God's Littlest Angels are collecting donations now and will be sending a shipping container to Haiti as soon as we can. For the orphanage, we always need powdered formula, nappies, baby wipes, baby cereal, infant Tylenol (paracetamol suspension), infant and children's vitamins, and baby care items such as lotion, powder, baby shampoo. We also hope to be able to assist the surrounding community with clothing, medical supplies, household items, hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets and towels. We have also set up a fund for earthquake relief for our staff and surrounding community. Many of our staff will need assistance with home repair and funeral expenses.
Donations should be sent to:
God's Littlest Angels, 2085 Crystal River Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80915
Financial donations for earthquake relief can be sent to the above address, or via Paypal on our web site http://www.glahaiti.org/, (Canadian donors should use the Canadian Paypal button at http://www.glacanada.ca/) or through the following link: http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/ and click the "Chip in" button.
The earth quake is likely to leave several thousand orphaned children. We at God's Littlest Angels are preparing to take in as many of these children as we possibly can. We are asking adoptive parents overseas to petition their governments to allow children who are in the process of being adopted to enter the countries of the families who are adopting the on humanitarian visas. Their adoptions could then be completed in their home countries, If all of our children who are currently matched with families who are been approved to adopt could be evacuated, we would be able to admit at least a hundred of the children who have been orphaned by this disaster.
Friday, 15 January 2010
After shocks
The after shocks have lessened significantly in frequency and severity over the past 24 hours and especially overnight. It is 5:30am in the morning here in Haiti and we have just had two large shocks that rumbled through our orphanage, shaking us awake in our beds.
Two nannies and two nurses arrived for work last night. Claudia's Aunt is still trapped under rubble in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince. We heard last night that Christella, one of our NICU nannies, has lost a sister. Christella's sister was in Church at the time the earthquake hit, just before 5pm on Tuesday night.
The Haitian staff are showing signs of stress. Many of us here are experiencing loss of appetite, nausea and headaches. The constant movement of the ground makes our buildings sway and that is causing motion sickness, as well as high levels of anxiety. The children are fairing remarkably well. Our international volunteers have been taking them upstairs to a play area during the day. We have a little girl who has Sickle cell disease and she gets very upset during the stronger after shocks. Her loud cries are heard by everyone on the first floor of the orphanage, which, is were our nurseries are located. A two year old boy, who is HIV positive developed a stress rash on the night of the earth quake. Everyone who is here is doing their level best to maintain the children's routine, despite significant staff shortages here at God's Littlest Angels. As a result, our children are fed, clothed, changed and supervised.
Our foreign staff and many of our Haitian staff have a strong Christian faith. We draw our strength from that faith. We know that it is by God's grace that we have all survived this catastrophe. His love is eternal and he is with the poor and the broken hearted during these difficult days.
'Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.'
Last night as I finally drifted off to sleep, our neighbours were singing Kreyol gospel songs, and praising God for his goodness.
Two nannies and two nurses arrived for work last night. Claudia's Aunt is still trapped under rubble in the Delmas district of Port-au-Prince. We heard last night that Christella, one of our NICU nannies, has lost a sister. Christella's sister was in Church at the time the earthquake hit, just before 5pm on Tuesday night.
The Haitian staff are showing signs of stress. Many of us here are experiencing loss of appetite, nausea and headaches. The constant movement of the ground makes our buildings sway and that is causing motion sickness, as well as high levels of anxiety. The children are fairing remarkably well. Our international volunteers have been taking them upstairs to a play area during the day. We have a little girl who has Sickle cell disease and she gets very upset during the stronger after shocks. Her loud cries are heard by everyone on the first floor of the orphanage, which, is were our nurseries are located. A two year old boy, who is HIV positive developed a stress rash on the night of the earth quake. Everyone who is here is doing their level best to maintain the children's routine, despite significant staff shortages here at God's Littlest Angels. As a result, our children are fed, clothed, changed and supervised.
Our foreign staff and many of our Haitian staff have a strong Christian faith. We draw our strength from that faith. We know that it is by God's grace that we have all survived this catastrophe. His love is eternal and he is with the poor and the broken hearted during these difficult days.
'Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.'
