Monday, July 29, 2013

Better Days

First of all, thanks so much to those of you who have prayed so faithfully for us during these difficult days.  The weekend was a bit up and down, but this morning Linda called to say all was looking much better.

All of our kids who were admitted to the Cholera Treatment Center have been released and sent home.  No new cases have risen, and the HOH is getting a royal cleaning treatment today.  The last kids came home last night, with the last one being 9 year old Daphno.  When I asked Linda how he was doing today she said, "Oh, he's out playing soccer".  That's a kid for you!

Phania is doing better.  The Doctors had her in the operating room to take the baby on Saturday, but decided at the last minute to wait a bit and see if Phania would improve.  She did, and today is getting an ultra sound done to see how the baby is doing.

Again we appreciate your support in so many ways, but particularly your prayers through these days.  Pray that Linda and the other leaders can catch up with some much needed rest!  Pray also for those who had the cholera that they'd continue to heal and not have any negative health issues that arise from this.  Blessing...

Friday, July 26, 2013

It's been a tough day


While Phania and Rose Nirva continue to hang in there, the doctor's are trying to decide if they need to take Phania's baby while it is still doing ok.  Please pray for them as they make a decision on this.  She lost her last baby which was born very premature, so I'm sure this is very scarey for her and her husband.

Ricardo has now come down with Cholera and has been transferred to the treatment center.  Two other young people Mirlene and Rosnel are sick, but so far not with Cholera.  My guess would be two things, they are working hard and they are scared to eat or drink because they don't want cholera, so they have become dehydrated!  Keep them in your prayers as well as all the other kids as this must be scarey for them as well.

One of our babies died earlier this evening.  Lovinson had been at the HOH for the past several months with a serious case of malnutrition.  He got cholera and wasn't doing too badly until today.  He died quite suddenly this evening.  We were hoping not to lose any, please pray for those on the ground there, I'm sure they are feeling terrible about this.

Linda and the other leaders are very tired as you can imagine.  Keep holding them up in prayer.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Update on the Cholera situation

Good Evening all...The news seems a bit better today.  Rose Nirva pulled through the night and continued to hang on through today, but she is still touch and go.  They had to do a cut down on her neck to find a vein yesterday to get IV's in, and were able to later transfer it to her arm.  Today the doctors felt that she had malaria on top of the cholera, so this was complicating things.  Phania (former HOH kid who was visiting and got cholera as well) seems to be doing better today.  The doctors are keeping a close watch on her, as she is 32 weeks along in her pregnancy.  They are not too worried about the baby at this point, but are ready to do a Cesarean at any moment should it be necessary.  Please continue to pray for these two.

Ronaldson, a young boy seems to be a bit worse today, so keep him in your prayers as well.  There are no new cases as of about noon today, so we thank you for this specific prayer request.  Cholera spreads incredibly fast, so this is a great tribute to some very hard work by our staff and older kids on the ground at the HOH to keep this contained.

The National Public Health officers came by the HOH today and insisted that all of our sick kids/youth be taken to the Cholera Treatment Center at our neighboring hospital.  Linda fought very hard to make them change their minds, as she felt we and our staff would take better care of them than they would get at the treatment center.  But they would not be swayed, so they spent much of this afternoon moving all the sick ones down to the hospital.  We have several of our staff who have gone down there with them to make sure they are properly looked after, but while this eliminates the chances of spread in the HOH, it complicates things for Linda as the kids are all split up now.

Thank you to those of you who have responded with help. And to all those who have prayed fervently for us.  Please continue to pray for all of the sick kids and for Linda and the other staff working hard during this tough time.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Urgent Need at HOH!

As many of you know, I am traveling in Canada and the US for a couple of months.  Today I got a call from the HOH.  They have at least 8 cases of Cholera that have sprung up in the last day or two.  This is a very serious situation.  It is the first time we've had confirmed cases at the HOH, and with almost 100 people living together in fairly close quarters, it could potentially get really bad.

We really need your prayers for Linda and the older youth who are helping her care for these sick ones.  We specifically need prayers for Rose Nirva, the little girl pictured here.  She is the one who is most sick at the moment, they weren't even sure if she was going to make it through the day today.  So please pray for her and those caring for her.  Then there are several others who have it as well:  Stephanie, Fendly, Daphno, Ronaldson, Lovinson, Lovedine, Phania.  Phania is one of the former HOH kids, she moved out and got married last year.  She is expecting, and this will be very serious for her and the baby.

This is a picture of Rose Nirva today, being cared for by Linda,













They have had to put up tarps and fences to limit the kids who are still healthy and keep them away from those who are sick.  Here is a picture of where they are keeping the younger healthy kids during the day...

So, you can just imagine how difficult things are at the HOH right now.  Please pray for Linda, Saingermain, Ernst and Jn Daniel as they lead the others in this difficult time.  Pray for health for them, and for the cholera not to spread further.  Please also pray for the financial implications that this outbreak raises as they are having to buy huge amounts of medicines and IV fluids, as well as supplies to care for the sick.

I will update as soon as I am able to.  If you have any questions feel free to write me at houseofhope1@hotmail.com .


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Catching up!

It's one of those busy moments in life, where time just never seems to be enough.  So I'm writing just a few things to catch you up on our news! 

This week starts the spiritual life conference of the Haitian organization that the HOH is part of.  Thousands of people have come to our little town to take part in the festivities.  Our kids just love this week as it's a chance to get all dressed up, go to services, learn new songs and be part of the thousands of other kids who have come here from all over Haiti. Here are some of our kids all dressed up.  They have meetings in the mornings and afternoons and they enjoy it so much.

Most of our kids are finished with their exams.  The last group left is the Grade 13 exams, and they were almost done when we had the scare of Tropical Storm Chantal yesterday.  So the exams got canceled and rescheduled for next week.  A bit of a bummer for them, but then a few extra days to study as well!  Pray for Jn Daniel and Manno who are writing these exams.

Jenny is busy getting ready to leave on her two month trip this coming weekend.  Please pray for her and Djordjy as they travel to many places and see many people.  If you are interested in contacting them, just send an e-mail to the HOH address and she'll be in touch with you.  That e-mail is  houseofhope1@hotmail.com.

Tomorrow please be in prayer for Jenny, Altagrace and Immaculee as they travel to Port-au-Prince to see a specialist to get braces for the two ladies.  Altagrace has been in the HOH for years and as never been able to progress from crutches to walking on her own.  A physical therapist in our area has given us hope if she gets the braces she'll be able to support herself and walk unaided.  This would be a huge blessing for Altagrace.  Immaculee was a resident at the HOH many many years ago.  She was struck with polio as a young child.  She has been the assistant director of the local elementary school for many years now.  Last November she fell and broke her hip. It has been a long road of recovery for her, and she also needs some braces.  We were blessed to find a place called Mission of Hope just outside of Port-au-Prince.  They have a lab and a technician who can make the braces for them.  They also have a missionary who has his own plane, and he has offered to come get us, take us to the brace clinic then bring us back.  If the weather permits tomorrow, we will do this all in one day.  So pray that this works out and we can get these ladies the help they need.

Many thanks for your prayers and support.  Continue to pray for Linda and the kids here at the HOH and for Jenny as she travels seeking to raise the funds we need for the coming school year.