Hard reality

Recently a doctor was examining a young boy that was referred to him who lives in a nearby village called Jean Brule. The boy had an abcess that had previously been removed. Since that time the boy had fallen and now was having difficulty walking  Here in Haiti diagnosing a medical condition is difficult for lack of resources. This being the case, this doctor's diagnostic tools were mainly in the form of questions to the boy and his mother and external physical observations.

The boy had been prescribed a particular medication prior to this day. The doctor commented on the situation that the prescribed medication would not be effective and began to reflect out loud what a shame for the mom to have spent money she couldn't afford on medicine that won't help anyway. The doctor paused his sentence with tears in his eyes, composing himself before he could finish the thought.        

This offered a reminder of the hard reality of how difficult it is to provide medical care here. Often medicine is given to treat symptoms without really knowing the cause which can result in an incorrect diagnosis. In this case, the family thought the fall the boy had experienced was the cause of his difficulty walking. Here the doctor shared that often something like a fall may simply exaggerate a condition that already existed.

Another hard reality medical situation we have experienced recently involves a normally healthy young man in his mid twenties who was experiencing various symptoms. Here again, medicine was prescribed but the root cause of the symptoms went unknown. This leaves question as to what his follow up treatment should be. The obvious risk is just as the boy from Jean Brule experienced; being prescribed medicine that won't treat the problem.

(No photos here... No HIPPA rules apply... just none were taken!)

Meet Jocelyn

A Friday morning visit to a friend that was MH very first recipient in our PET cart distribution program was disheartening.  Daniel Jocelyn lives in a rented room with his elderly father who also is fairly crippled because of old age.

The hard reality of their daily challenge typically might be to just find food to sustain life. Inside the one room dwelling were two partially completed handmade chairs along with one chair a bit smaller that was finished. We asked if the chairs were for sale and how much they were asking for them. "Sekant gourdes" for each chair. With the current exchange rate of 66 gourdes for one US dollar, that made the purchase price for each chair $0.76.

We asked the old man if we could buy all three which brought a big
smile to his face. We paid in advance, a higher price than he asked. We said a prayer together asking for God's provision and thanking God for the HOPE he has given through His Son JESUS CHRIST. We said goodbye with the finished chair in our hands and the next day the son delivered the other two on his PET cart.    Hope



   

 Jocelyn in his community

God placed on our hearts the thought of what kind of job could we offer Jocelyn. 

He has always been a kind and gentle friend and has a smile nearly every time we see him, 

even when he is hungry or in pain from his disability.
Hope

                                             

Meet Watson and Gran

Another stop was made in the same neighborhood
to pay for some items that will be displayed
for sale in our store in the MH guest house called
'Bon Bagay Boutique'.

The young man named Watson who had made
the items we were paying for was sitting
outside the house with his grandma
along with several of her other grandchildren.

Another hard reality was in sight.
It was around 9:30 on Friday morning
so it would seem that some of these kids,
including the grandson that made the items for sale, should have been in school but probably
didn't have money to pay the tuition.

According to 'Gran', grandma,
and the grandson, the money
he was receiving for the
handmade items will be what he needs
to get back in school.     Hope

It had been some time since we had seen 'Gran'. She has had a paralyzed arm as long as we have known her but that day the hard reality is she was scooting on the floor, with all of her 76 pound frame, unable to walk. Still with a gentle spirit and a sweet smile, Gran said she is getting by.

           'Gran', Grandma, with some of her grandkids when we first met her in March of 2015.
                                                    At this time, her right arm is paralyzed

This woman has 12 grown children, some of them have died as has her husband. Gran has a house full of grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. We have heard the story of when her own children were young, how she and her husband provided food for the growing family in a loving home. We acknowledged how hard she has worked, serving the needs of her family year after year. There is still love in the house but it is the kids and grandkids that are now helping Gran.   Hope

Meet Jinette

We had met Jinette a few months ago when a MH short-term mission team brought a gift of food to the family after the hard reality of her husband having been murdered. The house where they lived was not safe at all. At the end of the day of the visit, the team had shared a blog on the MH website about the encounter. From this team blog, a donor and supporter of MH came forward saying his family wanted to give money to build a new home for Jinette and her kids.   Hope

            This house was not safe for a widow and her 4 children who are without their father
           

Jinette pictured in front of her old house with her four children, a couple kids from

 the neighborhood, and the team that brought her a gift of food in the name of Jesus Christ. 

The oldest boy in the pink shirt, daughter in the blue and white stripe, 

younger brother in the batman shirt, and the baby in Jinette's arms 

                            Another short-term mission team serving with MH painted the new house


Friday afternoon allowed time for a visit to Jinette's house in Maliarette with MH Chaplains Pastor Lumanes and Pastor Jean Ronel.  We went by motorcycle but had to park and walk the last maybe ¾ mile because of mud! We arrived to find Jinette and her two younger kids at home. The older two were down the road.

She had done the wash that morning which was drying on the cactus in front of the house.
We could tell the house was lived in because there were lots of dirty finger prints on the front door which was painted blue.

We talked on the front porch a bit, with the pastors asking various questions about how things were going.  She said she has a garden and works it nearly every day.  They asked who was preparing the ground to plant and she said she was. There was some new cactus fence that she had planted herself as well.

We entered the house and discovered a few things. In one room was a pile of bedding on the floor where they all sleep,  While we talked the baby fell asleep in her arms and she laid him on the pile of bedding.

There has been a lot of rain and Jinette showed where the roof leaks a bit.  We will get Boss Themeland to come and fix the leaks.  We also saw that the doors and windows have gaps between the planks that had been pieced together when they were made.  Lumanes explained this had happened because the wood was not dry at the time the doors and windows had been made.  Now that the wood had dried, it shrunk leaving behind the gaps.  We agreed to fix them up! 

We are going to get a better latch on the front door as well.  The way it is now, it rattles in the wind because the latch does not hold the door tight to the door stop. 

Jinette is a Christian and has been baptized. Before we left we prayed together.     Hope

We asked her what her biggest challenges are right now.  She didn’t hesitate to share the hard reality of her situation. Mainly she is troubled and burdened with the responsibility of providing for and raising 4 kids without a husband.  She then said she hoped she would be able to furnish the house to make it more comfortable. These are the only belongings in the house.

We walked behind the house. 

Hard reality, she is cooking for her family over 3 rocks 

out in the open with no protection from wind, sun, rain.

Jinette and her family have a long, hard road ahead.

It is such a hard reality. It is beyond words. 

There is heartache down every path. 

Where is this Hope?

Jesus gives the answer in John 16:33b when he says... 

"In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world."  

Will you continue to pray for the light of Jesus Christ 

to shine brightly here 

so that down every path people will know

        Hope

We got word that Taxi driver, Yves delivered the child-sized PET cart 

to Evenson in Gonaives. 

We heard from our contact 

that Evenson and his family 

had a genuine happiness 

that was displayed through their smiles.


Evenson's family was told 

that because Evenson could not walk

he was "cursed". 

Being Christian the family 

did not believe that. 

They know now that the family 

is being blessed because of Evenson.    Hope

By the way, we are having pentad for supper tonight.  

Hard reality for these two foul.