I am asking for prayer support for Liette, and her team, to be able to arrive in Haiti tomorrow with all the Cholera vaccine she is carrying intact and in good shape. She was hoping to be able to get special permission to transport the $5000 worth of vaccine in her carry-on luggage. We thank God she was able to find out, before arriving at the airport this morning, that she would not be able to do so. She will be travelling with it in her checked luggage so we are asking for prayer that there will be no lost or delayed luggage. Thank you for standing in prayer with us the safe arrival of the team and the vaccine.
The Cholera epidemic continues to get a lot worse. There are more than 800 deaths from Cholera and almost 12,000 confirmed with the sickness. From where we stand, however, these numbers are much lower than reality. These are what has been confirmed. Bodies are lying on the ground in many areas. People are scared to touch them to bury them. It is reported that in some areas people are being buried in mass graves. The projection is that over the next six months to a year 200,000 people could end up with the disease.
A major problem as I see it, In this area anyway, is that people have no way to get to a hospital in time. Tap Taps and Moto Taxis, the public transportation system here, out of fear, refuse to transport the sick people to the hospital for help. I am praying about what this mission might be able to do to help. I am wondering if there is any way we can find someone to hire, and pay, to be available to transport the sick to the hospital. Even if we can, another problem presents itself. The hospitals are full and most of them have tents set up outside for cholera patients, but these two are full.
Please continue to pray for some sort of solution to this problem that was inadvertently brought into Haiti, a country that already had more to deal with than it could handle.
Our school continues to have more students out with cholera and we have had some deaths of family members of our students. The father of one of our teachers is extremely ill with it at this time. We are still operating but without our prescolaire classes at this time.
We continue to explain the precautions that people should be taking. Luckner, especially, is teaching, teaching, teaching his people what to watch for and prevention methods to use. Because construction is continuing here at the mission I mix 3-4 bottles of water with Clorox and have it circulating daily at the construction site. Too, we encourage them to pour it over their hands every time they enter our compound.
Speaking of construction, the work on the septic tank for the new Kid’s home has finally been able to proceed, thanks to the fact that they reduced the water in the canal outside the mission to almost nothing for a day.
The Timbrmart House walls are going up, and the kids are starting to get excited that the house is finally looking like it will be completed soon. It will be a happy day for all of us when we can separate the girls and boys and get them set up in different houses. We will have Antoinette in one house and Magalie in the other. We need additional help immediately and when the other house is completed we will need another helper.
Yesterday Leica and Ti Luc were assisting Martha to carefully checking over the cornmeal she had purchased before bagging it. I use the term assisting a little loosely here.
On the last blog I asked for prayer for friend, John Chappelle, and family. Yesterday John’s battle was over. He went to be with the Lord. I ask for continued prayer support for my dear friend, Bev, who now has to deal with the grief and face life without her lifetime partner and friend. Too, pray for their daughter, Shureen, who spent the past few months, away from her own family, to be with John and Bev, and being an awesome support to them both. And for their son, Sean, as they all go through the grieving process of losing a loved one.
When the word of John’s death came to me yesterday I called Luckner and gave him a little time alone to deal with it too. We then called all students in our school from grades 4 – 9 together and gave them the news. Many of them had been praying for and asking about John and Mme John regularly. The whole assembly stood in thankfulness to all John and Bev have done for them, and for education in this Artibonite Valley. Then they prayed for Bev, Shureen and Sean for their futures. I wished I had taken my camera to the assembly so I could get a photo for Bev, but I doubt I would have been able to operate it properly or see well enough to get a decent photo anyway. Tears were flowing.
John and Bev have made a big difference in the lives of many students and their families in this area. They worked diligently for many years, putting the education of the needy Haitian students ahead of time for themselves. Too, John served on the Canadian Board of Directors of this mission. John will be missed by many people far and wide. Personally, I will miss his teasing and Newfie jokes.
With Liette’s arrival tomorrow I will take a short break from blogging. It will be nice for you to hear from her.
Again, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your love and support.
God bless you all.
~Karen
