James Joseph: Chapter 4

Last Thursday, Dr. Smith, the pediatric urologist, who graciously agreed to do James' surgery flew in Haiti.  The plan was for him to talk with Momma and Poppa James on Friday about the surgery and then fly back with James on Saturday for surgery the following Tuesday. 

This Spring President Martelly decided the day before daylight savings started that Haiti was going to participate in it this year.  Now most people didn't seem to like this but I on the other hand thought this was a great idea because it means the mornings are slightly cooler and it stays light longer at night.  What this also means is that because Haiti decided to do this so close to the time change the airlines don't recognize this and so we are often a little late or early depending on how you look at it when picking up people from the airport.  It just so happened today that Stephen and I were almost late to the airport because we were at the supermarket doing food shopping for the team.  We picked up Dr. Smith who immediately began telling us stories of how he came to Haiti after the earthquake and all the adventures he had during his travels.  He also told us about Chevy, another boy at Canaan, who he operated on and how he was glad he was going to be able to see him again.  Of course later that night when Chevy saw Dr. Smith he started screaming!  I think it was because he wasn't used to seeing older white males try to pick him up but after a bit of time Chevy warmed up to him. 

Friday I gave Dr. Smith a tour of Canaan, the clinic, the school, and the Mamba clinic.  We also went to visit Momma James at her house so he could see where James and his family lived.  Later that afternoon we sat down with Momma James and Eddy, our translator/body guard when we go to Port, to discuss the surgery.   Dr. Smith did a great job explaining everything he was going to do for James.  The most amazing part in all of this was after we were done talking some of the clinic staff saw we were in there talking about a major surgery and came in to pray for James.  I know through this whole experience God has had His hand on this little one.   We left telling Momma James to be ready to go at 6:00 am to make sure we could get to Port in time for the plane and just in case there were any issues with immigration we would have plenty of time. 

Six in the morning comes quickly when you're not a morning person but that morning I was too excited to think about it being early.  Stephen and the doctor loaded in and we headed down to the clinic to pick up Momma James, Poppa James, James, Poppa James' niece and some other random boy who was with them.  Down the road we went where we picked up Eddy and dropped off the random boy.  I never did figure out who he was or why he needed a ride at 6 in the morning, but in any case we started driving again and I was getting excited thinking after months of waiting today was finally the day we were going to get James to the States.  And then I saw them.  

Rows of tap taps and motos were lined up along the side of the road.  People were climbing down from the huge trucks carrying their fruit and walking towards the cars.  There was a riot.  

Eddy told us to pull over and he would go check it out.   He came back out of breath from running and told us tires were burning and people were shouting and that there was no way we were going to be able to pass.  Eddy being the resourceful guy that he was found someone who was going to take us a back way and into the truck climbs random man who tells us to turn around.  No problem I thought because we can't get through the other way.   The only problem was random man didn't know the road to turn to go around all the rioting so back we turned towards the riot.  

As we pulled off along the road discussing what we were going to do five shady men started walking towards our car.   Out of the car goes both random man and Eddy who tells us that those men are part of the rioters.  Eddy started yelling at the guys telling them we have a baby that needs to go to the States for surgery and telling them they have to let us through.  Well of course there was no way the truck was going to be able to get through this huge riot so Eddy, Momma and Poppa James, and the Doctor all got out and hopped on a moto who was going to take them through the riot and once across they would get a tap tap to Port.  Once the rioter guys found out it was an emergency they actually were pretty helpful.  

 It all happened so fast that before I knew it they were gone.  Stephen, the niece, and I breathed a sigh of relief that despite the major riot James would still get to the airport on time.  Or so I thought because as the car turned around I realized that I had forgotten to give Dr. Smith the paper, something immigration requires, stating that the parents agreed to let him travel with James.  So the options we had were 1. Send the niece through the riot to catch up with them to get them the paper.  2.  Go myself.  Or option 3 send one of the rioters we had just talked to who was conveniently walking back to us at this point. 

