Cheri Kay in Haiti....where my life became meaningful.

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while, but as always, there are computer issues and toddlers and work etc, etc!!!!!! Anyway, so far the holidays have been wonderful! We havent' even gotten to Christmas yet and my children have received a few gifts from friends here in Haiti and we all feel very blessed! I am very excited because my mom blessed me with a new computer so hopefully I won't have as many computer issues in the upcoming months! Donors for me and Ancheri Care have been so generous as well! We were able to get a car and that has enabled us to go up the mountain to an orphanage there and make the running around for the medical visa for Emmanuel easier and more timely! It's been such a blessing to be able to do the things that need to be done in a timely manner! Thank you so much for your love and support! The kids are progressing so well! Ecrissa is learning more and more signs all the time and so is Jaryse! The are just amazing! Ecrissa is also gett...

We here in Haiti hope that all of you in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were blessed with a huge Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey's, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the fixings!!! We had about 73 people at our house and it was a wonderful day. Ecrissa's pre-school class did a thanksgiving presentation with the kindergarten class. It was so cute. I was laughing because the pre-school class is learning sign language and singing songs and doing bible verses in sign language because of having Ecrissa in the classroom. However, during the presentation, all the kids were doing the signs EXCEPT Ecrissa! She was staring off into LaLa land and her hands were behind her back!!!! Oh the joys of the watching these kids!!!! The kids and I are so thankful for our family, friends, all of your prayers, and the Love of Jesus Christ that is keeping us safe and provided for each and every day!!!!!

God keeps teaching me lessons every day! These past couple of weeks have been trying for all of us as we continue to mourn the loss of Katie. My 3 year old son knew Katie and is often asking for her and wanting to see her. Last weekend, I was getting him ready to go watch football with some other friends, and he said to me "are we gonna go see Katie??" with a big smile on his face. I had to say "No baby, remember, I told you that Katie went to be with God"? He said, "where momma?" and I told him "in Heaven, remember". He then said "OH Yea, with Jesus, her daddy." I couldn't believe it and I just started crying. I said yes, baby and remember, Jesus is your daddy, and my daddy and Ecrissa's daddy too. I am just amazed that this 3 year old can say things that really are so true and simple. This helped me remember that God loves me and He is my daddy and He lovingly adopted me into His family with the love of a daddy. ...

...how sad we are in Haiti right now. One of my friends from the school, Ms. Katie Broeker, passed away in her sleep on Friday night. This has been a very difficult time for me, the staff at the school, and the students. Katie was 25 years old and was in her 3rd year of teaching, coaching and mentoring the students here at the school. We are all devastated. I know that she is in the arms of the Lord and will experience no more suffering, but for those of us here, we are sad. We lost a friend, a sister, a daughter, and a strong Christian Mentor. Please keep Katie's family and those of us here in Haiti that are grieving this loss and will sorely miss Katie in your prayers. Thank you

So my little pre-schooler thinks that she is in charge!!!! She was walking around the school campus after school on Wednesday and all of a sudden, struck this pose! She is unbelievable!!!! Both of the kids are doing great! Ecrissa is learning so much!!!! She is signing consistently, obeying in the classroom (well, most of the time anyway!) and she is even putting concepts together that I had no idea she even was tuned into. Like, yesterday, I taught her the sign for "school", as soon I showed her the picture of the school, she started signing the alphabet, and backpack and children! I couldn't believe it-she knew that all of these things are associated with the school! I am so proud of how far she has come! Now, my son, he's just an entertainer! Mia, Joclynn and I found him a shirt that says "Ladies Man" while I was in LA about a month or so ago. Yesterday, he was walking around the campus with 4 of the little girls in the 2nd grade class and anyone that he...

Was not only my first trip to the country of Haiti, but it was also the week that I first met my 2 Haitian Angels. The above picture is Jaryse! He was 14 days old, and this picture was taken just hours after I laid eyes upon him. I did not come to Haiti with the primary intentions of adopting, but, the minute I held my two children, I knew with all that was in me that they were mine. I will never forget how they felt in my arms. I remember holding Jaryse that day like it was yesterday! It is actually amazing to me that it wasn't yesterday! Somedays, it seems like I just met him, but other days, when I really want this adoption to be done, final, and behind us, it seems like ages! I am so grateful for the Lord's provisions of bringing me to Haiti that very first time. I am more grateful for his Awesome GRACE and MERCY that allows me to be blessed with the 2 children that are so perfectly mine! Thank you Jesus! Happy "met you for the first time" Anniversery to my littl...

So, Mia's trip was over after only 4 days here in Haiti, but let me tell you she had a productive 4 days! I am so blessed that she decided to share her free time with me, my family, and the people of Haiti. We are all so excited to have her return! She spent every day in school with Ecrissa and then after school either doing therapy with me or teaching Ecrissa and I the language home program that we must continue! Above is a picture of our co-treat with Benjamin! It is always so fun for me to have an extra set of hands and do co-treats with other therapists and other specialties with the kids that I work with here in Haiti! Benjamin seemed to enjoy it too and he worked extra hard!!!! This is Ecrissa and I practicing our sign language! Just about every day we spend 1-2 hours working with the language cards, puzzles, paper and scissors, or cubes to encourage and increase her language skills. In the above picture she is signing the word "pasta" and you can see, she is qui...

