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.

In The Arms of An Angel

Peter, our premature baby, developed breathing problems yesterday afternoon. He began gasping, and although he was working very hard to breathe, he just couldn't draw air down into his lungs. Babies who are born several weeks premature often do not produce surfactant, a substance that lubricates their lungs. As a result, their lungs become stiff and this makes it difficult for them to breathe.

For 12 hours, Nurse Claudia and I took turns breathing for Peter, using an ambu bag. All thorough the night, we marvelled at the phenomenal strength of this 2lb boy; flailing and trying to suck on his face-mask and fighting to breathe by himself the entire time.

This morning, at 6:15 after a long struggle, Baby Peter lost his battle for life and flew away from us, in the arms of an angel.

His Mother was not surprised. 'The earthquake shook my belly hard,' she said, in a thin, trembling voice, that told the story of a woman shaken to her very core. We have heard that in the aftermath of this disaster, scores of pregnant ladies delivered their babies prematurely. Many of their labours seems to have progressed very rapidly, and a number of these woman suffered major hemorrhages and died.

Peter is the second preterm infant that we have lost since last month's earthquake. We really had been hopeful that he would survive. He was so strong, and he had made such good progress in the week that he was with us. He overcame hypothermia, low blood sugars, and apnoea.

As Christians, we hold fast to a particular biblical passage; 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,' (Romans 8:28). We trust that God sees things that we don't see, and knows things that we don't know. Yet, this is another tragedy, and another loss, and that is really difficult to deal with.

My hope at this point, after talking things through with our Director, is that one day, we might be able to obtain a CPAP machine. CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. CPAP helps premature babies with their breathing, but it is much less invasive than a ventilator. We believe that if we had a CPAP machine, and were properly trained to use it, we could save the lives of many babies, like Peter, whose only problem was that his lungs were not developed enough to enable him to survive outside of the womb.

I am praying that someone will donate a CPAP machine and come to show us how and when to use it very soon.

An Exhausted Baby Peter Fights On

The Haitian nurses and I have been praying around the clock for Baby Peter. Saturday was a very difficult night for him - for several hours, Nurse Claudia had to stimulate Peter constantly to keep him breathing. I turned up Peter's oxygen, since a slightly higher flow of oxygen in their nasal passages can support premature infants' airways. This made a difference for a few hours, but Peter was tiring.

Late morning: the foreign staff went out to church, while I stayed behind to care for Peter. Our little man was exhausted at this point and it was getting more and more difficult to rouse him during each apnoea. His blood oxygen level was falling each time he stopped breathing and he would turn blue. He was showing signs of respiratory failure. It didn't look good.

I didn't feel a sense of panic, what I did have was a strong desire to see Peter live, and a real emotional investment in his survival, and so I took that to the lord in prayer. I felt led to give Peter a breathing treatment. I administered that, and I waited...

Shortly before 11am, Peter turned a corner. His heart rate shot up and he began flailing his arms and legs, protesting at our efforts to keep him awake and alive. From somewhere, he found that strength to flight. He opened his eyes and looked at us. There was an intense expression in those eyes; please, just let me be!

For the entire afternoon, I was able to do just that. Peter breathed steadily, rhythmically and without ceasing, right up until the point that I handed him over into the care of the night nurses.

We do not have any high tech equipment to support the tiny, fragile bodies of the premature babies in our NICU, but we do have our God; all knowing, all loving, wise, waiting to hear from us and ready to answer. In him, all things are possible.

Breath Baby!

Tonight, as I was finishing my rounds in the 'Big Nursery', where our 1-2 year olds live, one of the NICU nannies called me to 'come see something'.

I followed her into the NICU and what I saw was our preemie baby, Peter. He was not breathing and he was navy blue! Our nannies, to their credit, were trying to stimulate him. They are not used to handling incubator babies. They are afraid that these fragile infants might break in their hands.

Peter was born 10 weeks early, 4 days ago. Like many babies who are arrive 2 and a half months before their 'due dates', this little one finds gets tired easily. His immature brain is not always able to regulate his breathing, especially when he drifts off to sleep. Breathing should be an automatic reflex but in Peter's case, that reflex has not fully developed. Tonight, as he dozed, he 'forgot' to breath.

Thankfully, after less a minute of resuscitation, Peter began showing signs of life and was taking some breaths on his own. We are very lucky to have Injectable Caffeine and we gave Peter a dose of this medication. It stimulates premature babies brains to 'remind' them to breath.

Caffeine is a simple drug, that is not easily available in Haiti. It may save Peter's life.

