Important items I've forgotten to post

1. Two friends of mine, and former nurse co-workers of mine at Children's Hospital in Seattle, Lexie and Paula, paid me a visit in Haiti for 10 days in July. Together we re-organized the medical clinics, consulted with patients (or as I like to say, played doctor (we have no real doctor staffing our medical clinic right now)), spent quality time in the pool with an ungrateful Estaline, and performed blood tests for a number of our children. Our children think that poking them is enjoyable for us nurses. Yes, this is a grand scheme to torture them, not to protect them from numerous potentially lethal diseases. The best poke and story of the day was on a teenage boy of 16 years. He has a history of running from needles, so I was prepared. I dragged him from his classroom, assisted by other boys who administered some peer pressure. Once he entered the clinic, the excuses began. Finally, he said I could have his phone in exchange for not . I took it. I'm no dummy. I could use another phone...or I could sell it. But, he wanted money for it. Wait, I had the phone in my hands. Why would I need to pay him for it now? Lexie, Paula, and I walked out of the clinic with this young man trailing behind. "Brooke, come on, give me back my phone!" "Why? You wouldn't do the blood tests and gave me my phone in exchange." After this exchange occurred a few times, he knew he'd been beaten and agreed to get the blood work done in exchange for the return of his phone. I couldn't help rubbing it in a bit, though: "That was really stupid to give me your phone!" "Yeah," he said, "What was I thinking?"

Lexie and Paula connected very quickly with the kids. They found humor in their idiosyncrasies and the ways they tease people. I love sharing my kids with my friends, so thank you for loving them too and for supporting me, ladies!

2. During the second week that Lexie and Paula were here, my church team arrived. Melyssa, my traveling buddy from last year and good friend made her third trip to Haiti, along with my pastor and five other newbies to Haiti. They were work horses! The ladies cleaned out our donation closet and depot, as well as spent quality time with the kids and helping at the feeding program. Fred, Mike, Jerry, and their team built houses for some of the MdL staff whose homes were destroyed or broken in the quake, as well as painted and worked on various other construction projects. Jerry, my pastor, also spent intentional time getting to know some of the staff members and encouraging me. Thanks, friends for investing time in the kids, myself, the staff, and for your enormous contribution to building stuff and fixing things!

3. A weeks ago another team from WA state spent a week with us. Two nurses, Julia and Kathy, joined up with me to check on Fritz's sister. His sister, Natascha, suffered a stroke about 4 months ago. Doctors predicted she would die. After being discharged from the hospital in July, he rented a house for her and most of his brothers and sisters to live in (they were already displaced after the earthquake). He hired a physical therapist to come to the house. She did not return after her first visit as she requested a high price for the therapy. Fritz and his wife, Magolie, have taken in and cared for Natascha's two young girls, Ruby (3 years) and Jennifer (7 years). When Julia, Kathy, and I, as well as Fritz, made the visit to Natascha, we brought along Ruby and Jennifer. Usually I can keep my emotions in check when caring for patients. Not that I don't care or am unfriendly, but I don't typically get weepy. Natascha's girls walked into her room and Natascha immediately began to weep. I was pleased to see that she recognized her girls, and she was also able to move one hand and a foot on command. Her muscles are severely atrophied and if her extremities aren't exercised, she will develop contractures. Julia, Kathy, and I showed the family some exercises to do with and for Natascha. Before leaving, we prayed for Natascha. Jennifer and Ruby kissed her goodbye as they all cried deeply. That's when myself, the other nurses, and Fritz all became weepy as well. Seeing the sadness of Natascha and the girls broke us. How long until these three can be reunited? Seeing how Fritz takes care of his family was beautiful.

For Lisa Hojara's birthday (as well as Chef Ron Duprat's birthday. You may know him from the show "Top Chef." He is Haitian and has recently become good friends with Lisa after meeting each other at another Haiti fundraiser.) she created a fundraiser to raise money for Natascha's medical care. Click here to check out the fundraiser and to donate. Click here to see a picture of Fritz's nieces. I couldn't get the actual picture to post here on the blog.

