Teams - Part 1

We always look forward to when the hydrocephalus surgeries take place. Paulna and Jefftay (Amos' younger brother) are dishing out the hot cereal for the babies.

We had lots of helping hands! Quite often when Marlene and Tanya come to Haiti it is during the hydrocephalus surgeries. It works out great because when they come with teams they can bring items for the mother and baby while they are at the hospital and when they go home again.

The first day of surgeries the team from St. Louis performed 4 surgeries. The next morning more parents came with their children to be admitted.

The mother holding this baby is very happy. Her baby is getting a surgery before it's head grows. These babies have the greatest chance for a successful outcome.

This young mother keeps her baby's head covered. Some of the people believe that if they keep a hat on the baby's head all the time than the head won't grow as fast.

Here's another shot of dishing out the food.

When Tanya brought John to Canada he was just like this baby pictured here. A tiny body with a massive size head. The mother told Tanya that she could take her baby too.

Sadly the baby was rejected for surgery, the mother abandoned the baby at the hospital. The child is now in the pediatrics wing. He never did get surgery. I think that the mother was desperate and couldn't handle taking the baby home again without a surgery. I think this is why she abandoned her baby.  I am praying that a surgery can be done and that an orphanage can be found for this baby.

The cereal we make is called Nourisoy. It is reinforced with vitamin B and iron; nutritious for the baby and mothers too :)

John and the guys kept busy working on this section of cement.

It was a busy time with all the activities going on but the extra helping hands made everything a whole lot easier :)

Here is our new laundry/septic tank area. It looks a lot cleaner and nicer looking I think.

There is a small section to be done next.

Pastor Pierre was attending a pastor seminar that day and another cement boss we know took his place for the day.

Here is a view of our yard from the back to the front. The last major project to do is to remove the drain channel. A good project for another team to do:)

Benson is playing a video game on the children's psp. I think he is teaching Jen how to play the game.

One of the meals we had was homemade lasagna! We normally never get the opportunity to eat lasagna. It is great that they were willing to make a few trays of lasagna for everybody :)

Jonathan and the guys worked up to dusk to finish off this portion of cement!

We appreciate all the hard work that everyone put into the cement work.

The evening visit to the hospital was a busy time for the medical staff. 7 surgeries were done that day.

Here is one of the babies resting after her surgery.

The neurosurgery came to do rounds while we were there.

The haitian nurses benefit from these teams as they get specialized training on how to look after hydrocephalus children.

Spaghetti was on the menu for the mothers that evening :)

Maguy, pictured in the middle is the project co-ordinator for the hydrocephalus program for Project Medishare. She makes sure that everything runs smoothly.

This baby had a ventriculoscopy surgery done.

Jantje is sharing a photo with one of the nurses at the hospital.

We made a visit to see Yonel, our gatekeeper's family. They live in a section of the city located off of Airport Rd. called Cite 4. The British Red Cross is rebuilding the neighborhood. For the last 2 years they have been building a canal. This is an arch they built to one of the areas they are rebuilding.

The street vendors used to sit on the ground in the hot sun. Now they have a nice shelter to sell their products out of.

This is our gatekeeper, Yonel.