It's Great To Be Back

It really is great to be back in Haiti and at GLA after my two week holiday in Scotland. I returned last Monday, and was blessed several times over by warm welcomes from the staff and children at the main house. Upstairs, the nurses and nannies had exciting news to share: 'I' had four new babies, they declared! All of them are girls and all of them are less than six months of age.

First to arrive, they tell me, were a gorgeous set of twin girls. Wana and Raphaella are very alike, but not identical. To help me tell them apart, the nannies shared with me that Wana, the smaller twin, had a birth mark on her tummy. Magaly, our Haitian administrator reports that Wana had some health issues while she was at her previous orphanage: Malaria, she thinks, and pneumonia as well. Thankfully, both girls appear to be in good health now. They have bright eyes and strong lungs. As their nanny, Ginette puts it, 'When Raphealla cries, her sister is quiet and when when Wana cries, Raphaella is quiet'!

Next came Berline. This baby is a month old. You wouldn't know it, looking at her now, but Berline was suffering from a nasty skin infection when she arrived at GLA. Madame Bernard, who is in charge of the NICU says that the skin lesions covered the baby's entire body and that there was an unpleasant odour emanating from them. Mme Bernard mixed three medicated creams together and applied them to the affected areas three times a day. There is joy shining in Mme Bernard's eyes today as she looks over the baby's beautiful, clear, smooth skin. Bravo Mme Bernard! You made Belrline beautiful, just as God intended!

Then, a mere 30 minutes ahead of me, came Darline. She is 4.5 months old and weighs 8lb. Her face was puffy and her eyes were swollen from protein deficiency, which causes fluid to leak out of the capillaries and leak under the skin. We have started Darline on a infant formula that contains higher levels of protein, vitamins and minerals than the ones you can buy over the counter. These things are just what her body needs. Today, the swelling around Darline's eyes has disappeared. Darline might be little for her age, but developmentally, she is right on track, holding her head up, smiling, cooing, reaching for toys and grasping them in her hands. With her long, curled eyelashes, her round face, and her sunny personality, I am sure that Darline will become a favourite among the staff and the volunteers and God's Littlest Angles.