Making a Medical Difference 

Once upon a time, in a land far away, I was a young school girl.  (Can you imagine?)  I remember learning about the civil war and how so many soldiers died from infected wounds.  It seemed so foreign to me.  I once had a scraped knee that got infected.  My mother put scalding hot washcloths on it, as I screamed out in pain.  Had she saved my life?  Hard to imagine a scraped knee could have killed me.  Apparently, the discovery of antibiotics is what made that seem so absurd to me.

Fast forward 35 -40 years and I’m seeing with my own eyes what infection can do to people.  A simple antibiotic is often beyond the reach of the poor and so a “simple” infection can be the cause of becoming maimed, losing a limb or worse.

 

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Enter Mission of Hope International and Nurse Angela.  I remember how insecure Angela seemed in her knowledge of nursing and how she would double guess herself constantly.  But she never gave up.  God sent many people along side to help her in areas where she was weak and little by little she turned into this amazing nurse that I see before me now.  As long as we’re alive we’re learning.  She is a picture of confidence now – not arrogant, just confident.  I watch her as she treats each patient with respect, care, love and patience.  I see her wrack her brain over the more challenging presentations and we rejoice together when the patient responds well to treatment.

This week, we welcomed a couple of RNs from Living Faith Fellowship (Souderton, PA).  Janet Knechel and Beth Studenroth will be working with Angela in the clinic for a week.  They spent Saturday preparing for tomorrow morning.  Janet has 41 years of nursing experience and has been to Haiti over a dozen times.  Beth, like Angela, chose nursing as a profession after her first visit to Haiti.  We are blessed to have them here with us.

Myself, as an American with access to healthcare all of my life, had never really considered what life would be without it.  While there are hospitals and medical clinics in Haiti, the doctor to patient ratio is very low.  The advanced medical equipment and laboratory testing capacity is usually very hard and sometimes impossible to locate here.  Add to this the extreme poverty that over three quarters of the country’s population lives in and you can see what an impact volunteers can make in the lives of our friends here in Grand-Goâve and St. Etienne.

I am not a medical professional, but I absolutely love the medical profession.  If I had my druthers, I’d spend my days translating in medical clinics here in Haiti.  I encourage all of you who are medical professionals to consider volunteering a week of your time to come experience what medical missions looks like – more importantly to help those who may have no other alternative for help.  Most of us have at least one friend in the medical field.  Maybe you could suggest they join you on a trip to MOHI this Winter.  Remember, I’m not a nurse, but I love being in the clinic and there are things that people like me can do to really support the medical staff.  Contact us – I’ll be waiting to hear from you!

School

We had several visitors this week at the MOHI school in Thozin.  Our fellow missionary and dear friend, Ed Lockett stopped by with a group.  He always brings something for the kids.  Sometimes it’s pictures that he’s taken of them, balls, jump ropes, school supplies.  Often times he’ll bring his guitar along and sing (and joke – a lot!) with the kids.  He’s always surrounded and that’s just the way he likes it.  He does such a great job of remembering individual children, too.

Graduations will be happening in our two schools in just over a week.  This is such a big event for these students and I am so excited for them.  Each class will give speeches and other presentations, like songs and poetry.  My favorite part of the graduation, personally, is listening to the kindergarten children over-pronouncing their French Rs.  Unlike in English, where we pronounce the R mostly with our lips, the French R is pronounced from the back of the mouth/throat.  So, when the child begins greeting the crowd, they say “Dear parents, professors, director, founder…” kind of like this, “Cherrrrrrrrrr parrrrrrrents, prrrofesseurrrrrrrrrs, dirrrrecteurrrrrrr, fondateurrrrrrrrrrrr…”  It is so sweet to watch and such a riot to see all the attendees smile and laugh with joy as the speech is being given.  Add to that the little practiced movements with the hands or a bow and it’s unbelievably cute.  Ah, you probably wish you could see, too.  Maybe you’ll just have to plan to join us next year.

Later in the week our sixth grade classes will go to national exams.  Both graduations and exams are milestones in the lives of our students.  Please join our churches in praying for these students for peace, understanding and knowledge to be evident in them as they take these exams.  Thank you.

Unlike American schools, we don’t HAVE to have electricity in classrooms in order to use them.  Consequently, as benches become available, we are moving the students into their new classrooms.  Woo Hoo!  They love it and so do I!

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Missionary Housing

In preparation for a busy summer, we have been constructing an additional dorm building.  It is designed to hold triple bunk beds and should accommodate 36 people.  Maybe we should plan a summer youth camp for next year.  Hmmmmm.  Let me know if anyone’s interested and maybe we’ll work on it.

 Archaie

We took a trip out to Archaie this past week.  We met up with our friends Bob & Sally Heier at an orphanage they’ve been supporting for several years.  We’d heard so much about it, so it was special to finally get to see it ourselves.  Papa, as everyone refers to the pastor running the orphanage, has really invested his life in these kids.  I was impressed simply because the place was so clean.  The kids were happy and acted quite normal for children.  I sensed the children are being raised in a very loving atmosphere.

We also went into the downtown area and saw the new open market area the president just recently inaugurated.  It’s been quite a few years since I’ve visited Archaie.  There have definitely been several improvements made.  I always call it the banana capitol of Haiti.  The bananas make the countryside look lovely and now the city area is looking beautiful, as well.

Restaurant in St Etienne

As you can see in the following pictures, progress continues with the restaurant construction.  The stone work in the patio is nearing completion.  The new staircase is now setting on the flooring below.  The upstairs ceiling and railings are all painted white and Janina has been working on the fine detail of covering the columns with coral.  It’s so unique and beautiful.

Other Happenings…