Tolo is walking...

Remember Francellot, my knight, a.k.a. Tolo? I recently received an email from his father telling me that Tolo talks about me and some of my other team mates all the time. He is now living in a tent with his family and is back in school. The best news of all is that he is walking again, although not very well yet according to his father. It's a great beginning though. I would love to see this boy again someday! For now, pictures will have to do. On the left Tolo with fixators in both upper legs and a big smile on his face. On the right, a big smile after returning from Medishare where his fixators were removed in late March!

Growing, growing, growing...

I'm sure that anyone who was following my blog while I was in Haiti will remember the two babies that were in the post-op ward (see here and here). Jean and Kevin. The latest update is that they have moved into the orphanage, are healthy and have grown a lot. Yeah! I'm still hoping for families for them and have no idea where that process is at right now. In the meantime I am sure they are getting their share of cuddles from the children and staff at the orphanage as well as from volunteers passing through. Keep growing little guys. Check out Jean's belly now! Jean on the left, Kevin on the right.

Louise...

Remember Louise? She is the one with a tibia/fibula fracture with long leg cast on her right leg, a femur fracture with an external fixator on her left leg, a large ulcer like lesion on her lower back and many scrapes and scratches all over her body. She is also the one who had a massive infestation of worms. And the one who was abandoned by her family. She's the one with the very sad story but with a continuous smile on her face. She is one of my heroes.

I recently heard from a friend who is still in Haiti that Louise is still at the orphanage. She ended up having to return to Medishare Hospital for a skin graft due to a swollen leg/foot, likely an infection. And her bones are healing VERY slowly. She no longer has the cast but still has the pins in her upper leg. However, despite everything, Louise continues to smile and enjoy life. I have no idea what the family situation is like at the moment, but hope that Louise feels loved and accepted at the orphanage. You can see her practicing to walk in the photo above and see how she is enjoying time with her new friends at the clinic/orphanage (pictures from left to right are Louise, Nancy and Founa). I am hoping for continued physical and emotional healing for all of them as all three of them are still there. Keep it up girls!

You can read the other posts about Louise here and here.

Prosthetic limbs...

Crystell is a 14 year old whose parents died in the Haiti earthquake. While rescuing her nephew, a wall collapsed on her leg, and her leg was amputated shortly afterwards. I have previously written about her here and here. Crystell had to move to the orphanage because her siblings did not want to take care of an amputee. As you can imagine, this made Crystell very sad and very self-conscious. However, with a lot of encouragement and perseverance Crystell is headed in the right direction. Quite literally she is heading towards a brighter future, as she was fortunate to receive a prosthetic limb about a month ago. How exciting! Three of the other children who had lower limb amputations also received prosthetic limbs, including Mistil I’ve been told! How I would love to see a picture of him with his new leg! For his story click here.

Link to news on Deve...

I have previously written about my two-year-old Haitian friend Deve here and here. Amanda, a friend I met in Haiti recently flew and drove down to Tampa, Florida to spend some time with Deve and her father in the hospital there. You can read her account and get the most recent update on Deve here. I am so thankful she is doing well.

Update on Dev...

I have some exciting news regarding Dev, a very sweet two-year-old girl with a heart defect, who I met at New Life orphanage in Haiti about three months ago. I previously blogged about her and you can read the post by clicking here. The exciting news is this: in just over an hour Dev will be undergoing open-heart surgery to fix her PDA (persistent ductus arteriosus) defect as well as remove a subaortic membrane. For months now people have been working and praying to get her to the USA for surgery. Not only have medical people been trying to find a way to make this possible, but her dad has also sacrificed so much to try to make this work. He spent weeks at the New Life clinic, waiting for an answer, meanwhile taking such good care of his little girl. Now, finally the day has come. On Friday, May 7, 2010 Dev and her father Michellet arrived safely in Tampa, Florida and today (at 8 am Florida time) she will undergo surgery. Thank you God for answering prayers. Thank you to all the people who made this possible. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors, a successful surgery and recovery for Dev as well as a speedy return back to Haiti.

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19

Newspaper showed up at school...

Glimpse of Haiti...

