Good evening!!

We went to an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp today and had clinic. It was a smaller camp of about 300 people. We saw roughly half of them for varied complaints.

I had one man with an infected perforated eardrum, and a likely case of malaria. We were able to treat the infected ear, but unfortunately didn't have any malaria meds with us. We asked the man to come to the clinic at Chambrun on Monday for malaria meds. It's hard when you are limited in what you can do for people. I had several people who could benefit from a simple surgical procedure that would improve their quality of life, but there isn't a way to handle those cases that I am aware of.

I also saw a little boy for a respiratory infection, but more interesting was the family trait of a 6th finger on each hand. They had no bony structure, but the mother of the child said that most of the family has that trait. I found that to be quite interesting.

We handed out a lot of worm medicine as usual. I have a lot of fun with the men and older ladies. The med cannot be given to a pregnant woman, so I ask the men and older ladies if they are pregnant. This ALWAYS elicits a confused look followed by a HUGE smile or giggle. My interpreter today(Nikki) had as much fun with this as I did!

Speaking of interpreters, all of our interpreters are great. They are intelligent young men and ladies who learn quickly, and ask the questions that need to be asked after only a few patients go through. I think they could almost do the job without us!! If you get distracted by another team member for some reason, they often have completed most of the assessment for you!!

After being in the hot sun, we came back to Pastor Pierre's, and some of us got into the half filled, green tinted water in the pool to cool off. It looks a little funky, but it is cooler than the air and felt really good. We had a little fun making a whirlpool and floating about the pool in a whole 2 feet of water.(The pool had a leak and one of our crew was assigned to patch it. It hasn't been used for a while, and is slowly refilling with the rain and whatever water they can run into it.) I think the rain shower yesterday was slightly more refreshing ( and definately cleaner)!!

We have remained healthy for the most part. Tim had a little episode of hypotension today. Dehydration headaches are an everyday occurance. You sweat standing still, and it's like Niagara Falls when you are up and moving around. It's nearly impossible to keep up with your fluid needs when working at the clinic. We nag each other to remind us all to drink enough water.

Tomorrow is church at Chambrun. No clinic on Sunday. We get to rest. Monday will be our last clinic. Looking forward to seeing what the Lord sends us to treat.

God Bless!!

Cindy (and Tim!!)

Hello from Haiti, this is our second attempt today to blog. We have spent the last couple of hours on the veranda singing and just fellowshiping. It has been raining for about 4 hours. It was so hot today that when it began to rain Cindy sat out in it to try and cool down. It was actually one of the hardest rain storms I have ever see.

We are well and things are going well. It is exciting to see so many new things happening at Chambrun and how quickly they have progressed. It is extremely hot here and we are having to be careful not to be out in the heat to long.

We have noticed some changes from Feb. The people seem to be getting back to some normalcy of life. I sat on the roof early this am and listened to Haiti waking up. It was much different than Feb. There was more noise. When we were here in Feb. everything was so quiet. It was neat this am to here the normal sounds of people and a city waking up. Truck, roosters, children, mom's fixing breakfast.

There is so much new that it is difficult to put it all in one post or even in words. We both feel so much more useful when we are here. Cindy says that I even relax. AMAZING. We are hoping to go to an IDP camp tomorrow, depending on the weather. We are both still searching for what God would have us to do next when it comes to Haiti. Thank you for reading and praying. We hope to be able to share with all of you in person when we return home.

Tim and Cindy

Greetings!!

It was another scorching day today. Extremely hot, and that was in the shade!! The guys working out in the sun are wonder men. I really don't know how the do it!! God bless them!

We finished the school children this am, and saw regular clinic patients in the pm. Overall, a good day.

This evening was a reinforcement for the need for tents and shelter for the displaced persons of Haiti. It started raining about 5pm and rained steadily and very hard for 3+ hours. I stood out in the rain for about 10 minutes and for the for a few minutes it felt good. Then it started to hurt, the raindrops were so big and so many. Then I got cold from being wet with the wind blowing. So it is possible to be cold in Haiti! Not frigid cold, but cold none the less. There was also thunder and lightening during the storm, which we all know can be dangerous.

As we drive back and forth to the clinic, we see a little more progress each day. Rebuilding is happening, even if is slowly. It's hard during the rainy season, since the footers fill up with water every time it rains. Once the footers have been poured however the walls can go up quickly.

We hope to be able to go to an IDP camp tomorrow and have clinic there. As always plans are subject to change!

Bon Nuit!!

Cindy

Arrived yesterday,safely, after being awakened at 3AM by the airline cancelling one of our scheduled flights. Half an hour on the phone with the airline and we were rescheduled ith only a 15 minute difference from the original schedule! We ended up connecting with the Indiana group in Miami since we ended up on different flights in Chicago.

Today we went to clinic and cleaned up the area so it was usable and jumped right in. A note on the cleaning....I got the privilege of cleaning several drawers of supplies that had been destroyed by mice and rats. You all know how that smells???!!!!!!!!!!! If not, it's far from a pleasant odor, and it hangs with you for a while!

We were quite pleased to see that a lot of progress is being made in the cleanup effort. Walls and buildings are being repaired, and lots are being cleared of rubble. We got a chuckle out of their "safety cones". They are using large rocks or cinderblock chunks with branches tucked into them to set a safty zone up along the roads where they are working.

Got a blessing reconnecting with some of our former interpreters. Also saw a few patients we had seen the last time we were here.

It was a light clinic day as we were really not planning to see patients today. The plan was to organize and clean for tomorrow. But we know that plans are always subject to change here.
Tomorrows plan is to do school physicals which are long overdue due to the earthquakes. The children are back to school, and their classrooms have changed. The church area as well as a large tent are now being used for classes. The former classrooms are currently being used for storage. The hospital footers are in the process of being built when the weather doesn't interfere. Currently the footers are under water from the rain. Pastor Pierre is concerned that the rebar will be weakened by the resulting rust.

They( Nehemiah Vision Ministries with the aid of Global Aid International) are also in the process of building dormitories and a commercial kitchen to care for the 3 teams of college students expected to arrive in June to work for the summer. The dormitories and kitchen will later be used to house the work teams like ours that come to Chambrun. That will make for some major changes in the future!!
Storage areas are in the works also. A warehouse type building will be constructed from shipping containers as the walls, and roofed over to close in the space. Things are changing, and quickly!!

Lots going on here in Haiti!!

Blessings to all!!
Tim and Cindy

So we are headed back to Haiti tomorrow. This trip has been actually a little more difficult to get ready for because we have had so much time. Seems like things keep getting thrown in our path to discourage us from going. About a month ago we were having some extended family issues and I was really doubting if we should be going back at this time. The Lord had provided the finances, the time and all the details were in place to go. Then He gave me a verse and it is the verse for this trip.
Matthew 6:23 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.

So, we have to go because it is what he has called us to do. He will take care of rest. It is in His control wether we are here or in Haiti. What an awesome God.

We do have a prayer request. Cindy's cousin was killed in a tractor accident yesterday. Please pray for the family as the funeral will take place while we are away.

Tim and Cindy
Back to Haiti.