I don't really know what other word could describe this guy except shady.  He had this side to side walk coupled with his dreads and missing shirt made him well...shady.  Now normally I wouldn't want to talk to a guy like this but desperate times called for desperate measures.  So I rolled down the window and hollered for him to come over here.  I explained to him the situation and told him it was extremely important the Doctor gets this paper.  As shady rioter guy ran off I thought to myself well I hope he makes it cause there's no way I'll be able to get that paper back if he doesn't.  

I called Eddy to let him know shady rioter guy was coming with the paper and to not go any further than they already had.  Apparently there was a second riot up ahead so they hadn't been able to get far.  After what seemed like an eternity Eddy called and said shady rioter guy made it with the paper!  Praise the Lord!  We waited again for the guy to come back so I could give him some money.  

While we were waiting more and more cars and trucks came, saw that the road was blocked, and pulled over to wait until the road opened up again.  After what seemed like another eternity shady rioter guy returned and collected his money for safely delivering the letter.  As we were pulling away this lady with a huge smile on her face flagged us down and said she recognized the Mamba truck and asked if she could have a ride back to Montrouis.  Of course we said and she ran happily back to the stranded tap tap to collect her fruit.    

While we waited for her another lady approached the truck and said Caroline are you going back to Montrouis?  Can I have a ride?   I didn't know either of these ladies but they recognized me and the Mamba truck.   

Sure I said again and turned to Stephen and said Haiti really is a small world.   We made it safely back to Canaan and Eddy called a little while later saying they took a moto the whole way to the airport but they made it.  The Doctor and James were on the plane! 

This past Tuesday James had his surgery and it was a success!  Dr. Smith was able to repair both the hernia and open bladder.  James is now recovering in the States and will be there a couple more weeks to make sure there aren't any leaks.  Thank you to everyone who kept James and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Eddy, Dr. Smith and Momma James after we talked together about the operation

James after the operation

James with his host family

Discharge day from the hospital!

James Joseph Chapter 3

Great news from Haiti!  For all those that have been following James Joseph his visa was approved Friday and will be going to the States for surgery!  It was the last and final leg in the journey in getting him approved to go to the States.  After being away in the States for two weeks I came back this week and went down to the village to check on James and his family.  They were all doing well though James had some stomach swelling and didn't like the fact that his Mom was trying to show me his belly.  He's gotten so big over the past couple of months and looks a lot older with his new hair cut.  I told Momma James that she, Poppa James, and Baby James needed to come with me to the American Embassy Friday and that we would leave at 7:15 to make sure we would be there in plenty of time for our 9:30 appointment.   

Appointment day

Friday morning Stephen and I drove down to the clinic where we met Eddy, a neighboring Haitian, who was going to Port with us to run some errands, but no Momma, Poppa, or baby.  After waiting a few minutes we called the cleaning lady over, who happens to live next door to them, and asked if she would go tell them that we had to leave.   After what seemed like an eternity the family finally showed up and we were on our way!  We still had plenty of time according to the clock but poor Momma James got car sick so we had to stop.  Then the dreaded thing I was trying to avoid happened.  Traffic.  There are two ways to get to the embassy.  A shorter route distance but usually has more  traffic and a longer distance with less traffic.   I thought with it being early in the morning we could avoid most of the traffic....well I was wrong.  

One thing about Port is you never know how much traffic to expect...well I guess I should say expect a lot.  The minutes crept crawling by until finally we had twenty minutes left to make it to the appointment on time and even though there is no speed limit in Haiti there was no way we were going to make it on time.  I closed my eyes to pray for the traffic to part like the red sea and when I opened it the red sea of tap taps and cars were still there.  We were at a stand still.  We had one option.  I turned to Eddy and asked him if he would take the parents on a moto.   I handed him everything I had brought for the appointment and said they needed to get to this appointment on time.   Off the four of them went leaving Stephen and me waiting in the traffic jam for word that they got there on time.  Well not more than fifteen minutes went by that Eddy called saying they made it there on time!  Praise the Lord!  After waiting about 90 minutes I got the call that the appointment went well and they received the visa!  We will be getting the official paper this week and Dr. Smith, who will be operating on James, is coming to talk to the parents in two weeks about the surgery and then will be taking James back.   

Thank you for everyone's prayers for James, for his family, and for this whole process.   We serve a mighty and powerful God and it is only through his works that this all came together.    

