September.
Wat een tijd geleden. De tijd vliegt voorbij.
De laatste maanden hier, hebben we genoeg meegemaakt en niet stil gezeten. Nou ja. Ö. Na het gezellige bezoek van Anton Germa, kwamen mijn zus en haar vriend. We hebben eerst hier samengewerkt en later zijn we met zín 5íen lekker een weekje op vakantie geweest bij Port au Prince. Een ding was opmerkelijk. Ik wist niet dat het koel/koud kon zijn in HaÔti. We zaten in een huisje hoger in de bergen. Heerlijk even bijkomen van al die hitte de afgelopen weken.
Net een dag voordat Anton en Germa kwamen, hadden we al een meisje in huis. Dustin noemde haar Tea-tea, maar haar echte naam is Chelmise. We hebben haar tot twee weken geleden in huis gehad. Dus ook mee op vakantie. Zij heeft genoten, maar wij ook!
Chelmise kwam hier ernstig ondervoed. Niet meer kunnen en willen eten en drinken. We hebben haar toen een neussonde gegeven. Daardoor konden we de speciale melk ( Unicef F5 melk) voor ondervoede kinderen geven. Maar later bleekt dat ze ook tuberculose had. Ze heeft heel slecht gelegen. Maar onze zorg van mijn vriendin Germa en zus Marloes en natuurlijk de mannen, heeft wel baat gehad. Ze knapt langzaam aan op, neemt de medicatie, eet en drinkt zelfstandig.
Ondertussen is ze opgenomen in een kinderhuis. Dat huis heeft een goede behandeling bij kinderen met Tuberculose. En net voordat ik haar oppakte om in de auto te stappen naar het kinderhuis, kreeg ik een hartelijk dankjewel lach!!! Het was fantastisch
Ja, toen we haar hadden weggebracht was het enorm stil in huis.

Het is altijd afwachtte wat ons dagelijks weer te wachten staat. Wat voor een patiÎnten, wat voor ziektes, opnamen in het ziekenhuis, tuberculose behandeling, hiv-aids behandeling, ondervoede kinderen, keizersnede??? Het is mooi om te zien, dat we steeds meer kunnen betekenen voor de mensen in de omgeving.
Morgen bijvoorbeeld hopen Dustin en ik weer naar een groot ziekenhuis te gaan met patiÎnten die hiv/aids hebben voor medicatie en consult van een arts.
Hiv/aids verschrikkelijke ziekte, maar voor veel mensen is er met medicatie wel leven. Voor hoe lang dat weten wij niet, maar gelukkig hoeven wij niet die beslissing te maken.
Wij hebben de opdracht op aarde gekregen om God te dienen en daarom helpen wij elkaar!

De tijd voor ons in HaÔti zit er bijna op. Wij komen namelijk voor 2,5 maand naar Nederland.
de laatste week van september komen wij naar Nederland en half december zullen wij bij leven en wel zijn naar California gaan om daar een jaar te gaan wonen en werken.


ENGLISH VERSION google translate version (sorry for the bad grammar)

September.
What a time ago. Time flies.
In recent months here, we've been through a lot and have not sat still. Oh well. Ö. After the nice visit by Anton Germa, my sister and her boyfriend came for two weeks. We first worked here for a week with them and later we took a nice week long vacation in Port au Prince. One thing was remarkable. I did not think it is possible for it to be so cold in Haiti. We were in a house in the higher mountains. Delicious rest from all the heat in recent weeks.
Just one day before Germa and Anton came, we had a girl in the house. Dustin called her tea-tea, but her real name is Chelmise. We have her in our home until two weeks ago, she also joined us for our vacation.
Chelmise came in severely malnourished. No desire to eat and drink. We have given her a nasogastric tube. This allowed us to give special milk (UNICEF F75 milk) for malnourished children. But later it appeared that she had tuberculosis. She was in very bad condition. But benefited from the care of our visitors. She recovers slowly, takes the medication, eats and drinks on her own.
She is now in the House of Hope. That house has a good treatment for children with tuberculosis. And just before I picked her up to take here there, I got a sincere thank you smile! It was fantastic
Yes, when we had her taken away, it was extremely quiet at home.

It is always waiting for what our daily weather ahead. What kind of patient education, what diseases, hospital admissions, tuberculosis treatment, HIV-AIDS treatment, malnourished children, Caesarean?? It's nice to see that we can do more for people in the area.
For example, Dustin and I hope tomorrow again to a large hospital with patient education to HIV / AIDS medication and to consult a doctor.
HIV / AIDS devastating disease, but for many people there are living with medication. For how long we do not know, but fortunately we do not make that decision.
We have been given the job on earth to serve God and therefore we help each other!

The time for us Haiti is almost over. We come to the Netherlands for 2.5 months.
The last week of September we come to the Netherlands and half in December we will have to live and have been going to California for a year to live and work.

A busy couple of weeks.

Hi Everyone! It has been very busy here the last couple of weeks, thus the lack of updates. Annelies and I took in a couple of HIV patients into the hospital in La Point for the treatment program they have there, then had to admit one of the patients into the hospital because her son was not well enough to make the return trip. In short we have been away from home a lot lately. Annelies has been keeping busy in the clinic and hospital. She is also taking care of a little girl who's name is Teatea. Teatea is one year old but seems only a couple of months old because she did not get much food for a long time. She is looking much better now, when we first got her she looked dried out, her skin just hung on to her.

