Caroline in Haiti: What can you do with $98?

"When we have the courage to look in the faces of brothers and sisters whose bodies are malnourished and whose brains are deformed because they have no food, Christ will change our desires, and we will long to sacrifice our resources for the glory of His name among them. " ~ David Platt

Last week Somalia made headlines. It wasn't the type of headline that any country wants. They had 29,000 kids dying from malnutrition. Last week in Montrouis Haiti, at a small clinic on the bottom of a hill we treated more than 50 kids for malnutrition. The moms were already there eagerly waiting to hand me their crumpled up contract paper letting me know their child was in the program. Some kids came from the village right next to the clinic. Some kids came from town. Some kids came from the next town over, and some kids came from up the mountains waking up at three am to walk down.

This week we treated more than 60. Some old faces. Some new faces. Faces that are starting to fill out and look healthy. Faces that are starting to smile. Every now and again a familiar face coming back for their three month check up. This week we had three.

Our program seems to be growing every week. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It seems for every kid we graduate we have five new ones. With this many kids in the program we use a lot of peanut butter. This peanut butter is helping save these kids lives. And now we need your help.

It costs $98 to feed a child for 8 weeks.

$98 to have a kid graduate the program at a healthy weight

Three months later it takes 10 minutes to recheck the kid to see he needs the program again. His mom doesn't have a job and can only afford to feed him once a day. We talk again about healthy eating habits. Picking foods with protein.

It cost us $98 to get him back to a healthy weight.

It cost her $.25 for a bag of limes bought as a present for helping her son.

About 60 kids faithfully come every week.

Sixty kids waiting all morning for their turn.

Sixty kids getting their weekly weight check.

Some kids don't like the scale.

Some scream.

Some scream very loud.

They may not like getting weighed but they do like getting to try the Mamba.

Because of your help we were able to open a second Mamba clinic up in Rousseau about 30 minutes away. Some moms walk three hours to come on Wednesdays.

This mom at Rousseau told me her daughter loved eating the Mamba but she was sick in her mouth. When asked what she meant she pulled down her daughter's lips to show me two white bumps barely skimming the surface. She was teething.