Last night as I finally drifted off to sleep, our neighbours were singing Kreyol gospel songs, and praising God for his goodness.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Great is Thy Faithfullness
As the shock subsides, reality sinks in. Our three story orphanage building might have collapsed, with us all inside. They would have been digging us out for weeks. During the earthquake, which lasted for 35-40 seconds, our house shook violently, and rocked from side to side and appeared to lean towards the ground.. The house did not crumble. It did not fall.A neighbour's collapsed hut
Our beautiful and beleaguered country has been devastated. Port-au-Prince lies in ruins. Water, food and fuel are in short supply. We run an orphanage with 150 children. Where will we get these basic necessities from?
The day has brought some answers. Our board in the USA is gathering supplies for the orphanage, to be delivered on a relief flight, and later by shipping container. We are hopeful that people overseas will donate baby milk, infant cereal, non-perishable food and hygiene supplies, blankets, clothes, food and medicine; items desperately needed at the orphanage and by our staff members and neighbours who have lost their homes and loved ones.
A Mennonite mission, based in Fond-Parisiene, close to the Dominican boarder is delivering drinking water and diesel to us tomorrow. We have enough food to last through two weeks - although we have been told our diet is likely to be very basic. We will not be able to take showers or use the washing machines until the water trucks begin bringing water; this usually comes from a reservoir on a near-by mountain. Part of that mountain-side, which, has been heavily quarried, collapsed during the earthquake. It is unclear whether whether the reservoir remains accessible.
We are a Christian mission. Even so, I for one find myself questioning, 'Why God?' Why in a country so impoverished, with so much suffering? How will we survive in the aftermath of this?
I was asking just these questions on Tuesday night after the eathquake hit, as I watched our babies, sleeping on mattresses on the ground. And then, our nannies broke into song, and among the rising and falling harmonies, I recognised familiar words, sung to a familiar tune.
'Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed, thy hand has provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.'
City of Sorrows
Djenie collapsed in my arms. She was wild-eyed, hoarse and trembling. Tears coarsed down her cheeks. 'Susan' she howled.' 'Susan, they are all dead. Three people! Three People! My babies! My babies are gone!'
That was yesterday, 18 hours after the devastating magnitude 7 earth quake that struck Haiti.
Djenie is in her early twenties and had just been told that her Mother and two children had died when their house collapsed. Words fail. There is no comfort to give. This is the Grief of a nation.
'I am so, so sorry. Go with God, sister.'
We later learnt that Djenie's family had in fact survived the disaster. The family in the neighbouring house did not.
No family is untouched. A niece. An uncle and his immediate family. A brother. Tonight, one of the night nurses told me she attended 3 funerals today. Six members of her husband's family have died. 'I haven't finished counting.' she told me. I have family in Delmas......'
Claudia went on to tell me that her Aunt was trapped under rubble in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince. There do not appear to be any search and rescue teams in the area. There is no co-ordinated relief effort, because there is no functioning government. The Parliament building has been obliterated. Many of the senators are dead. Ordinary Haitians are digging through the rubble of the city with their bare hands. They pile dead bodies, side by side and one on top of the other. Blood runs out of many of the crumbling houses, flowing into gutters and down the streets. One of our foreign staff members was in Port-au-Prince today. She had to step over the bodies of earth quake victims in order to get into the American Embassy building. The smell of decomposing flesh is thick in the air in Port-au-Prince today. People are beginning to burn the corpses.
Claudia's Aunt has been calling relatives, from beneath the rubble, on her cell phone throughout the past 48 hours. She wont survive much longer without water, but I have told Claudia not to lose hope. Foreign relief teams are arriving. We all hope that they get here in time to save Claudia's Aunt, and others trapped under the rubble of this devastated city.
We have yet to hear from four of our staff members, including a Haitian nurse, in her 30's, who is heavily pregnant. Many of the cellular networks are down and there is no power in Power in Port--au-Prince, so cell phones are discharging.
There is some good news. Jocelyn, a nanny who has worked with Dixie for 17 years has heard that her sons, aged 1 and 10 have survived. She is desperate to know whether they have food or water.
Our Haitian staff are saying that Haiti is suffering under the wrath of God, for wide spread devil worship. I can't believe that. This looks apocalyptic, but I cannot believe that God has forsaken this country. I cannot.
The words of a song we sing at my church back home in Scotland have been drifting to me throughout the day:
'Though the mountains may fall, and the hills turn to dust,
Yet the love of the lord will stand.'
(Isaiah 54:10)
Our God has not forsaken us.
That was yesterday, 18 hours after the devastating magnitude 7 earth quake that struck Haiti.
Djenie is in her early twenties and had just been told that her Mother and two children had died when their house collapsed. Words fail. There is no comfort to give. This is the Grief of a nation.