I have been working on the solar power system for some time now and as of today the operating room 2 is complete. Annelies and her friend Germa from the Netherlands are busy cleaning it right now. It will be used for C-sections. Right now if someone needs a C-section they have to take about an hour drive over very rough roads that are sometimes impassible. The operating room is powered and air conditioned entirely with solar energy. It is not cheep to do so but when you consider the cost of driving to fetch fuel and the problems attaining fuel during unstable times here it is worth it. The system generates between 20 and 30 kilowatt hours of power a day from 39 solar panels which in turn charge several banks of heavy duty batteries and provide power to 3 inverters. Two of the inverters supply 6 kilowatts of split phase 60hz (American) current while the third supplies 2.4 kilowatts of 50hz (European) current. Haiti uses the American electrical system in general but a lot of our medical equipment comes from Europe and thus the 50hz current. To many of you these numbers don't mean much but the system generates enough current to power the average home in America. There are many people who have put a lot of work and effort into making this happen: Jack, Dave, Tom, Larry, Al, and Richard. Most of you guys are from Washington I think... Thanks for your help! The system is not quite finished. There are some cables that need to be replaced and a few other things that need to be brought up to code :]

Anton, Annelies's Uncle has been working on the Land Cruiser and has made a lot of progress, many parts are on the way and it looks like he will have it in top shape soon.

We have been having good rains here and as long as it keeps up the people should have a good crop. We are seeing a lot of HIV patients recently... Many of the men go off to work in the Dominican Republic or elsewhere and end up bringing aids back with them to their families.

Annelies and I are tired but we are well and are enjoying the work immensely. Please pray that God will give us Love, Humility and Patience those are the things we need most at this point.

Life in the city

Port de paix
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Nap time

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Washing the dishes after pizza. We had a long day today. Annelies is the only nurse on duty this weekend. We had our first patient a machete wound show up on our doorstep. He cut through most of his finger and fingernail. It was an ugly wound needed stitches. Next was a woman with a fever and a man having problems loosing water. Then finally cleaning the wound of a lady that got her foot in the spokes of a motorcycle. Be glad I soared you the photos on that one. After that it was rounds at the hospital and a woman with a problem we could not help.
That was yesterday this morning we woke up to a knock on our door for a man that could not pee. These cases are kind of nice because it is an easy fix and relieves so much pain. Annelies is now taking care of a small child that had a large abcess on his face, it is very painfull for the child and he is crying loudly.


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Vacation and Mountain home care

Nederlands

Afgelopen donderdag ( 10 juni) waren we alweer 1 jaar getrouwd. We hebben dit heugelijke feit, samen gevierd, in een hotel aan de zee. Geweldig uitzicht, zwemmen, zonnen, lekker eten, puur genieten!!
Toen we terug kwamen, kon ik nog 1 dag samen werken met Ryna en Sara ( Amerikaanse vrienden) want helaas hebben hun gisteren Haiti verlaten, en zijn weer terug naar huis. Ik mis ze erg.
Gelukkig ben ik niet alleen, Esther en Michael ( verpleegkundige en arts) zijn er. Het is altijd weer wennen al mensen komen en gaan.
Ja eigenlijk gaat het dagelijkse leven ook hier zn gangetje.
Dustin is nog bezig met het installeren van de zonnepanelen. Dat begint al aardig op te schieten.
En in het ziekenhuis hebben we op dit moment, best veel patienten met tuberculose.
In de kliniek is het dagelijks komen en gaan van mensen.
Wat we als team merken is het zo belangrijk om voorlichting te geven aan patienten.
In alle dingen, van het wassen van de kleren tot het innemen van tabletten. En van minder urgente ziektes tot noodgeval.
Dustin en ik waren laats in de bergen op bezoek bij een familie, en we praten wat en er kwamen meer mensen bij ons zitten, en toen kwamen de verhalen, van die mevrouw is ziek en dat kind heeft al zoveel dagen diarree etc. We gingen al deze mensen af , het waren buren van de familie waar we op bezoek waren,
en gaven wat ze nodig hadden.
Toen Dustin en ik naar huis reden, hadden we het er over, dat het zo goed is om dicht bij de mensen te zijn, dichtbij waar ze wonen en leven. Om zo beter inzicht te krijgen in hun dagelijkse leven, de gewoontes.
Thuiszorg? In Haiti? I like it!! :)


English
As of last Thursday (June 10) we have been married for one year. We celebrated this memorable event, together at a resort on the sea. Great views, swimming, sunbathing, fine dining, pure enjoyment!
When we came back, I had one last day of collaboration with Ryna and Sara (American friends) because they unfortunately had to leave Haiti yesterday, and are now back home. I really miss them.
Luckily I'm not alone, Esther and Michael (nurse and doctor) are here. It is always hard getting used to all people coming and going.
But life goes on.
Dustin is still working on installing solar panels and is starting to pick up speed.
In the hospital we have at the moment, quite a lot of patients with tuberculosis.
In the clinic, the daily comings and goings of people.
Our team is finding out that one of the most important things we do is to provide information to patients.
In all things, from washing clothes to taking tablets. And less urgent illnesses to emergency.
Dustin and I were in the mountains to visit a family, We talked with a group of people from the area, and then came the stories, that lady is sick and that child has diarrhea etc. We went to visit these people since they were neighbors of the family we were visiting, and took care of what they needed as we could. When Dustin and I drove home, we talked about it, and how it is good to go to the people where they live. To better understand their daily lives, habits.
Home care? In Haiti? I like it! :)