NAIKA

She was referred to us from a group working in Cite Soley with Samaritan’s Purse.  She was born a preemie and was in a hospital for several months.  Her mama then become pregnant and has a 6 month old baby.  As best we can figure she is around 21 months old and weighs 9 1/2 pounds.  She has 7 siblings at home.  She lives in a 1 room house with 6 other people.  The house is make of tin and block.  The family gets their water from local piped water that is about 3 minutes away from their home.  They do not have running water at their home but have a outhouse.  In the last week she has not had any protein is her diet, no meat, eggs, milk, beans, legumes, or vegetables.  She mostly just eats oatmeal and drinks milk when they have it.  She was on the F-75 therapeutic milk for several day and is currently on the medika mamba program.

WONCLIF

He came to the clinic a few weeks ago in the beginning stage of kwashiorkor.  His mama wanted to try and do outpatient with him for awhile to see how he did.  He came in last week and was in really bad shape.  He is an only child.  His dad was killed last year in town during a robbery.  He lives with him mama and  6 other family members in a 2 room house made of tin and block.  They get their water from a local piped water system that is about 5 minutes from their home.  They do not have running water at the house but do have an outhouse.  This past week he has been eating rice most days.  He has one meal a day with a snack like crackers or a mango in the afternoon.  Due to his swelling from his kwashiorkor he has been laying for several days without getting up much.  Kwashiorkor makes the skin break-down and he is so swollen.  Laying in wet clothing or blanket in the heat  has made a huge area from right below his belly-button, his groin and and part of his legs raw.  So raw that they bleed.   He has a very bad fungal infection that we are currently treating.  He drank the F-75 therapeutic milk for several days and is currently taking medika mamba.

BETLIE

She is 2 years old and weighs 25 pounds.  Her mother and aunt came to admit her to the RC.  Her mom cannot speak well and the aunt wanted to make sure we got all the information correct.  She has not been eating well since her mom stopped breastfeeding her several months ago.  She mostly eats bananas.  Her family has a garden where they grow corn and beans.  She started out on the F-75 therapeutic milk and then began with the medika mamba. (referred from Children’s Lifeline)

DEANA

What I wrote of FB last week —-One of the children admitted today is very ill. She has been sick since Jan. Her mama and papa have been trying to find help near their home at a small clinic. This weekend she got very sick and swollen and they made the choice to travel down out of their mountain village to try and find help. They left their home at 2am and traveled down the steep mountain paths with a small lantern. They arrived at another clinic around 7am. They waited in line and got in to see the doctor. They were then told they needed to go to another clinic(RHFH). They were scared to ride in a vehicle but knew they must continue to search to find help for their daughter who was so sick. They arrived at Cazale around 1130am. They sat and had their charts made and began the wait to see the nurse. After talking and seeing several people they saw the nurse. She asked them if they would be willing to leave their daughter at RHFH for extended care. They were of course scared but were hopeful that we could help. It took another 45 minutes to get blood work done and fill out papers for her stay. The hardest question I have to ask is-If you child dies in my care and I can not locate you in time can I bury her without you being present? The mama and papa look at each other before they answer. Papa says-we have made it this far and we believe that God will be with her, He will help her. If He decides not to then it must be His will. Mama gets her undressed so she can keep her beautiful frilly dress to take back home. Mama and papa are falling asleep while we are filling out papers. Child is so swollen she weighs 40 pounds. They had carried her down a steep mountain path in the dark and were both so tired. They are scared to go to Port…they said most people that go to Port die in the hospital and they are scared to travel there. They want us to help her. The taxi driver tells them it is time to go. Papa walks out first and does not look back. Wipes his hard calloused hand from years of working in the gardens across his eyes. Mama lingers and looks at her beautiful daughter. She lets the curtain fall in front of the door. Then pulls it back to take one last look. I have seen that look so many times. It is the look of-is this the last time I will see my daughter alive? Will she be okay? I walk them out to the taxi. They tell me thank you and they believe that she is in God’s hands now. They will return next week to see her. Each day until then they will wonder if she is alive. They will wonder how she is doing. They will pray for her. I told mama she could stay. But she cannot as she has several other kids at home. Each day she is gone is a day with less money and less food. This my friends is one story of one child and family searching for help for their sick child. Thank God every..single..day for all the blessing you have. 

She is 6 years old and weighs 37 pounds.  She was in a lot of distress when admitted.  She could not breath well and had a very high temp.  She is currently undergoing some medical testing.  She is currently on the medika mamba program.  (Refered to RHFH from Children’s Lifeline )

CHILY

He was 7 months old and weighed 9 pounds.  He was near death when admitted last week.  His mother is dead and a neighbor brought him to the clinic.  She literally ran in with the child and found Lori and told the baby was not good.  She worked on him for quite sometime and got him stable.  He lived with us for just a few days before he died.

LUCKENSON

He is 17 months old and weighs 13 pounds.  His dad has been following in the clinic for several years. Last year he was dignosed with TB and spend several month in a TB ward in Port.  While he was in the TB ward his wife came every two weeks and got vitamins and food for him at the clinic.  During those months she never went and saw him or took him anything.  That made him very sad.  When he was released she become sick and is now in the same TB ward as he was.  He comes faithfully every 2 weeks to get meds and food for himself and his 2 children.  This past week he came into the clinic with Luckenson.  His son was in bad shape and needed to be admitted quickly for IV fluids.  That was on Friday.  A family member showed up on Tuesday to let us know that the dad died on Monday night.  When he came Friday we talked about his life.  He lived on a small piece of land that was his.  His “house” was 4 sticks with a sheet wrapped around it and a small piece of tarp on the top.  We told him to look for a place to rent and we would help as rainy season was soon to begin.  We and the staff are so sad to hear about the death of this faithful patient and great father.  We would like to ask for a request of funds for his casket.  He will have the local casket maker here in Cazale make a casket and then transport it to his home, which is about 30 min away. The total cost for the casket is $421.70.  If you would like to help with this need please use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of the blog or send donations to Real Hope For Haiti/P.O. Box 23/Elwood, IN 46036 include a note or memo saying “Luckenson papa” so we can tract the donations.  Thanks so much.  He is a cutie that loves to smile.

 Please keep all these kids in your prayers along with the 80 or so ones that are still recovering.  God is able to meet all of our needs!  To God be all the Glory!