Haiti. from Sandra Lako on Vimeo.

A glimpse of my 3 weeks in Haiti. And a glimpse of the country and the people. An incredible experience. A humbling experience. What I saw was: HOPE in the midst of devastation, JOY in the midst of suffering, PEACE in the midst of chaos and LOVE in the midst of brokenness. The children in this video are some of the bravest children I have ever met. It was a privilege to work with them. Please continue to pray for Haiti. It is not over yet. But He is the "God of this city". (Music by Chris Tomlin)

Thank you...

A big "thank you" to everyone who made my trip to Haiti a success.

Many people were involved in various ways! Providing places to stay en route to Haiti, donations (monetary and supplies), encouragement, many prayers and more. I could not have done this on my own!

School presentation...

Haiti - School Presentation from Sandra Lako on Vimeo.

This is a movie version of the presentation I gave at two different Dutch schools today. The schools had raised money for my trip and so I wanted to be sure to let them know their money was well spent. It was a great opportunity to put Haiti in the spotlight again and share with the children what was purchased with their money and tell them about the Haitian children I was able to help.

Voices of Haiti...

"I hope this never happens again. Too many people died."

"We're afraid of the rain."

In Jeremy Cowart's stunning photo essay, Haitians tell the world what they think about 'all of this'. To see their perspective, go to: Voices of Haiti

Mercy Works Haiti video...

Below is a video that was produced by Mercy Works during my stay in Haiti. Lexie Waters describes the images seen while driving downtown devastated Port-au-Prince. In the second half of the video I tell part of Mistil's story - the 12 year old boy at the post-op clinic who lost part of his limb due to the earth quake. I have written about him before here and see this article about him as well. An amazing boy, with so much to give. I was especially touched one afternoon after Bible Study when I saw him reach out and pray for a little 3 year old girl with an amputation like his. Here is the Mercy Works Haiti report...

Haiti Report from MercyWorks on Vimeo.

Favorite pictures & moving on...

Above are my favorite pictures from my time in Haiti. And my favorite memories are also with the children I met in the post-op ward. I have tried to reflect and process my trip through the stories I have posted on my blog. Sharing events that took place, special moments, daily activities, frustrations, prayer requests. Of course there are many more stories to tell and I hope to be able to share those in the future (as well as share stories with family and friends in person). But right now it is time for me to move on, at least for now, as I prepare to go to Switzerland for a week of relief orientation with Medair. The time has come to focus on something new and pour my heart and energy into something else. This does not mean I will forget about Haiti. Never. The memories will remain with me. And each of these children has a place in my heart. I will continue to pray for them and for their country. And hopefully I can do more for them in the future. I will continue to seek God for direction for my future, wherever that may be. It is in His hands, just like each of these children (and those not pictured) are. These children are entrusted to His care. His shelter. His love. His comfort. His healing touch.

Aerial shots & camp site...

A few of my team mates were able to go to Leogane by helicopter and they took some photos in the air. Pictured are a large tent city, the palace, and the New Life Children's home- which includes our campground and the post-op ward.

The property is on the top half of the picture, with the colored tents in the middle of it. Near some trees is where my dark blue Coleman tent was (closest to the bottom of picture) see zoomed in below. And to the left of the property (near the main gate) was the post-op ward (seen below zoomed in) which was situated in the church building. The bigger white tents near a large tree are the 6 post-op patient tents (that were set up after the after shock on the 22nd of February).

The city...

The pictures give you enough of an impression of what downtown Port-au-Prince is like. Many of you have seen the footage. It is nothing new. Being there though was different. Driving through the streets with devastation on both sides. Some streets definitely hit harder than others. Some neighborhoods seemed almost untouched, and others were almost non-existent. The mural on the wall was a reminder of the devastation and the cry for help. The mural shows the map of Haiti, cracked by the earth quake, crying out for help and the need for prayer and God. Don't forget Haiti. Continue to pray on her behalf. (Last two photos taken by Jen Bullock - my photos of the same objects did not turn out as good.)

Children praying...