It has been a fun and busy week! On Sunday, September 23rd, my 'baby' turned 3! We had a pool party with other missionary friends and had a feast with hamburgers and cake! Jaryse had a great time and he loved opening his presents and listening to people sing "happy birthday" to him! He was dancing around and singing with them! He blew out his candle and loved the noise makers that Shelley bought for him and the other kids! I can't believe my baby is three! But, if you ask him, he's either 2 or 4! He has to be reminded that he is 3! On that same day, my friend Mia came to Haiti! It is such a blessing to have her here! Jaryse felt special that she was here for his birthday and Ecrissa is really benefiting from all of Mia's gifts! Mia has experience with behaviour therapy, is fluent in sign language and just finished with Occupational therapy school. So, we have put her to work with little Miss Ecrissa! Mia has been going to school with Ecrissa ...

Things are going well, we finished our 3rd week of school and new job this week! Ecrissa is doing much better in her class. She was having a difficult time obeying her teacher, but I think she is starting to get the hang of it. There also was a semi-retired school psychologist here visiting the school this week and he spent some time watching Ecrissa and talking with both me and the Pre-K teacher. We have come up with some ideas that are helping Ecrissa. It is amazing to me how much she is learning! I am so proud of her. We are praying about finding her a one-on-one aide though. Having someone in the class will help her learn as well as help to keep her in line with behaviour expectations, while freeing up the teacher to focus on the rest of the class. But, the teacher and psychologist are both impressed with Ecrissa and excited about having her in the class. My new position is going well too. I am blessed to be able to help the kids here at the school and I have been given ...

A while ago, I introduced you to a little girl that I have the pleasure of doing physical therapy with! She is a sweetheart and such a hard worker. Her name is Ashley and she is almost 5 years old. She has Cerebral Palsy which affects her ability to use her arms and her legs efficiently. She also has poor trunk control which makes balancing quite difficult for her. She has been working very hard on her sitting balance and her control of her hands and arms. When we first started, she had a very difficult time picking up anything, holding anything, or manipulating any object. Now, she is able to pick up blocks and put them in a container with each hand. She still needs some minor postural cues from me, but her control has improved greatly! Just last week, I received in the mail a clear plastic device that goes around her hand to help her hold crayons, spoons, or any other "tool". So, I asked her caregiver if she feeds herself, and she says not by herself and not with...

Well, there have been some changes that have happened in our lives here in Haiti in the last week. All of which are good!!!!! Well, except that we haven't moved forward in the adoption world! Anyway, the local American Christian school here in Port au Prince, Quisqueya Christian School, needed a school nurse. With my athletic training background and the experience that I have had with local medical clinics and my specialty in pediatrics, I kinda fit the bill! So, they offered me a position as the school nurse and I accepted! I will be working at Quisqueya for a small subsidy that will help support us while we stay here in Haiti. It is fun for me because I do get to use my skills on a more consistent basis. I will continue to see my other therapy kids on the weekends. The other cool part about taking this job is that Ecrissa is getting the opportunity to "audit" Pre -Kindergarten. This school is definitely not a school for children with special needs, but they are wil...

It has been a while now, but I had introduced you to Emmanuel as one of the children that I see here in Haiti. I have known this little guy for a year and a half now and he has been fairly consistent in receiving therapy from me. He has bilateral clubbed feet and we at one time were hoping to get a medical visa for him to go to the States for surgery. The initial attempt at that fell through because of the inability of the group that would sponsor his trip to find a hospital to donate the services. There is another group looking into helping him right now, so will you please pray with me for a successful attempt this time!? Anyway, I had mentioned that I would like to obtain a walker for him to learn to "ambulate" with. Well, we got one!!! He has been using it now in therapy for about 3 weeks. He is doing a pretty good job. Emmanuel is almost 7 and has never had the opportunity to move in the upright position so his trunk and upper body strength is pretty weak and th...

Little Miss Ecrissa is always wanting me to put jewelry on her when I put mine on. Rings, necklaces, watches, bracelets, and even earrings! She also wants me to put my make-up on her too! She is a typical little girl that loves to get dolled up and look at herself in the mirror and then tell mommy how beautiful that little girl is! Of course, I always agree!!!!!! So, today I took my little girl into the pediatricians office in Petion -ville and got her ears pierced. I felt really bad because I had no idea how to warn my baby that this was going to hurt. I do not have the signs for those words yet, and she doesn't know those signs either. So, the first one was pretty easy to set up for and do, cause she wasn't expecting pain at all! You should have seen the look of horror on her face when she felt that horrible pain though! Tears immediately began streaming down her face and she was so angry with me!!! I had to give a little giggle and hug her, then show her the beautiful earr...