'I am so, so sorry. Go with God, sister.'
We later learnt that Djenie's family had in fact survived the disaster. The family in the neighbouring house did not.
No family is untouched. A niece. An uncle and his immediate family. A brother. Tonight, one of the night nurses told me she attended 3 funerals today. Six members of her husband's family have died. 'I haven't finished counting.' she told me. I have family in Delmas......'
Claudia went on to tell me that her Aunt was trapped under rubble in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince. There do not appear to be any search and rescue teams in the area. There is no co-ordinated relief effort, because there is no functioning government. The Parliament building has been obliterated. Many of the senators are dead. Ordinary Haitians are digging through the rubble of the city with their bare hands. They pile dead bodies, side by side and one on top of the other. Blood runs out of many of the crumbling houses, flowing into gutters and down the streets. One of our foreign staff members was in Port-au-Prince today. She had to step over the bodies of earth quake victims in order to get into the American Embassy building. The smell of decomposing flesh is thick in the air in Port-au-Prince today. People are beginning to burn the corpses.
Claudia's Aunt has been calling relatives, from beneath the rubble, on her cell phone throughout the past 48 hours. She wont survive much longer without water, but I have told Claudia not to lose hope. Foreign relief teams are arriving. We all hope that they get here in time to save Claudia's Aunt, and others trapped under the rubble of this devastated city.
We have yet to hear from four of our staff members, including a Haitian nurse, in her 30's, who is heavily pregnant. Many of the cellular networks are down and there is no power in Power in Port--au-Prince, so cell phones are discharging.
There is some good news. Jocelyn, a nanny who has worked with Dixie for 17 years has heard that her sons, aged 1 and 10 have survived. She is desperate to know whether they have food or water.
Our Haitian staff are saying that Haiti is suffering under the wrath of God, for wide spread devil worship. I can't believe that. This looks apocalyptic, but I cannot believe that God has forsaken this country. I cannot.
The words of a song we sing at my church back home in Scotland have been drifting to me throughout the day:
'Though the mountains may fall, and the hills turn to dust,
Yet the love of the lord will stand.'
(Isaiah 54:10)
Our God has not forsaken us.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Breath. Life. Hope
For anyone who doesn't know, the British Isles and much of Northern Europe is currently experiencing a big freeze; the coldest winter since 1981. Last Wednesday, as I sat at Edinburgh airport, it really looked as though I was going to be 'grounded' by heavy snow and ice.
It was a great encouragement to me that I made it to Haiti, as scheduled. In the end, mine was the last flight that ran between Edinburgh and London. It definitely felt as though my plans were being guarded. It is always nice to be favoured!
Back at GLA, the babies at the main house were exceptionally warm and enthusiastic in their welcomes. It was so good to be back!
Baby girl A needed immediate attention. For a horrible moment, as I gazed down at my new little charge, so still and so pale in her bassinet, I thought she was dead. I put my hand on her chest and watched. After a few seconds, with great relief, I felt her chest rise and fall under my palm, and I exhaled. She was cold and very dehydrated but there was breath in her body; life and hope.
This little one is thought to be around 9 months old. She came via another orphanage, and has been very sick since she arrived. With profuse diarrhoea, terrible stomach cramps, vomiting that makes it very difficult to hold anything down, sores in her mouth and in her nappy area from thrush, and, an ear infection
, this little one is truly stricken.
She was so dehydrated that our Nurse director was unable to find a vein anywhere in Baby A's body. Thankfully, she still had good circulation to her head and Dixie managed to site an IV line in a large vessel in the baby's scalp. She has needed several litres of IV serum, 3 antibiotics to treat her various infections, and miconazole for the thrush.
Today she looks better, and for the first time, I dare to not just hope, but believe she might live. She is interested in her surroundings. She likes to be held and hugged, and, this morning, when I leaned over to kiss her, I got that all important smile that signifies joy and strength. Where there is joy and strength, there is the will to live. That is a given.
Baby A is not out of danger yet. She is showing signs of acute malnutrition. Her skin is loose around her stomach and she has dermatitis from zinc deficiency. Her feet are also swollen. That is a sign of protein deficiency and protein deficiency is an emergency. It is critical that this baby begins to tolerate nutrition so that her body can fight infection. Unfortunately, She is in pain from her infections and is unable to suck or swallow because of the thrush. Her gut has also been damaged by chronic diarrhoea and so she feels nauseated and has no appetite. We have put an NG feeding tube down and we are using that to give Baby A small frequent volumes of a hypoallergenic milk formula. We are also giving medications to control her vomiting. And we are praying
I am so thankful that we have been given this baby. She came with a very poor prognosis. She had days to live without basic emergency treatment. With an IV she might have lived a month. We hope to change that.