Please pray that his tiny body will remain strong enough to get Peter through the next few weeks. During that time, his organ systems will mature and his hold on life will no longer be so tentative.

Peter recovered quikly from his episode tonight. Within minites, he opened his eyes and moved around. He is doing well. His poor Mummy though, is very anxious - still trembling. We have done our best to reassure her, but I think it will take a while for her frazzled nerves to settle.

Fasting and Prayer

'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.' (2 Chronicles 7:14).

In this nation, the lead-up to lent is usually marked by a period of Carnival. The partying at this time is raucous, with lots of alcohol consumed. There is a great deal of immorality, and the festivities are often marked by violence.

This year, the Haitian people are fore-going Carnival. Instead, Haitian Christians have committed to three days of fasting and prayer.


I do not believe for a moment, that the Haitians are suffering as a consequence of any sin they have committed, but I do believe that God is present, and that he is moving in this place, and that he is willing and able to raise Haiti and her suffering children from the ashes, if he is invited in.

I also believe that the Haitian people are fulfilling the requisites to God's promise, as they are set out in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Please know that despite what some members of the International press are reporting, this is not a period of mourning. The fasting and prayer are for the living. Among the beautiful, rising and falling acapella harmonies that rang throughout our orphanage and the surrounding community yesterday, there were lyrics such as these;

'We have survived....'

'We need you always, when the sun shines and when the wind blows....'

Surely God hears his people. Surely he is pleased by their sacrifice. Surely he will give 'beauty for ashes.'

A Child-like Faith

Baby Peter is off of his oxygen. We started feeding him some breast milk yesterday, using a tube that runs down his nose, and into his stomach. He sucks well on his pacifier but his brain is not developed enough to co-rdinate sucking, swallowing and breathing. We started him off on 2ml of milk every 2 hours. Tonight, he is managing 4ml every 2 hours.Snuggling 'skin-to-skin' with his Mummy. This is a special experience for both Mum and baby. Peter is completely contentented as he nestlles between his Mum's breasts, listening to the steady and familiar sound of her heart beat.

'Sometimes when we take tiny babies like Peter, away from their Mothers, and put them in incubators, they become sorrowful..... They miss the sound of their mother's voice. They need to hear their Mothers, and smell them, and feel their touch..... See how happy Peter is with you!'

Peter's Mother nodded, smiling shyly. Her expression displayed a rare openness. She is such a special lady. So loving, so calm, so trusting. She believes that God, all knowing, allowed her tiny son to be born a full 2 and a half months before he was supposed to come into the world. She doesn't question why. She just trusts that God sent both of them here, and that we know what to do for Peter.

Rural Haitians have a wonderful, innocent faith in their God. It is a faith, just like my Nana's. My Nana died 12 years ago and now, a world away, there are reminders of her everywhere.

Rain Fall

I awoke with a start in the early hours of this morning. First there was a pitter patter, faster and faster, and then a pelting. Oh, no!

Rain was falling. I immediately sent up a prayer. 'God, please make it stop.' Half a million people, maybe more are sleeping on the ground in the streets of Port-au-Prince and Petion-ville. Not to mention countless thousands who lie under tarpaulins in places like the football field on Thomassin 25, close to our orphanage.

Mercifully, within a few minutes, the rain stopped falling on our mountain community. Our Haitian Staff, though, tell me that Delmas was drenched in the down pour. Everyone; men, women, children, and tiny babies were soaked through. Many had only the clothes on their backs!

The spring rains will begin falling in April. In Haiti, the rainy season will not come softly. It will be torrential in its onslaught.

In the dead of night, the first rains since the earthquake roused hundreds of thousands of homeless Haitians. It was the rudest of awakenings; cities full of displaced people, scurrying for shelter. The streets were pitch black, and ankle deep with water in some places, washing debris into the paths of those who fled for shelter. Some were hurt as they blindly scampered in the dark.

When I think of the masses of humanity, scurrying, stunned and shivering, something inside me breaks. I have never, in all my life dreaded spring time. How many people will become ill from exposure to the elements, in a country where it is impossible for the people on the streets to find the most basic of medicines? Many will not find a Doctor or a clinic. Not an aspirin to bring down a fever. Not even a safe place to lay their heads. It is truly appalling.

I have never, in all my life dreaded springtime. Now, oh, how I wish the dry winter would persist a few more months.

God's Littlest Angels is collecting tents, blankets, wind up lanterns, water tight tubs and other relief supplies. These items will make a tremendous difference, to countless families who have lost their homes, and have no protection from the rains.

If you feel moved to help, please go to our website and find out how you can support our earthquake relief efforts.