Sickening

One thing that has surprised since we arrived in Haiti full time is how often people are sick. Pretty much everyone we know here has been sick at least once since we arrived. We have people come constantly asking for medication for fever. Colds and flu-like illnesses are constant for many people.

The poor nutrition of most people along with the dust and smoke everywhere are enough to get many people sick. Then when you add in dirty water and poor sanitation you have a great recipe for constant sickness.

In some areas where typhoid is rampant, people can be sick with a fever for months at a time. One young lady that we have grown to love, Mirlande, lives in such an area. She was very sick and we had a chance to travel to her home to visit. She is recovering from typhoid and malaria. At just 17 years old she stays sick very often because her family's source of drinking water and cooking water is a nearby river with very unclean water. She has become like one of our family. She calls Joy her Montrouis Mother. Pray for her as we have helped her get back into school but we also want to help her family be able to have access to better water. Below is a photo of our visit to her little house.


Bus Update:

We finally got our bus out of customs. It took almost 2 months but we got it. The only had a broken mirror- which resulted in an accident on the way home- but everything else was intact. We we so grateful to get into the packages of food stuff and school supplies our church in NC had packed for us before we left. We have also been able to really bless a lot of people by giving things away.

We now have all of the clinic equipment and are preparing the clinic. We should be able to start seeing patients soon after we return from the U.S. in November.









Joy cut Josie's hair for the first time the other day too.















It was heart wrenching in a way that a dad can not understand I guess.
Joy tormented herself over whether to do it or not and then whether she did it right or not and then whether she should have done it or not and then whether she will ever do it again. But all in all it was a sweet time.

We will be back in the U.S. in two weeks for some mission conferences and visits. We look forward to seeing everyone.