It was a great encouragement to me that I made it to Haiti, as scheduled. In the end, mine was the last flight that ran between Edinburgh and London. It definitely felt as though my plans were being guarded. It is always nice to be favoured!
Back at GLA, the babies at the main house were exceptionally warm and enthusiastic in their welcomes. It was so good to be back!
Baby girl A needed immediate attention. For a horrible moment, as I gazed down at my new little charge, so still and so pale in her bassinet, I thought she was dead. I put my hand on her chest and watched. After a few seconds, with great relief, I felt her chest rise and fall under my palm, and I exhaled. She was cold and very dehydrated but there was breath in her body; life and hope.
This little one is thought to be around 9 months old. She came via another orphanage, and has been very sick since she arrived. With profuse diarrhoea, terrible stomach cramps, vomiting that makes it very difficult to hold anything down, sores in her mouth and in her nappy area from thrush, and, an ear infection
, this little one is truly stricken. She was so dehydrated that our Nurse director was unable to find a vein anywhere in Baby A's body. Thankfully, she still had good circulation to her head and Dixie managed to site an IV line in a large vessel in the baby's scalp. She has needed several litres of IV serum, 3 antibiotics to treat her various infections, and miconazole for the thrush.
Today she looks better, and for the first time, I dare to not just hope, but believe she might live. She is interested in her surroundings. She likes to be held and hugged, and, this morning, when I leaned over to kiss her, I got that all important smile that signifies joy and strength. Where there is joy and strength, there is the will to live. That is a given.
Baby A is not out of danger yet. She is showing signs of acute malnutrition. Her skin is loose around her stomach and she has dermatitis from zinc deficiency. Her feet are also swollen. That is a sign of protein deficiency and protein deficiency is an emergency. It is critical that this baby begins to tolerate nutrition so that her body can fight infection. Unfortunately, She is in pain from her infections and is unable to suck or swallow because of the thrush. Her gut has also been damaged by chronic diarrhoea and so she feels nauseated and has no appetite. We have put an NG feeding tube down and we are using that to give Baby A small frequent volumes of a hypoallergenic milk formula. We are also giving medications to control her vomiting. And we are praying
I am so thankful that we have been given this baby. She came with a very poor prognosis. She had days to live without basic emergency treatment. With an IV she might have lived a month. We hope to change that.
Friday, 1 January 2010
On My Heart
A little someone has been on my heart this Christmas, and up until yesterday, I wasn't exactly sure why. She is a year and a half old, and she has a debilitating illness called Sickle Cell Disease.
'Lovely' (not her real name) did not catch sickle cell disease. Rather, she inherited it from her parents, both of whom, if not actually sick themselves, would have been 'carriers' for the condition.
It is because she has two defective copies of the gene that is responsible for producing haemoglobin, that Lovely is sick; she is not able to produce normal haemoglobin - the protein in red blood cells that contains iron and that binds to oxygen. Instead, she produces abnormal haemoglobin, and this abnormal haemoglobin makes her red blood cells jagged or sickle shaped.
These sickle shaped cells are very fragile and rupture easily. As a result, they have a short life span, and because of this, Lovely is constantly anaemic and sometimes jaundiced as well, from the constant destruction of large amounts of haemoglobin.
Due to their abnormal shape, her red blood cells also 'sickle' (get stuck together) and block her smallest blood vessels, especially those in her bones, in her liver, her spleen and lungs. This can be very painful. It also predisposes Lovely to severe, life-threatening infections; her spleen, which plays a very important role in responding to disease causing microbes, is largely non functioning and Lovely is immuno-compromised as a result.
Children with Sickle Cell Disease suffer from crises (episodes of pain and anemia) aswell as from infections such as pneumonia. There is also an increased chance that children with sickle cell disease will experience stokes. These stokes can cause brain damage. Sometimes that brain damage is permanent. The outlook just is not good for children with Sickle Cell Disease.
At GLA, Lovely is observed constantly. She must drink plenty of fluids to prevent 'sickling crises' and she needs nourishing food, extra vitamins and preventative antibiotics every day. Stomach pain, fever and breathing problems have to be promptly identified and investigated. We cannot allow her to become dehydrated and so when she is unwell, we have a very low threshold for doing blood draws and for starting IV's and strong antibiotics.