Although Estaline has difficulty walking and her language skills are somewhat delayed, it is apparent that she is learning and processing her environment and she can speak aloud or whisper a few words. She enjoys commanding others to do anything she chooses. As Navy, a nanny at the girls' home, chased Renise around the girls home with a ruler, pretending to spank her, Estaline called out "Ba li!" over and over again, meaning "give her!" Navy would often check and make sure that Estaline wanted that and Estaline would call out even louder "Ba li!" Then the command was followed by Estaline busting up in laughter. When it became Estaline's turn to receive the spanking though, she began to whimper.

I've tried to find a way for Daphne to help me do PT with Estaline, since she doesn't have school right now but all the other kids do. Often Estaline just gets ticked off at Daphne for being involved, but we did have one successful session last week. I put Estaline on my fitness ball to get her used to the move bvment and to work her abs. She hates it. Erta walked by and suggested we put Daphne on it with her. Below are the results of that experiment.

Today at church I sat with Cendy, Daphne, and Katrina, who are always very chatty, especially when its not the appropriate time. Daphne asked for water and Katrina (8 years old) leaned over, shaking her head at Daphne and said: "She is like a camel!" The fact that Daphne was so chatty today was made more humorous by the fact that yesterday, while she was doing my hair, she told me to "turn your head. You talk too much!" She, in fact, was the one blabbering on to Cendy! I pulled Cendy and Daphne out of church because people around us were starting to give us looks. When we got outside, I separated them and told them to be quiet. Cendy began to sing to the tune of the worship song, " Blessed Be Your Name," which was being played inside the church, "I am not Brooke's friend, I am not her friend." Her ever-present copycat, Daphne, quickly joined in the singing.

Update to my last post: I believe I was locked in the medical room at the boys’ home every single day last week. When I took the lock and key inside the room with me, some smart ones found a bar of some sort to place in the latch to keep me inside. Love you boys! I'm sure Cendy and Daphne would have loved to get in on these pranks with you.

Memorable Moments of the week

1. I took Estaline to a “handicapped” hospital in the hopes of receiving some professional advice about what is preventing her from walking. On the second visit (just because This is Haiti and of course it would take more than one try to get in to see the doctor), the pediatrician we saw felt a mass on the left side of her abdomen. I panic, because mass can mean a long list of things. We waited for a few hours after that to pay for and create a dossier (with her birthdate, family information, and name of responsible person) and receive an appointment date to meet with the orthopedist. I was given the date of August 11th. Like any pushy nurse, I told the receptionist that Estaline has a suspected mass in her stomach- couldn’t we receive an earlier appointment? She briefly stared at me, checked her book again, then gave me a date for next Wednesday. Pushiness wins out!

We did manage to make it to the facility for her to get a sonogram of her abdomen. We left for the first hospital at six-thirty am and arrived at the sonogram place at 1:30pm. Estaline began whining and crying around 11am. I brought granola bars and crackers and water wish she happily devoured (if you know Estaline, you know she loves food). I asked Erta’s dad, Antonio, our driver, multiple times to buy her food from the street, but only crackers because most of the food is really greasy and unhealthy. I’m pretty sure what she needed was to sleep. But that was not to be so that day. Each time I gave her food, she began to cry as soon as it was finished. I even made a deal with her (yes, I know she is only two. Who cares?) that she wouldn’t cry when the next package of crackers was finished. She agreed. But she reniged on the deal. I paced with her back in forth around the waiting area. What I’ve learned in Haiti is what you might think is only your business is often everyone else’s business as well. Multiple people tried to tell me what I should do to get her to stop crying. Yah, I know she was being annoying, but its not like I was just sitting there and ignoring her. So, at the sonogram facility (which was the third building we drove to, by the way), Antonio once again bought crackers for Estaline, and for me as well. And, she cried, again. Suddenly, both Antoniono and I noticed that the air began to smell foul. Or, was it Estaline’s rear end? I attempted to change her in the co-ed bathroom, but there was no changing table. WHAT? So, I found the least-occupied section of the waiting area, planted Estaline on a chair, and got to it. The three people in the chairs across from us all staired. “Escuse, Escuse,” I apologized. Estaline was none-too-happy, so she twisted and kicked her legs while screaming. So as I’m trying to wipe her bottom, the poop goes all over the chair, my hand, and her foot lands in it, which then lands on my shirt. And, the people are still watching me. And I’m beginning to sweat more than usual. I eventually get the clean diaper on her and walk outside with her. I turn the corner and give her a small spanking. Then I look over my should around and see a man standing there, watching me. And, to make this even more special for us, I turn completely around and see that a tent city is directly across the street from us. Just how many people watched the white lady spank the black baby? Should I feel weird about this?

