Introducing D'Jerry!

 There are some families that are just extra special to both Aubree and I.  Cilianise is an amazing momma and is the first person to greet me each and every Sunday at church.  Nine months ago she was in the clinic because she had been sick.  I ran a routine pregnancy test on her and the results were positive.  I was completely overwhelmed for her because this would be her seventh pregnancy.  One of her sons, Jean, has Cerebral Palsy and she does everything possible to fight for this little one.  Just recently Jean was able to start physical therapy with another organization.  Cilianise works with him multiple times a day doing different exercises.  She works hard to make sure her children go to school and are cared for.  During her pregnancy, I loved getting to watch her belly grow and feel all the little baby kicks.  She had 3 girls and 3 boys and she said she was praying for another little girl.  For nine months I talked to the little "girl" in her belly telling her how beautiful she was and how excited I was to meet her.  Nine days ago Cilianise had her seventh child- a perfect little boy.  I was in Indiana when she had the baby and could hardly wait to get back and meet this little man.  The look on Cilianise's face when Aubree and I walked into her home this morning was priceless.  She was so excited to introduce us to little D'Jerry and of course we both thought he was absolutely perfect.  Love this little boy already and I've already called dibs on getting to hold him next Sunday in church!

back home again!

Back: my sisters Mila and Yarley.  Front: nieces Madison and Caitlin

I just arrived back in Haiti last night after a relaxing and wonderful two weeks with my family.  I was excited to have no specific "agenda" which meant I had lots of time to just sit and enjoy time with my family.  I played (and lost) lots of card games with my nieces Madison and Caitlin and of course spent lots of time cuddling my youngest niece Ava who is now 7 months old.  I was able to attend my oldest niece Madison's music concert and go to preschool with Caitlin.  I know I'm not partial or anything but I'm pretty sure my nieces are the cutest and smartest kids out there=)  I am blessed to have some amazing friends and loved getting time to see them.  I also was completely surprised  that I got to see E'tienne (she worked in the clinic with me during my first year in Haiti) who lives in New York but happened to be in Indiana while I was there.  Before moving to Haiti I volunteered with the youth group at my church.  I loved my high school small group and was so excited when I found out that Kelsey (my old co-leader) had planned a supper so I could see all the girls!  Needless to say the two weeks went extremely quickly.  I was sad to leave my family and yet I was also really excited to get back home to my Haitian family.  As I was boarding the plane yesterday I felt completely blessed.  I love that I have a home in Indiana and another in Haiti!

My niece Ava!

E'tienne and I

rosamene

Little Rosamene

Haitian Proverb:

"Sa je pa weke pa tounen-what the eye doesn't see doesn't move the heart"

It's so easy for me to jump to conclusions and become frustrated at what I see sometimes.  There are moments when I feel that certain situations are full of injustice beyond hope.  And yet, there are moments when I see God break through and I see the situation through a different set of eyes.  Last summer I met a little girl that broke my heart.  This little girl, Rosamene, was seen in our clinic and was diagnosed with malnutrition.  At ten months of age she weighed just 10 pounds.  I was told that Rosamene was placed in an orphanage and from what I could tell the orphanage wasn't taking care of her.  A caretaker brought her to our clinic every two weeks for three months.  The last time I saw Rosamene she was barely able to hold her head up and didn't have the energy to even stay awake.  I knew that if her caretaker didn't take her to receive the medical care she needed and if she didn't provide her with the needed nutrition, Rosamene would die.  I was completely broken.  There is no way to look at an innocent child and not just want to scream at each and every person involved in her story.  And yet- there is so much more to her story, so many details that I didn't know.

I last saw Rosamene in November and have thought of her daily.  Honestly, I thought she had died and yet there was this small piece of hope in my heart, that I didn't dare say out loud, that I prayed she was alive.  Last week as we were triaging in the clinic I noticed a momma walk in with a baby on each hip.  She said that she had come to see the doctor but that we were full for the day.  The toddler on her right hip seemed shy and the baby on her left was covered in a blanket.  I pulled back the blanket and knew instantly that this was our little Rosamene.  I began to question the mother asking her the baby's name and if she was her mother or a worker from the orphanage.  She responded that the baby's name was Rosamene and that she was indeed her mother.  Her mother shared that both of the girls had lived in the orphanage and she was recently called to come and get them because the orphanage had been closed.

The shy toddler was Rosamene's sister, Mirlanda. She is 5 years old, can not walk, and weighed barely nothing.  As I sat and talked to mom I got to hear more of her story.  Mom has seven children from 3 months to 7 years of age.  Mom herself is just 23 years old.  Mom was really sweet with the girls and she genuinely seemed to care for them.  I don't know why she placed the girls in the orphanage, but after meeting her I quickly realized that I don't know what I would have done either. I can't imagine how hard it is for this momma.  How difficult it is for her to provide for her family and make each and every resource stretch to meet the needs of each person.  Aubree instantly began researching places that provide inpatient malnutrition care and we all sat and loved on this momma and her daughters.  It took all the strength I had to contain my tears as I walked to the gate with this family.  I shared with this momma that we have loved her daughter for a long time and even though we didn't know you, we were praying for you too.  In a way that only God can provide we discovered that one of mom's cousins is a dear friend of ours.  I am so thankful that Rosamene's story isn't over and that she has a heavenly father that has plans for her life that are beyond anything that I could imagine.

Rosamene's mom and sister Mirlanda