Sunday February 27 -

Best moment of the day was Bible study for the children, led by Amanda, one of the nurses on our team. She taught on the friends lowering their friend down to Jesus through the roof of a house for healing. Afterwards she encouraged the children to pray for each other. A few of the children did not understand what she was saying, a number of them did. It was precious to see Founa and Carlandia with their hands stretched out to the other one's broken leg, praying. And I could not hold back the tears when I saw 12 year old Mistil with his leg amputated, reach over to 3 year old Shakira, put his hand on her shoulder and pray for her with her leg amputation. Precious moments. God is moving.

Literacy class...

Two of the 9 year old girls in the post-op ward had never been to school before. They did not know how to write their names. So, I took it upon myself to teach them. I love teaching children/adults how to write their names. I feel like if there is one thing people should learn to write, it is their name. One of the things I noticed when working at the Fistula Hospital in Sierra Leone was that the women were much happier when they could sign papers using their name, rather than their fingerprint.

Both Founa and Marie were very excited. On a Sunday and Monday afternoon I sat down on Founa's cot and started showing her the letters to her name. She was hesitant at first, unsure of how to even hold the pen but soon enough she was very eager to continue. It is always interesting teaching someone to write for the first time. It seems so easy, but in their minds, it's not. The logic of making each letter the same size, just does not come naturally in the beginning. And even tracing letters seemed like a very difficult task. But with lots of patience and repetition, she got it down. She was so proud of herself. Unfortunately Founa's mom died years ago and her father died in the recent earth quake. Her cousin is looking after her for now, but is uncertain if he will be able to continue. Let's pray for a home for her and the opportunity to go to school!

Marie loved the idea of learning to write. Having broken her left arm, she was fortunate to be right-handed. So, on a Wednesday afternoon we sat down and started writing. She was also hesitant to start. When I first asked her if she wanted to learn how to write her name, she said no. When I asked her why not, she said because she has never gone to school and thought she couldn't learn. I explained to her that I could teach her right then and there how to write her name. She wanted that. She caught on very quickly it was amazing. Tracing letters, copying them down, and finally putting them together to write her name. She was so proud of herself. Later she was coloring a picture and then came to find me because she had written her name on it! A few days later she pulled me over to the blackboard where she had been writing her name. I found out from one of my team mates that they had loaned her a coloring book, but seeing later that she wrote her name all over it, decided to give the book to her. Smart girl!

What a privilege to be able to help these children in so many different ways!

Sweet girl suffering...

One of the patients that tugged at my heart the most was a 10 year old that came to us from the Medishare hospital on Friday, February 19th. She has a broken lower leg on the right side which is in a long leg cast and a broken upper leg on the left side which is being fixed with an external fixator (pins). She also has a nasty ulcer like lesion on her lower back as a result of burns she suffered during the earthquake. She came to us with her aunt. However, we soon realized that her aunt was not the most committed. Apparently aunt had a job and so was gone a lot during the first few days. I started worrying however, during my last week there, when I did not see the aunt at all over a 4 day period. By the time I left Haiti, it has been a week since the aunt showed up. I am worried about what this means. Has this 10 year old been left at the clinic for good? Or is the aunt trying to do her best for her by making money to provide for her once she is discharged? Apparently the child's mother and siblings are living in the countryside, her father died in the earth quake. Long before the quake, her parents had sent her to Port-au-Prince to live with an aunt. I think they just could not take care of her as well as her other siblings and maybe hoped for a better life for her in Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately she has not yet begun school...

Everyday we spent some time with this girl. Doing her woundcare; cleaning her pins and her open wound on her back. Praying for her. Sitting with her. Helping her on a bed pan. Trying to teach her to make a bracelet. Etc.

There were a couple of moments that my heart broke for her. One time was at around 7:30 am one morning when we found this girl in her tent, laying on soaked sheets. We have no idea how long she had been laying on wet sheets or why they were wet (sweat? pee? trying to wash herself?) but were heartbroken to find her like, wishing her caretaker would actually show up to care for her or that the night nurses would check in on her now and then. Poor girl was trying to clean herself up with wet wipes. We got her out of bed, onto a clean, dry cot and took her outside to join the other children already situated out under the mango tree. We changed her bed and hoped that this situation would not repeat itself. It didn't. However, we did often have to go to her tent in the mornings to get her onto a cot and out under the tree so she wouldn't remain lying on her bed in the very hot tent till late in the morning. You see, most of the other children had caretakers to move them out, or the children could go out themselves.