Speaking of abuse, I’ve taken Estaline into a kiddy pool that one of our former teachers brought. She hates it. Like when she walks with her walker, she screams “lageme” (leave me) or “gade” (look). But she’s added another word to her vocabulary: “abby!” According to Erta, it means abuse. I’m very thankful she didn’t decide to use this word at the hospital or in the sonogram waiting room.

The sonogram showed nothing abnormal in her abdomen and the radiologist who performed it felt nothing as well. He suggested that it may have been a collection of stool that the other doctor felt. Yes, I saw that stool. In fact, I left with it on my shirt.

2. I’m staying at the boys home sometimes now to help out with the little boys while Cindy is back in the states for a few weeks. Schneider, one of the older boys, has been helping out Cindy for the last couple of months. Right now, he is in charge while Cindy is gone. He is so gentle but firm that the boys really listen to him and respect him. I, on the other hand, am such a dufus that I got myself locked in the medical room there the other night. Jocelyn, one of the boys who went to the states for school in December, started a trend of locking people in rooms. The best part is that he (or the alternate offender) makes you say “Please, Daddy, let me out!” I’ve been locked in the depot at the guesthouse (a disgusting, scary place to be locked in) once and in the medical clinic, each time by Marlval. I got him back about a month ago by locking him in the guesthouse depot. Usually he takes the lock off the door if he goes in there to prevent this from happening (we’re a suspicious bunch), but he was slacking this time. I’m sorry but I had to gloat and showed my friend Carmina who was visiting. I made him go through the steps of saying, “Mommy, please let me out!” So, last night Marcorel stepped inside the medical clinic at the boys’ home and what could I do but what was required of me? Willy B was in on it too. We walked around to the window and dangled the keys, saying, “Say please Mommy, let me out!” After a few tries, he finally got it right. Dumb dumb dumb…Willy B and I stepped in there again to give a boy ibuprofen and didn’t take the lock and key inside. There we were with Marcorel having all the control on the other side of the door. “Say, Papa, mwen renmen ou (I love you).” After some coercion on Marcorel’s part and a few failed attempts on our part at saying it the right way, we were released. This is just what we do at the boys’ home.

More pictures

Feeding Program kids:

Ensise

Donaldson

Dupren

MdL boys:

Diene

Elisee

Lukenson, one of our three newest boys. He is very affectionate and everyone is in love with him!

Life in Pictures

These children from a neighboring orphanage began attending our feeding program this week, as well as ate at our boys' home on the other days we don't have the feeding program. Since the earthquake they have been living in a parking lot and eating very little. Our ministry is looking into renting a home for them as well.

Jameson, one of my buddies from the feeding program

Watson, another friend who goes to the feeding program, likes to run with us and always asks when I can teach him English. Watson and Jameson are brothers. Aren't they terribly handsome?!

Estaline walking. Can you tell how much she likes it? ;)

Bits and Pieces

I am so blessed and excited to have my friend Lisa here visiting and staying down the street, with Fritz and his family. Lisa and her husband, Ted, lived and worked with MdL for almost two years. We became good friends last year and I've been able to see them a few times where they now live in Florida, as well as on Lisa's frequent visits to Haiti. Spending time with Lisa always leads to adventure and certainly a lot of laughter at ourselves.

