of access to food and clean water are all issues that paint a glim picture in the midst of this disaster. Latest news estimates indicate the death toll to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Given this situation, the New Hope mission trip to Haiti scheduled for today has been postponed. Charles & Gigi (the Eden Garden Orphanage directors) were there at the orphanage preparing for our group's arrival and called us right after the earthquake hit. We were relieved to hear that the orphanage did not sustain any damage and that the children are all safe. The orphanage is located north of Port-Au-Prince and was still willing to host us, but the airport is closed due to damage and flights are cancelled at this time.

Our team was scheduled to leave the area at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, so once we got word that the earthquake hit around 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, the rest of the day and yet this morning has been spent on group conference calls to determine what we should do. Although some of the medical team still wanted to go to help and while our contacts and logistics were being considered, the Lord made it clear to all of us that right now is not the time for us go.

We contacted "HANDS TOGETHER" this morning, who is the organization that we were partnering with for the well project and were scheduled to meet with today in Haiti. We were devastated to learn that the well team was in Port-Au-Prince at the time of the earthquake and had not yet been heard from. Shortly after that call, we got word that they are safe so we are thankful for that. Learn more about them at http://www.handstogether.org/

Thank you for all the phone calls, e-mails, facebook messages and prayers of concern that we have received but have been unable to respond to. For the latest updates, you can visit this blog as many of you already have. We are also keeping our facebook page updated where you can find us under "Sharing our Strength"/S.o.S. Missions Ministry of New Hope.

The mission trip will be rescheduled and New Hope will make it to Haiti in the future as God reveals to us where we can be of service. Your prayers for the people of Haiti during this disaster are much needed and appreciated.

For more info or to donate to Eden Garden Orphanage, visit: http://www.edengardenorphanage.info/

You may also donate to this project by using the paypal button on the right top of this page.

Well company in Haiti

2010-01-13T10:15:00.001-05:00

We just got word that the crew from the "HANDS TOGETHER" organization that we were to meet at the orphanage today to start the well drilling are safe. They were in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake.
http://www.handstogether.org/

7.0 earthquake hits Haiti

2010-01-12T21:58:00.003-05:00

Due to the earthquake, the New Hope mission trip to Haiti scheduled for Jan 13-19 has been postponed. Eden Garden Orphanage is safe, but the airport is closed and flights are cancelled at this time. Your prayers for the people of Haiti during this disaster are needed and appreciated.

International Food Festival at New Hope

2010-01-10T11:32:00.006-05:00

Last night's International Food Festival benefit event at New Hope that raised around $2300 to help fund the water wells and medicines for the mission trip to Haiti this week (Jan 13-19).

About 300 people attended last night and enjoyed food from far-away places such as the Philippines, India, Africa, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Greneda, Jamaica, Venezuela, the good ole USA, and even high tea with Pastor Newman in his English-style teahouse.

Congrats to INDIA, last night's winners of best overall cuisine at the IFF! Their sari demonstration, bollywood videos and music and impressive display of food was rightly acknowledged as they came out in force again and took home the victory!

Thanks to all who participated and those who came out to eat to support S.o.S. and the outreach to Haiti!

See pics at: http://newhopesospics.shutterfly.com/haiti or by viewing the slideshow at the top of this page.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD FESTIVAL - Saturday, Jan. 9 at 6:00 p.m.

2010-01-05T13:42:00.003-05:00

This Saturday, January 9 at 6:00 p.m. will be our 2nd International Food Festival. This event is hosted by S.o.S. International and the $5 per person entrance fee will go towards the Haiti Mission Project to help purchase medicines and water wells during the upcoming mission trip this January 13-19.

A winning cuisine will be chosen by mystery judges who will walk around and sample foods unannounced. A new feature this year will include "HIGH TEA for HAITI" where for $5 extra, you can have 5 minutes with Pastor Newman in his English-style Tea House and receive spiritual counsel or give him your advice on how you think things should be running at New Hope (additional minutes may be purchased if 5 minutes are not enough). So come on out for an evening of food and fun and help support the Haiti mission outreach!

If you are interested in contributing food from your country, send us an e-mail at: NewHopeSoS@comcast.net

International Food Festival Fundraiser

2009-12-22T08:44:00.002-05:00

International Food Festival Fundraiser
Saturday, January 9, 2010 at New Hope

Proceeds to benefit the Haiti Mission Project for the purchase of medicines and water wells in the upcoming mission trip.

To participate:

Sign up at the S.o.S. booth in the lobby or e-mail NewHopeSoS@comcast.net with the country you are representing

Collaborate with others from your country to cook up a few dishes,
desserts and even drinks that best represent your homeland

Assemble small plates with samples of each item
that can be tried by many people

Decorate your table with artifacts and flags
which show your country's colors and uniqueness

OR

Just show up and try some great food for a good cause!

HAITI 2010

2009-11-11T12:17:00.004-05:00

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 the lives and overall health of these children , mark “S.o.S. Haiti” on your tithe envelope or through online giving at http://lookingforachurch.org. Checks can be made payable to New Hope and mailed to: 12350 Hall Shop Rd., Fulton, MD 20759. Please note "Haiti Well Project" in the memo of your check. Thank you for giving!

For more info, e-mail NewHopeSoS@comcast.net or visit the S.o.S. booth in the lobby at New Hope.

2009-11-08T18:37:00.003-05:00

CONTAINER SHIPPING TO HAITI / WELL PROJECT

2009-10-01T09:06:00.004-04:00

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:

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

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

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

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

2009-09-21T11:06:00.001-04:00

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

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

Magdalene's Mom

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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

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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

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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

2009-05-27T08:34:00.007-04:00

TUESDAY, MAY 26: Last day of work

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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

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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

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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)!

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

MORE PICS

2009-05-24T23:16:00.003-04:00

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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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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)!