LABOULE CHILDREN'S HOME...

This morning after breakfast, Stephen & I (Beth) headed for the MTM Laboule Children's Home. I can always count on Stephen to help me there. He loves going to play & interact with the children.

On the way we stopped at the grocery store to purchase a few cases of supplies that were needed at the home as well as some lunch items to treat the children with.

I worked through the noon hour reorganizing, inventorying & restocking items that the children needed: warm/winter clothes, shoes, bed sheets, blankets & some other items.

In the backyard there was some soccer going on...

& shortly before our departure, Stephen & some of the older girls made turkey & cheese sandwiches for all the children, serving them with chips, juice & yogurt for dessert. The only one missing...
was Melynda, she was getting her hair done!

Sheila Estiven ~10/21/08-11/21/08~

At exactly 1 month old today, little Sheila Estiven went to be with the Lord, her Maker.

Please continue in prayer that her parents would have a peace in their spirit and rest in the arms of their Comforter.

May God be glorified by the life if this little one that he released onto this earth for a short time.

SHEILA UPDATE...

Nearly 2 weeks ago Sheila was taken to the hospital by her parents. All this time she has laid in a hospital bed receiving I.V. fluids, doctors telling the parents nothing, a common scenario here. Nursing weakly at her mothers' breast, she has shown slight improvement, but most recently has begun to deteriorate.

Yesterday the parents allowed Willem to provide transportation to have the baby taken to a reputable, newly built Catholic children's hospital, Little Brothers Little Sisters. Today the doctor told the parents that their infant needed to be taken to General Hospital to have surgery. In Haiti, when a medical professional tells you this, it means you are going to General Hospital to die. That is the reputation of that hospital.

Sheila's parents decided to take their baby girl home.

HOPE.

That is what we have.

Please continue to pray with us that God will be glorified through this situation. MTM will provide as much medical support as possible to this family & the Gramothe church & village people will be there to support also. We know that God can bring this child back to a full life & we will all do our best to help her to live.

Thank you for your continued prayer support.

Praise the Lord!

DUMAY WELL UPDATE...

This morning we are waiting to hear how deep the drillers have gone & just how much further they need to go before hitting water.

As you can see, they are working!

This has been a VERY exciting event in the village of Dumay.

BABY SHEILA UPDATE

Thank you for all the prayers for Baby Sheila. Please continue.

I wish we could give a full account of what Sheila is being treated for, unfortunately, few questions are asked between doctor & patient in Haiti. I keep asking from where we are at, but there is just not much information to gain except that Baby Sheila is improving while she remains in the hospital.

For this we say, "PRAISE THE LORD!".

PLEASE PRAY FOR BABY SHEILA...

Out of great concern for Baby Sheila (10-22-08), Mme. Stephen took her to the hospital last night. Doctors who examinded the tiny infant decided right away to keep her at the hospital for observation along with giving I.V. solution.

Sheila has not been thriving. She has refused to nurse and is crying all the time. Mme. Stephen is very worried because this is how she has lost 3 other babies in the past.

Please pray for Baby Sheila & her family.

Pictures taken 11-10-08

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

ANOTHER SCHOOL COLLAPSES NEAR PORT AU PRINCE..

Following are 2 articles.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Nine injured in second Haiti school collapse
Jonathan M. Katz / Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti --
A school partially collapsed in the Haitian capital on Wednesday, injuring nine people less than a week after the collapse of another school. Portions of the Grace Divine school in Port-au-Prince came crashing down while class was in session. As word of the incident spread, crowds of anxious parents descended along with ambulances and crews from the collapse of the College La Promesse in nearby Petionville. Two Grace Divine students were hospitalized with severe injuries while seven people outside the school suffered minor injuries, said Edouard Ernseau, a city building inspector. No one was trapped inside. The cause of the incident was unknown, though Ernseau said recent heavy rains may have weakened the two-story concrete structure. On Saturday, Haitian President Rene Preval said poor construction, including a lack of steel reinforcement, was to blame for the collapse of College La Promesse the day before. He warned that many other buildings throughout Haiti are in danger of failing and he called for greater oversight.
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Another Haiti school collapses:
reports November 12, 2008,

A school in central Port-au-Prince has partly collapsed leaving seven people injured, police said, five days after a school in the capital's suburbs caved in.Police said students at the Grace Divine school were out in the recreation yard when the cave-in occurred at the small school.Chunks of the school's walls were scattered on the ground, its concrete roof was sagging, and there were clear cracks in the remaining walls, at AFP reporter witnessed.Rescuers backed up by foreign teams in the country to help with the earlier school collapse arrived quickly at the scene to help clear the debris.About 100 students aged five to 12 normally attend Grace Divine, according to people in the area.The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, but it came after heavy rains late Tuesday soaked the capital of one of the world's poorest countries.It also comes in the wake of several hurricanes which battered the country over the summer."It is a problem of urban development in general," Minister of Education Joel Desrosiers Jean-Pierre told AFP at the Grace Divine school site.Huge crowds of family members and onlookers rushed to the site at the news of the collapse, as Haiti was still reeling from the disaster at the La Promesse school in Petion-ville, a hillside shantytown outside Port-au-Prince, last Friday.