Lois and Judi's Excellent Adventures in Haiti

(from October 2002 Tidings)

The following is a report of the August trip to Haiti made by Lois Johnson and Judi McCullough, where they brought donations, gifts, and greetings from Nativity. This is a followup to their January trip.

Ed "Tytoo" Hughes and the children at Tytoo Gardens say "thank you" for the Sunday-best clothing our Nativity family sent them in August. What a delight to wash the feet and help the children try on shoes, socks, dresses, pants, and shirts and to play mother on Sunday morning as they dressed for church. Every item was a perfect fit, praise God! Do see the picture of this good-looking bunch of kids posted in the Fellowship Hall.

We lived the gospel by being the hands and feet of Jesus — playing games, sorting and cleaning out the clothing boxes, joining in Vacation Bible School being taught by three teens from Mission of Hope School ably aided by Celaine and Madelane. We helped serve food prepared by these two older girls to 60-plus children at the afternoon meal. And we enjoyed laughing with village boys playing Ninja, holding hands with little ones, singing songs, and Lois got to try out her French. We set up three treadle sewing machines (one to stay at Tytoo, two to be used in Simonette) and showed Marie how to thread an electric sewing machine, which we crated up and brought here for repairs.

We assisted Tytoo doing whatever he asked and gave him encouragement for the ministry he shares with the children. It was a blessing for us listening to the kids talking while doing chores, watching a game of Dominos, walking through the village, greeting folks, preparing our meals, eating on the porch facing the bay, and then "going apart" as Jesus did — praying and meditating, writing in journals, relishing the beauty of the place while watching boats and fishermen, reading, swinging in a hammock, and enjoying a satisfying sleep.

Tiana, the baby Lois baptized in January, died two days after we arrived in August. Tiana’s mother had died (perhaps in childbirth) and her father had abandoned her. She lived with an aunt whose daughter was paid one dollar per day to bring her to Tytoo for feeding, although she had not been coming for a couple of months. Pneumonia took her frail body while we cared and prayed for her soul. May she rest in peace. Amen.

Bandages for Haiti

At Nativity, we began rolling bandages for the Hopital Bon Samaritain (HBS) in 1997. The bandage rollers meet Wednesday mornings to cut, measure, and roll 10-foot by three-inch wide strips of sheeting, which are sent to HBS. Lois and Judi spent a week at HBS to learn more about its work and t0 minister however called.

HBS is a primary health care center in the river valley of Limbe, a main crossroad and market town 12 miles inland from the north coast of Haiti and 18 miles from Cap Haitian, Haiti’s second largest city. HBS was founded in 1953 as a small, grass roots Christian outpateint clinic and grew under the direction of the late William Hodges, MD.

In addition to the outpatient clinic, HBS has a laboratory/radiology department, pharmacy, maternity, adult ward, pediatrics, and surgery. Judi reviewed donated lab equipment and is getting answers here in the US for questions from HBS. Nurse practitioners help alongside Haitian and volunteer visiting doctors to screen, diagnose, and treat patients. Normal routine cases include malaria, typhoid, intestinal parasites, protein malnutrition, respiratory infection, typhoid, syphilis, and other venereal diseases.

Special separate clinics are held for diabetic, TB, and chronic heart failure patients. Minor surgery is performed for fractures and cuts. The separate surgery unit has two operating rooms and 20 beds, which are used when surgical teams come to HBS to handle elective surgery. These will be cleaned and prepared for a team coming in October.

The maternity ward is a busy place! We saw three newborns one morning. Some 500 babies are born at HBS each year. All patients admitted to any ward are cared for by their family, with meals brought in and served. Approximately 30 handicapped and abandoned children live in Kai Mira, a ward and home built in 1999. Lois fed a bottle to Sabienta, six weeks old, whose mother died in childbirth. Her father has four months to decide whether to take her or leave her there. If left, she becomes eligible for adoption.

Lois and Judi were housed in one of several guest houses and received meals in a dining room in another building where they shared conversation with staff and two English medical students. Lois cut up three months worth of admission tickets for the clinic and worked on the files. In addition to the work, they had time for reading, prayer, and Scrabble, as well as walking the grounds that are lush with tall trees, flowering shrubs, and even a fish pond with a very friendly turtle! They attended church services at the University of the North Baptist Seminary and enjoyed a picnic with Pastor Jules Casseus and his family. Truly a week to remember!

Bandage rolling begins again starting October 30, each Wednesday following the 10:00 am Healing Holy Eucharist.