Soon after Ted and Lisa first moved here they began helping a teen mom, Sinese, by giving her a job and helping her with her education. She also worked at the guesthouse sometimes and cooked for the feeding program for a while. She became a member of the Hojara family and a good friend of mine as well. Yesterday Lisa and I walked with Sinese to see her house and family. It was about a fifteen minute walk where we saw many crumbled homes and tent cities. Along the way, a guy called out to Sinese, "Can you get me one of those white people?" Not creepy, just inquiring. We crested a hill and arrived to see a beautiful view of more homes, merchants, tap taps, and people. Suddenly we arrived at a tent city. Sinese pointed to one, indicating it was hers. Lisa and I'd forgotten that Sinese was still living in a tent since the earthquake. Seeing that your own friend lives here and is taking care of her three year old daughter, as well as three sisters, all on her own, is very distressing. What might these children be seeing or experiencing while Sinese is gone working during the day? Are they out of harm's way? How hot does it get at night sleeping in a tent? Is the area safe for girls and women? Thankfully, Sinese says that her tent neighbours are all friendly and keep quiet at night. As for the rest, we don't know. We walked a short ways and came upon Sinese's daughter, Jersey, and Sinese's three sisters, Modlin, Modlen, and Finese. Sounds like they are two sets of twins, right? Wrong. We drank some water together, checked out Sinese's intact house that she informed us she was ready to move back into, and chatted with the girls for a bit. Walking back down, we bought hot dogs on the street with some SERIOUS hot sauce and mayonnaise slathered on it, mangos, and more water. Again, "Where can I find me some white people like those?" was asked of Sinese.

Today, Lisa came back from the girls' home with her hair all slicked back in a ponytail. At first I thought nothing of it, but then she explained how much "pomade" (like vaseline) they'd put in it. The closer I looked, the more I continued to laugh. Why don't they like volume in our hair? Why do they like to put braids in my hair even thought it makes me look like a freak, like some Haitian or African wannabe? The girls look gorgeous and amazing, but I, on the other hand.... I love having my hair brushed, but I refuse to let the girls put braids in my hair. As Lisa was walking to the boys home, she passed the Manasseros' son, Kenny. She called down the street to me, "Ask Kenny what he just said." Kenny said, "I said she looks so beautiful!" What is it with the greasy haired look? So when I went over to the girls home this afternoon, I commented on Lisa's hair: "It's so beautiful!" "Isn't it?" they said. Chabine picked up a comb and said she was going to make my hair straight. Translation, in my head: Frizzy and ugly. But hey, at least I'd get my hair brushed.

Also today, a couple of visitors gave our kids more vaccines and Ashley and I helped with the hand holding and chasing down of kids. A pediatrician from the states brought them in but we purposely didn't tell our kids until we arrived with them at the boys' home today. We knew they would be mad. And they were. "All the time you want to give me shots!" "I don't need them, I'm not sick." They eventually all succumbed to our persuasive ways, but some were quite creative in avoiding us. I walked down to the girls home and looked in one bedroom to find Isguerda hiding between two beds. Denite was pretending to cry on another bed. Both girls had put bandaids on their arms and said they'd already had their shots. Soon Adeline popped out of the closet with a bandaid also on her arm and said I wouldn't be taking her. A little more cajoling on my part, followed by whining on theirs, and they were marching off to the boys' home. Three more shots in the next couple of months and they should be done, unless Haiti receives a batch of different vaccines or visitors bring more.

PT

Last week a sweet and fun team from Kansas stayed at the guest house to work with our ministry. One of the team members was a physical therapist and another, a massage therapist. We have joked (but I am completely serious here) that we would like to add a massage therapist to our list of permanent staff members. So, therapists, please apply here. The physical therapist worked with Estaline, our little just-turned two-year-old. She has low muscle tone and some developmental delays. She is quite smart but is physically behind in meeting many milestones. Kathy, the PT, created a list of exercises for me to do with Estaline. It has been delightful spending time with Estaline and making her work. The whole guesthouse can hear her as she cries out "gade"- meaning look in English - as she walks with a walker that one of our teachers and handymen, Matt, made.

We don't think she is in pain, but fearful of the exercises and just not used to working so hard. She had been like a queen, sitting on her throne and waiting for her loyal subjects (the girls, staff, and visitors who adore her) to give her her food and any other thing she may need. Here she is, working out:

Do you see the sweat on that brow?