 

On a side note, a couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet the Tony, the Dad from the host family.   He came to Haiti on a mission trip and we met him at the airport so he could meet Momma James and see baby James.  Here are some pictures from that day.  Blessings.

Tony, James and Mom meeting for the first time

Tony showing Momma James pictures of his family

Praying and saying a final goodbye

What's going on around Canaan!?

Hey friends,

Want to know what's happening around Canaan?!  We have a new facebook page Canaan Christian Community that you can join.  Also take a look at our first newsletter of the year.

Blessings,
Caroline

James Joseph Part 2

Dear friends,

About a month has passed since my last post and as always a lot of things have happened.  I went home to the States for Christmas and New Years and had an absolute blast.  I told myself at New Year's I would blog more and hopefully this year I'll write more than once a month.  I wanted to share with all those that have been following James' story that our prayers have been answered and that we have found a surgeon!!!   One of the girls who used to live here emailed my blog to a pediatric urologist who actually had performed surgery on a little boy now living at Canaan and he agreed to help out.  Praise the Lord!!  There are more stories and posts to come about how the Lord is piecing everything together but until then please continue to pray as we work on getting all the massive amount of paperwork needed for a medical visa. 

Many blessings from Haiti,
Caroline

My Christmas Wish - James Joseph

***Disclaimer - The following post has pictures of a medical condition called Bladder Extrophy with complex hypospadias.  These pictures are meant to bring awareness and to seek assistance of medical treatment***

James Joseph Chapter 2:

Today in church one of the visiting missionaries talked to us about names.  We have a lot of visitors and teams that come in and out to Canaan and for them trying to learn 60 plus kids names, plus another 20 staff names and 11 missionary names (good thing the dogs and pigs don't have names) often you get asked multiple times while they're visiting what your name is.  She went on to say that though she may have to ask us more than once what our name is there is someone much more important who knows our name.  

Someone who never forgets our name.  Someone who has engraved our name on the palms of his hands - Isaiah 49:16.  Someone who knows the exact number of hairs on our head - Matthew 10:30.   Someone who knows to the second when we arise.  Someone who knows all of our thoughts even before they're thought - Psalm 139:2.  Someone who knows what will happen in our life.  He knows our plans for our future - Jeremiah 29:11. 

This is what I shared with Mamma James a couple of weeks ago when she stopped by the clinic one Tuesday afternoon to talk and say hi.  God has a plan for James.  God knows what He's doing.  I assured her that we haven't forgotten about her little one, that there were are still are people praying for James and searching for a way to help.  Multiple people have spent the last six months trying to help James get to the states for surgery.  Though there have been many doctors and hospitals that have been contacted we have not been able to find both a doctor and a hospital that will accept his case.  Concerns that he's not in immediate danger to not knowing how long his case would take were some of the reasons why he wasn't being accepted.  It's hard to hear these reasons knowing full well that if this child was born in the States or Canada this problem would have been worked on a long time ago.  

It is comforting to know however that old and new friends are still fervently working and helping out with this.  After seeing a picture of James I posted on my facebook page a good friend who used to live in Haiti wrote me about wanting to contact doctors in her area about James.  She and her husband had been praying about helping patients that needed to come to the states for surgery.  Just last week there was a team of surgeons visiting the mission next door and I took James knowing they wouldn't be able to do the surgery but hoping to make a contact.   We are waiting to hear what God has in store with these leads. 

About a month ago at 5 am for a week straight I awoke with a heaviness on my heart for James.  The burden I had to pray for him was over powering.  As I laid in bed, I prayed that God would open a door for James, that there would be a doctor and hospital willing to take on his case.  That the doctors I did contact would respond whether it was with good news or bad news.  

Dear friends, I am still praying for James.  I ask that you join in praying for him and for his Mom as well.  I don't know who reads my blog (except for my friends and family), but I ask that if you read this you share this post with your friends, post it on your facebook, email it around, share it in hopes that someone connected with a pediatric urologist and hospital will see James and be able to help him.

That conversation I had with Mamma James that Tuesday ended the same way it has with all our other conversations.  Bondye konnen...li konnen tou she told me.   

God knows...He knows it all.

