Today I decided to take some photographs of the
patients in the hospital to give you an idea what we see here on a regular basis.
On the left is Loren with her little girl Wedgina. Rob and Dr.
Anne-Marie picked up Loren on the road in Bassin Blue and brought her back to the
clinic. Loren has a heart condition which is causing her to
retain water. Her heart got stressed during the delivery of Wedgina
and she has had failing health ever since. When wegina first came to
us she weighed 1.65 kilograms 2 weeks later she now ways 2.6 kilograms.
We started her off with a feeding tube because she did not have enough strength to eat on her own.

This is Flanez and her parents. Flanez came
to us at 2 kilograms. She is underweight has problems with
her lungs and also appears to be handicapt physically and possibly
mentally. Her parents are very nice and hopefully the problem
with her feet can be corrected surgically. Her husband is
pumping breast milk for Flanez since she is too week to drink.
Special thanks to those who purchased the breast pumps for
us. Flanez drinks through a feeding tube as well.
Right now her biggest problem is breathing. She is
often congested.

This is Castrol, he has TB and is being treated.
He seems to be getting better complains about pain in his
legs a lot. He is also trying to steal my girlfriends heart!
He is quite the smooth opperator so I've got my eye on him.
On a sadder note his family left him at the hospital with no
food and no one to care for him. Fortunately the mother of a
TB patient across the hall has taken him under her wing and keeps him
fed. Someone recently donated money to the Hospital to help
feed the patients who can not afford to bring food. Because
we do not have the resources and because we do not charge a lot the
patients must bring their own food and family to cook for them when
they come to the hospital. There are a few exceptions like
Castrol and some others who can not afford food. Castrol has
a great attitude and is always good for a late night conversation.

This is the mother of Mama Anne-Rose. She is
the one who took it upon herself to feed Castrol when his family
abandoned him. Her daughter (Mama Anne-Rose) is being treated
for TB in the room on the left.

Here is Mama Anne-Rose she has TB and is being treated.
Annelies is on the left and Ryna a nurse from America is on
the right. She lost her child who was born premature.
She is doing much better now.

This is a daughter and mother. The daughter
had TB first and then her mother caught it. The duaghter is
in the 4th month of TB treatments and is able to stay at home now but
came back to the hospital to help take care of her mother.

This is the daughter of Belizer. Belizer had
a motorcycle accident and so his whole family is staying here.
She and her sisters are very cute and allways chase me down
to say hi or wave at me as I drive by on the tractor.

This is Belizer. His leg was not cleaned
properly by a hospital that will remain unnamed. The cut was
not a serious one but he fell in a canal filled with sewage and the
wound was not properly cleaned before it was stiched up. A
few days later the skin started to buble and rot. Dr.
Anne-Marie cleaned the wound and cut away the infected skin and
Annelies and Ryna have been cleaning and bandaging the wound ever
since. It is starting to heal rapidly but he is still without
skin over a large part of his leg.

Hope this gives you a better idea of what we are up to
over here. We both realy enjoy being over here in Haiti.
Sometimes it is overwhelming with the climate and the poverty
but there is a lot of joy to be found here in the people.
Please pray that we would have patience and strength for the
work over here and that our endurance holds up. We are headed
to Netherlands for a month which will give us a nice break but since
both of us plan to be here long term, years... we will need a new level
of endurance and patience than when we knew we where going home in a
year or less. Thank you for your prayers and support.