Another issue was worms. This girl was unfortunate to be without a caretaker, not be able to go to the bathroom on her own, and have worms. For us, this meant helping her get onto a bed pan multiple times a day. And on 4 occassions it meant disposing of worms. Let's just say that was definitely one of my least pleasant experiences while in Haiti. Bless her though, she's had it rough. Praise God that after 2 albendazole treatments it seems she has been cured.

Pray for this girl. She needs it. She has been in the hospital/post-op ward for weeks now; since the earth quake. And she still has weeks to go. Her follow-up appointment at Medishare is on the 20th. Let's pray for healed bones. And let's pray for her future- that her aunty would come back for her or that she would be able to move to the countryside where her mother lives. This girl needs to be shown the Father's love. She needs to know that when people abandon her, there is a loving Father who welcomes her with open arms, all the time. Lord, be with this girl and touch her heart and touch the heart of her aunty and mother too.

Imagine...

Imagine being in Haiti right now.

Imagine living in a sheet tent.

Imagine having to provide for your family when you are unemployed.

Imagine needing to find food and water for your family every day.

Imagine hearing that water is being distributed near the palace.

Imagine rushing to the palace grounds in the hopes to receive water.

Imagine the crowd that gathers in front of the palace.

Imagine making your way to the line.

Imagine the pushing and shoving that goes on.

Imagine waiting for hours in the hot sun, packed like sardines in a line.

Imagine nearing the front of the line only to hear the water is finished.

Imagine the yelling and screaming that goes on around you.

Imagine going back to your tented camp empty handed.

Imagine the frustration.

Imagine the anger.

Imagine the sadness.

Imagine the desperation.

Can we even begin to imagine what life is like for the Haitians right now?

Our lives are so rich in comparison.

I am praying once again for the Haitians.

Praying for strength and endurance.

Praying for His provision of food, water, shelter and medical care.

Praying for peace and joy in difficult circumstances.

Praying for a nation to turn to Him.

video footage taken in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on February 21, 2010 by Sandra Lako.

Life isn't fair...

Who said life is fair? No one. Everyone always says life isn't fair. And they are right. It's not.

It is not fair that I will sleep in a comfy bed tonight, with a roof over my head and not have to be afraid of my house collapsing while I sleep or getting soaked in the rain. Many people in Haiti are sleeping in tents made of sheets, praying they will stay dry tonight, too afraid to stay inside buildings because of the traumatic experience they have been through.

It is not fair that I had no trouble obtaining three meals today while people in Haiti are struggling to get one meal; with women standing in the hot sun, waiting for hours to get a bag of rice for their families.

It is not fair that I have running water and can drink water from the tap at any given moment while people in Haiti are lining up for hours in the streets hoping to get one bottle of water given to them for the day.

It is not fair that I had the possibility to get on a plane and leave while so many in Haiti will be stuck in the devastation caused by the earthquake; living in poverty for the rest of their lives.

It is not fair that I can call up the doctor's office for an appointment when I need to, while people are dying in Haiti because medical care is not available to everyone.

It just isn't fair. Life isn't fair. But where does that statement get us. The situation does not change. The fact is, I have a lot and they have a little. It's just the way life is. At the end of the day, I am the one from the developed world and they live in an impoverished nation. I have opportunities that they will never have. It's not fair, but it is life.

However I am reminded that in life's unfairness, God remains just. He stays true to His word. And He longs for justice. And I suppose that today as I write down these thoughts I am reminded about how blessed I am and how thankful I should be for those many blessings. Food. Water. Shelter. Medical care. And so much more. I believe that God has blessed me so that I can bless others. Let's not take what God has given us for granted. And let's use our blessings to bless others. We may not understand the unfairness of life but we can count our blessings today and try our best to make life a little better for those around us.