 

James at his Mom at one of our hospital visits

Frontal view of James

James 14 months

Mamba Updates

Though it has been several weeks since I last wrote our programs at Canaan and Rousseau continue to flourish and grow in numbers.  Medika Mamba merged with Plumpy Nut this summer and in turn they came out with a new design and size.  These smaller bags are easier for the parents to give out, less messy, and ensure a more controlled feeding amount.  With the old bags we would tell the parents as an example to give the kids 9 spoons a day verses with the new bags we're able to tell them to have them eat 3 a day.  I'm also a big fan of these updated bags as there's less chance of ants and bugs getting into them.  A big plus over here as ants seem to multiply like mosquitoes. 

The new 92 gram bags on the left verses the old ones on the right

We have several sets of twins in the Mamba program as well as this first set of triplets.

A mom brought her triplets in to be checked after hearing about our program.  All three were malnourished and put into the program.

Several weeks ago Douvena came into our program as a referral from our clinic.  Thirteen months old she barely weighed thirteen pounds.  Barely week enough to sit up on her own she was one of the worst cases I had seen.  Afraid that she would have trouble swallowing the Mamba we supplemented her first week with milk and told her mom to add water to the peanut butter to help her swallow it.  Five weeks later she was back to a healthy weight and graduated from our program.

Want to know why I believe in this program so much?  Take a look at her pictures.

More before and after pictures of another graduate.

A recent graduate enjoying a bag of the Mamba. 

This is what he looked liked when he first came in.  Jn Roma's dad came to our Rousseau clinic after hearing about our program from others.  He weighed 6 kilos.  He came for two straight weeks and then didn't show up again until the end of September.  His father had been in a bad motorcycle accident and couldn't walk the three hour hike it took to get to the hospital.  This time he weighed 5.27 kilos. 

 

Six weeks later Jn Roma graduated!

 

Jn Roma's before and after pictures.

 

If you would like more information on how you can donate to the Medika Mamba fund to help save lives like that of Douvena and Jn Roma, please visit www.canaanchristiancommunity.com.

Mamba Video

New Building!

Thanks to all those who helped donate/build/and update the clinic and Mamba buildings.  The patients now have multiple benches to sit on and a new roof extending from the new clinic building to the old clinic.  Instead of having to stand or sit for hours in the hot sun anyone that comes to be seen will now have a place to sit down and wait in the shade.  The new Mamba building has a gorgeous new roof (if you saw the old roof and all the holes in it you would think a roof could be gorgeous too) an extended porch sitting area, a new exit door, new tile (my favorite part, makes clean up a breeze) new steps, and new paint both inside and out!

How the new and old clinic looked before any updates

 

If you look closely you can still see the tree

 

A view of the patients waiting to be seen

How the old Mamba building looked before any updates

Even the chickens like the new waiting area

 

Side view of the building

 

New paint! New roof!

The first day of using the newly renovated building. 

Mamba patients using the new building and benches

James Joseph

 

One month ago I didn't know his name or where he lived.  His name is James Joseph and to get to his house just follow the path down the hill past the clinic, go through the broken wall, watch out for the prickly thorn bushes, take a left, six houses down on the right, arrive at the back door fence.  

One month ago I didn't know who his family was.  Sweet Momma James as I call her who adores her son and her other child a beautiful three year old girl.  

One month ago I wouldn't be able to tell you his life story.  

James Joseph is 13 months old.  He smiles and laughs just like any normal 13 month baby.  He's starting to walk, a little unstable at times, but when holding on to his Mom's hand he's a pro.  His Mom adores him, still breastfeeding, a rare occurrence at his age.  Looking at him you would think everything is fine, except it's not.  

About two weeks after I got back from the States one of the girls here told me there was an American medical team coming to Pierre Payan, the next town over and that James and another girl with wrists problems needed to go see them.  I knew who the little girl with the wrist problems was but didn't know who the other boy was that we would be taking. 

James came to the clinic this summer and a visiting nurse from the States took on his case.  His case is complicated because it's not something that can be fixed with just one surgery.  He has an ectopic bladder, which in short detail means he has an open hole in his stomach which is where he pees from.  His case is extremely complicated and requires more care than available in Haiti.  Stephanie, the American nurse, was working on getting him to the States, but while doctors were willing to help it was becoming a problem to find a hospital who would agree to cover the cost of the very expensive surgery.  

