Lest The World Forgets...

Peterson arrived at God's Littlest Angels yesterday. A month ago, he weighed 16lb. Four weeks later, he is down to 9.5lb.

He came to us from an orphanage that was badly damaged by the magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked Haiti on the 12th of January. The children at that orphanage have been sleeping outside, and they have not been receiving adequate food or even the most basic of medicines.

Peterson has pneumonia, profuse diarrhoea and a heavy infestation of worms. Had he not been transferred to God's Littlest Angels, I don't not believe he would have lived to see the weekend. He was on IV fluids up until this morning. It is very important that we begin re-nourishing this baby, who is so weak that he can barely open his eyes.

Meludrine is two years old. She weighs 17lb and was admitted last night. She is tiny for her age and she has a very bad case of infected scabies. Her Father wants to give her up for adoption. He says that he has no choice. The little girl's Mother died as a result of injuries she sustained during the earthquake and he says that he cannot provide for his daughter. Meludrine is being treated for her skin condition. We hope that she will feel safe here and that she will adjust well to orphanage life.

Baby Valentine was born shortly after the earthquake, to a teen aged Mother who has severe mental health problems. Valentine has been in the care of relatives and hasn't received a single drop of milk since her birth; even if her Aunt had the money to buy formula, she wouldn't have found any on the empty shelves of Haiti's stores. These are precarious days for orphaned infants.

Valentines is the worst case of malnutrition I have ever seen. She weighs 3lb 12 oz. There isn't an ounce of fat on her tiny frame. I can count every rib, and every vertebrae in her spine. She is severely dehydrated and also severely anaemic.

I travelled into the Haitian countryside today to collect Valentine. She managed to tolerate 40 ml of oral rehydration solution through a feeding tube, during the two hours it took for us to reach GLA.. Tonight, we will slowly introduce milk feeds. Valentine is starving to death. It is a miracle that she survived a month, receiving only small amounts of fruit puree. It will take another miracle, for Valentine's embattled body to tolerate nutrition. When she arrived at GLA, her heart beat was slow and irregular. That is not a good sign, and yet, she is alive, and she is breathing, and so there is hope, I promise you that.

Peterson, Meludrine and Valentine; three names, three faces, three stories. Multiply their misery a hundred thousand times over, if you can. That is what you need to do, to come close to conceiving the suffering of Haiti's children.

As the attention of the world media shifts away from our beautiful but beleaguered nation, please do not forget the continued suffering, and ongoing need. I urge you to pray about how you should respond to the crisis in this country.