I have searched my heart, wondering why Lovely has been on it for the past two weeks. Is it because I am away on holiday, and she is fragile, and my watchful eyes are not upon her? That may be part of the reason, but there is more to it than that....
As I contemplated the question of why Lovely was prominent in my thoughts, I re-called an earlier conversation I'd had with GLA's Director. During that conversation, I learned that it is difficult to find families who are willing to adopt children with sickle cell disease. The prospect of watching them suffer, and knowing that there is no cure for this horrible disease that can lead to brain damage or sudden death is simply too much for most families to bear.
Yes, that's it. Lovely is a baby, just like all the others at GLA, and she is with us for the same reason the other babies are. Waiting. Each baby waits for a family, because we believe it is every child's right to live in a secure home, with loving parents. I know that Lovely will probably wait longer than most of our babies for her 'forever family', and, somewhere deep inside, I feel the injustice of this, especially at Christmas. After all, every child needs and deserves to be held and rocked and loved and cared for, and sick babies need these things more, not less.
There are a number of special needs children at GLA, awaiting families. Lovely, and our two little boys who are HIV positive will be the most 'difficult to place'. That is on my mind just now, so I will be praying, as I hope others will, that 2010 will be their year. The year that the families, who are being perfectly prepared for the task of raising our little ones and loving them, whatever may come to pass, will step up to the plate and say yes to these beautiful children of God.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Baby Jivenson: Knocking on Heaven's Door
Baby J (Jivenson) passed away on Tuesday night, in the midst of a fierce tropical storm.
I do not know the details, but I can tell you that when I left GLA at 11am that day, Jivenson was peaceful. Now his peace is eternal, and I honestly am so glad, knowing that he is free forever from the storms and the turmoil of this world.
The hospital staff who delivered him sent Jivenson home to die. I feel honoured that although we lost the battle for his life, he made it to our gate, and we were at least able to try. He was warm, safe and comfortable at GLA and, in the end, our loss was his gain.
Please continue to pray for the staff who have cared for this Baby since I left GLA. I saw dread and despair on the faces of my Haitian colleagues when they met Jivenson on Monday. Child deaths are all too common in Haiti and these ladies have seen too many.
I am very mindful today, of the thousands of Haitian babies and children who die long and painful deaths from starvation. I remain hopeful though, that we will be able to 'save' the next one that comes our way.
Have a merry Christmas. I experienced delays at each of the three legs of my journey home due to a of the snow and ice in New York, Amsterdam and Scotland. However, I had strong tail winds blowing in my favour and made up lots of time in the air. As a result, I made each of my connections and arrived home on time.
The temperature in Bridge of Allan dropped well below zero over night. At 8:30m it was still minus 9 degrees centigrade outside. So it looks as though I am in for a white Christmas this year, 'in' being the operative word; at these temperatures I wont be going anywhere! My brother and sister have gone out shopping.I thought they were insane when they announced their plans, but apparently the trip is 'essential'.
I do not know the details, but I can tell you that when I left GLA at 11am that day, Jivenson was peaceful. Now his peace is eternal, and I honestly am so glad, knowing that he is free forever from the storms and the turmoil of this world.
The hospital staff who delivered him sent Jivenson home to die. I feel honoured that although we lost the battle for his life, he made it to our gate, and we were at least able to try. He was warm, safe and comfortable at GLA and, in the end, our loss was his gain.
Please continue to pray for the staff who have cared for this Baby since I left GLA. I saw dread and despair on the faces of my Haitian colleagues when they met Jivenson on Monday. Child deaths are all too common in Haiti and these ladies have seen too many.
I am very mindful today, of the thousands of Haitian babies and children who die long and painful deaths from starvation. I remain hopeful though, that we will be able to 'save' the next one that comes our way.
Have a merry Christmas. I experienced delays at each of the three legs of my journey home due to a of the snow and ice in New York, Amsterdam and Scotland. However, I had strong tail winds blowing in my favour and made up lots of time in the air. As a result, I made each of my connections and arrived home on time.
The temperature in Bridge of Allan dropped well below zero over night. At 8:30m it was still minus 9 degrees centigrade outside. So it looks as though I am in for a white Christmas this year, 'in' being the operative word; at these temperatures I wont be going anywhere! My brother and sister have gone out shopping.I thought they were insane when they announced their plans, but apparently the trip is 'essential'.
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