So here we were two American girls, two Moms, and two babies loaded into the truck to visit the hospital to see what could be done.  At the hospital, there happened to be a pediatric urologist on the team who saw James and wanted to help but doors closed again.   

One thing that has been really hard to handle is how much suffering there is in this country that could be treated if there was access to good medical care.  If this case, or any of the cases that I come across, happened in the States we wouldn't think anything of it, but here it's different.  Just yesterday tt Rousseau, one couple walked five hours down the mountain, without shoes because they didn't own any, just so they could bring their sick son to the clinic.  Patients wait weeks, and sometimes months, until there is a  medical team that comes with a doctor on it that can help their ailment.  And the hard part, when you really think about it, is that sometimes help doesn't come for these people. 

So after having the door close again, last Thursday morning I walked down the hill, past the clinic, through the broken wall, watching out for the prickly thorn bushes, took a left, went six houses down on the right, arrived at the back door fence and hollered for Mamma James to come out.  We were going to see what could be done for James today.  

Our first stop was Mission of Hope, a mission about 45 minutes away from Canaan that had a clinic, school and orphanage.  We knew his surgery couldn't be done there but our hope was they could point us in some sort of direction and possibly give us some contacts in the States to reach out to.  After waiting about two hours, honestly not that long as far as waiting goes around here, we finally saw the doctor.  It probably turned out to be his quickest consult for the day because after taking one look at James' stomach he referred us to a pediatric hospital in Port and so away we went.

This part of the trip was somewhat comical because after arriving at the hospital and showing the guard our referral slip he directed us to the reception desk.  The reception desk referred us to the clinic.  The clinic referred us to the emergency section which was past the reception desk who then tried to make us go back to the clinic.  Five sweet talking minutes later we were on our way down the hall to the emergency section where the emergency reception nurses took his information and referred us to the surgeon, who as luck had it, had already left for the day. 

I felt bad for Mamma James, who for umpteenth time that day, told the surgeon's receptionist James' story.  I hadn't realized how many hospitals she had in fact visited, only to be turned away from help and let down.  I hadn't realized how many people either stare, or gasp as if to say what is that, when they see his deformed stomach.

We have an appointment to meet with the surgeon this Monday in Port.  We also have contacts in the States who are working on getting a doctor and most importantly, a hospital, take on James' case, but so far we are still waiting.  I am secretly hoping, and praying, that our Great Physician will open doors for this to happen before I have to take Momma James back to Port on Monday.  I want to spare her one more disappointment.  

Please pray for this family that doors will finally open and that we can find both a doctor and a hospital that will agree to his case.

I've learned that Haitians have a resilient and God fearing spirit.  They always end or begin any sentence that deals with anything pertaining to the future with God willing, or if God wants.   And so for the time being, for now, the plan if God wants is to still take Momma James and James to Port Monday.

Rousseau

Rousseau - The program almost doubled in size within the last two weeks as word spread up the mountain that there was a program available that helped little kids gain weight.  One Wednesday a mom from this village brought in her daughter to check who entered the program.  I showed her before and after pictures of kids and told her if she knew of other kids in her town to have them come and we would check them.  The following Wednesday she came back with her sister and niece.  The Wednesday after that ten more showed up who were from the same town that ended up qualifying.  This week about ten new ones were waiting.  All from the same town.  Please pray for this village as almost every kid that entered the program in the last two weeks have been from this one area.  

Recent pictures of the Rousseau program

Sleeping on the scale is better than screaming on it

Baby Regina

Parents waiting for their turn to be called

Checking for a fever

One five year old we put in the program today

Happily sleeping after learning her last weigh in today

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.

 

Want to know what you can do with an extra $5? $10? $98?

 

I do.

 

Donate to the Medika Mamba fund.

 

It takes $98 to change a child's life.

 

$98 to get a child healthy again.

 

For one trip to Wal-Mart you can feed a child for 8 weeks.

You can help make them smile. 

 

And laugh.

 

Help us help the kids of Montrouis and its surrounding community.

To donate to the Medika Mamba program go to http://www.canaanchristiancommunity.com/donate.php