A glimpse of the last week

At 3:30 on the 13th, I went downstairs to see a grandmother sitting on my back porch with a tiny baby in her arms. The grandmother said that she had walked a long way to bring the baby here. She said the baby was having trouble breathing and when she handed the baby to me, I thought at first she wasn't breathing at all. But, i soon saw that she was really struggling to breathe and was purple. I ran upstairs and put her on the warming table and had the guys get the oxygen right away. They were really quick and we had it on the baby girl and she started to pink up after a few minutes. Lori was busy running around collecting everything and anything she could think of that I might need, and making sure the oxygen was working alright. We were both praying that this little baby would keep breathing, as there were a number of times we had to arouse her when she stopped taking breaths. I called Melinda to see what advice she would have to help stabalize the baby. The grandmother had made contact with the baby's mother, but she was out of town and had a long way to travel to get here. They had gone to the hospital but there were no doctors on that day, so they sent them to us. We waited and waited for the mother to come, but she did not show up. After the baby was stabalized, we thought it best to send it to a hospital so it could have IV therapy and medicine. I was very nervous about taking her off the oxygen and sending her to another hospital 30 minutes away, but I took it off and she seemed to stay stabalized at the moment. So, Mozard our driver and Cedieu and his brother Gabo, all went in the truck with the little family to head to the hospital. They took an ambu bag with them just in case she needed some help breathing. They met the mother on the way, and they arrived safely at the hospital where a pediatrician was waiting for them, and the baby was put on oxygen right away and was doing just fine. We thank the Lord for His help in helping us know what to do to care for this little one.

A week ago we we joined by this little boy, Edison. His mother died 4 months ago, and he is dealing with the effects of malnutrition. He is eating well, but DOES NOT like dairy products, which makes it hard to make a diet for him. He thinks I'm his momma now, and he follows me around constantly. His father told us that he is 18 months, but from what we are seeing he is 2 1/2 or 3 years old. He has a whole lot of teeth for being 18 months, and his mannerisms are much more mature than an 18 month old. He calls me momma and then jabbers away. He doesn't like it when other kids have my attention, and is constantly batting at them with his hand.

Here's a little update on premature Yvenson. In 9 days he'll be 4 months old and weighs just about 5 1/2 lbs. He's starting to gain weight quickly now, and has turned into quite the spitfire! His mom is here almost everyday to nurse and care for him. She's kind of like part of the house now! He'll stay with us for a few more pounds, probably between 8-10lbs, and then he'll get to go home!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding....please send up some extra prayers for us and the children of our community over the next couple of months. The local hospital has closed for two months because it has changed hands; consequently, all the doctors have left town. Melinda is our only nurse on staff here and she is not home until next Monday and will have to make another trip to the US the beginning of February. This means there will be an absence of emergency care in our village every day Melinda is not here.

As this is being written, there is a 10 day old little girl here dying due to a severe respiratory infection. She is cyanotic, gasping for breath and even an untrained ear can hear the rattling in her little chest. Grandma Pat is standing in the gap; using all the knowledge she has accumulated over the years taking care of children but this little one presents a real challenge. She needs IV fluids as she is too short of breath to drink, she needs IV antibiotics as she is too sick for oral medication and she really needs help breathing but there is no one available to give her these things. Please put Grandma Pat and this little one and her family high on your prayer list as God is their only hope at this moment.

Haitian Pumpkin Soup

January 1st is a big day in Haiti. This is when Haitians have their Christmas/New Year's celebration, as well as celebrating their independence day. Whenever possible, Haitians celebrate by making pumpkin soup and they go around to all their friends houses and share a bowl of soup. The staff were really excited when they found out that we were going to have pumpkin soup here for them on the 1st. A big thank you to the family who sent the funds to make this possible for them!

Here are some pictures showing how much they enjoyed their soup!

Catching you up on December

This is a child from the area of Mirebalais who had sores on his head. He came to the house for about a week getting it cleaned and wrapped. After the week was up we sent some cream home with his mom so she could keep up with putting it on his head.

Day 2 and when we realized we were going to have to shave his head. It started to heal very quickly after the hair was gone.

Here is picture of the triplets. They are doing well at home, gaining weight and being taken care of well.

One of our workers' daughters got married and Melinda was supposed to make the wedding cake, but due to circumstances she was still in the states and so, Minnie and I got the job. Here I am with the bride and groom and the wedding cake with the red ribbon is the one that we made.

We were really thankful that Minnie had payed so much attention to her cake-decorating sister, as she helped to pull this all off and we managed to present a pretty nice cake!

Jon and David went to their new homes. This is a picture of me with them. It was hard on the children and workers that stayed behind. Jon is 11 and has been here since he was about 3, and David is 7 and has been here since he was about a year and a half.

Just to let you in a little news from the project in Jacmel. The little town of B'aiu D'orange has many people going hungry, not just children but men and women also. The people were very happy and excited to see the trucks pull in with food, water, clothing, and seeds for them. Mathieu, Mozard and Valdo went in our truck with a load of these things. Due to circumstances the children received help there, and were not transported to orphanages.

Reaching out to help desperate children in Haiti

We received word today that there is a whole area near Jacmel (southeast Haiti) where children are starving. The Association or private children's organizations got wind of this and wants to intervene on the children's behalf. They asked all the organizations affiliated with them to help with gather supplies to take to the starving children and their families. We will be sending our vehicle and some staff to help with the endeavor. We would like to start a fund for this so we can help as many children as we can. There will be many medical expenses to help get them on their feet, as well as needing to provide them with healthy meals and vitamins. If you would like to help us help these children, please contact us at hchkids@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Patrica Smith
Founder

Updates updates updates!

Richard continues to thrive and grow. His head is still, well, he's trying to grow into it! But, he's an extremely happy child with a ready smile for everyone.

Carlos is the oldest boy in the baby nursery. He is slowly healing from the infection he had when he came back to us in September. He is much more interactive now and is scooting around to play.

Kervens still loves to have all the attention on him. He is doing less crying now and beginning to play. He's has started to get quite fat and smiles a lot.

Kendy is rolling around the floor and becoming very interactive. He loves to be held and talked to and is learning to sleep at night.

Here's an update on Steeven. His skin is looking so much better and he is doing very well. He has a ready smile for us most of the time, and is beginning to reach for toys to play with. If you don't remember him, you can go back on the blog to June and read about him.

This is a project that we have going on right now. It is a wash house on the first floor and an apartment on the 2nd floor. This is a bucket brigade to pour the cement for the roof. It is very interesting to watch. The roof is done and now they are working on plastering the inside of the 2nd story. Once it's all done Lori is going to move in to the new space, anxiously awaiting for the time when it's ready!

It's time to put up the Christmas tree. This is the upstairs tree and all the kids came and stood around in awe as it came together, watching and wanting to help. We put one up downstairs too especially for the children to be able to help decorate. Each child got a chance to put something on the tree and they were so proud to be able to do that.

Yvenson is our preemie. He is 2 months old and weighs just a hair under 3lbs. He was enjoying his bath, sitting in a dipper we use to pour water on the other babies. In this picture, he had just been breastfed, as his mom comes everyday to feed and cuddle him, and had just drank himself full. He is now out of the incubator and in an infant bed beside Grandma's bed.

Our Newest Arrival

Her first bottle...she guzzled it!
Getting ready for her first bath here at HCH
Thinking about what she thinks of this new home....she arrived in all white clothing and Lori's camera flash was going crazy!

Chrisla came to us because her mother is very young and her father was shot in Port-au-Prince as an innocent bystander near Cite Soliel. Her mother has no parents, just brothers and sisters who are unable to help her with caring for a baby. Chrisla will be 2 months old the 11th of December. She was breastfed but seems to be making the adjustment well to a bottle. She smiles and is quite a content baby.