A while ago, I told you about a young boy by the name of Benjamin. He has CP and is very limited in his movements. I have been working with him now for about 8 months and he has made some nice progress. He is sitting by himself much better and is reaching for toys with his right hand much more often. It is fun to see some progress. Well, last week I had an idea. I decided that since he is often placed in his wheelchair with nothing to do but watch TV or stare at the wall, I wanted to change that! So, I asked his care taker if she had a table that she didn't mind me altering for Benjamin. She said sure and she gave me the family card table. I then began gathering toys around the house and books and such that my kids didn't use anymore, some donated toys and materials and I bought some really good glue (contact cement). Then, visitor and I got to work. We put together an activity table with books, sensory patches, and toys tied to strings so they wouldn't get thrown off of th...

This is JB playing the guitar and worshiping with us while playing the guitar and singing in English and Haitian Kreyol. It was alot of fun and Ecrissa enjoyed touching the guitar while he played. Ecrissa is deaf and feeling the vibrations of the guitar was fun for her. The look of excitement and wonder on her face was so fun to watch! It is interesting to me to watch her as she develops. In so many ways she develops just like another child, but in some ways because of the loss of her hearing sense, she is so different. I wonder often how she is thinking and what she is thinking about. I watch her as she tries to communicate by moving her mouth as if she's talking, but no sound is coming from her. She is using more signs and communicating much better with sign language as well and it is fun to watch her as she learns and grows. I am thankful for times like these that she has the opportunity to

We are still waiting for good news from the Minister of Interior here in Haiti. This office needs to approve our dossier before it can be sent to Immigration for passports. We have been waiting for this now for 4 months. It is unfortunate that this country and it's systems are so broken. I know that God has a purpose for me here in this country and I am blessed to be with my children. I know that many others are waiting for their kids and they can't be with them. I thank the Lord every night for the protection and provisions that He has provided to allow me to be here with my children, for their health and their lives. I strive to use each day here in Haiti as an opportunity to help and I am happy to do the therapy with each kid and adult that I am so blessed to see. I spent yesterday doing therapy with a couple of kids and spent Monday and Tuesday helping in a mobile medical clinic. I hope that each day I am here, I am a blessing to this country. I do hope too, that ...

I have the wonderful opportunity to great the mornings and start my day with a run/walk here in Haiti. We try to go fairly early to miss the scorching heat of the sun and it is so nice to be able to get some exercise. One morning as I prepared to go,I set my clothes out and then left the room to get some water to brush my teeth (cause I can't use the tap water). I returned to my room with my little man staring at me with MY running clothes on and he said to me, "Momma, I ready to go running". I had to laugh! He looked so cute standing there with my jog bra around his neck and my tank top on backwards and my shorts hiked as high up as he could get them! Each and every day is a blessing to be with these 2 children! I am so blessed! I am prayerful that very soon I'll get to bring them home to meet the rest of their family!

and it' s political offices! So, I am still struggling to get the passports for my 2 children. In Haiti, even what seems like should be a small and easy step, can often times end up a torturous battle of will and faith. I am currently in one of those spots right now. We are ready for passports to bring my little ones home, however the office in one of the "big time" government branches is really giving families a hard time. I have gone into this office now 3 days in a row waiting all day long to talk to an official and when I do, I am told some run-around story and have to continue to wait. But, while I sit there for hours, I get to really get a look at Haitian government offices. In the states, government offices are typically very nice. Marble floors, well organized, computers, filing cabinets, you know all the things that make us American right!!!!??? Well, as I was sitting and waiting for this official, I noticed a few fun things about this office. First, the office i...

What a wonderful city Jacmel is and a beautiful country Haiti is! I am so blessed to get to serve the people of this country. This past weekend I had the opportunity to return to the southern part of the country to the city of Jacmel. This time, however, instead of flying down there, we drove. It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains and through numerous little villages. It always amazes me where people decide to live and how they make their lives in what seems like the middle of no-where to me! I was able to do a few follow-up treatments with the family with the little boy by the name of Jabez. This is the little boy with Cerebral Palsy that I told you about a few months ago. He is doing great. He is putting on weight, interacting in his environment, beginning to reach a little with his right hand, and beginning to sit by himself. His mom is doing a wonderful job with the exercises that I gave them on my last visit and she was very excited about the new exercises that I...

I was laughing the other day, because we all sat around the dinner table for about 45 minutes AFTER we had all finished eating watching the 2 geckos that you see above. They chased each other and the big one actually bit the little one's bottom! I guess this is what I have now found to be interesting night time entertainment! We have a television, but no cable so all we can do is watch movies--no sitcoms, no drama's and worst of all for me is no ESPN!!!! I have to settle with watching the gamecast online!!!!!! The radio is in either Kreyol or Frech (which I have a minimal understanding of) and they talk throughout the music so that people can't sell it illiegally. It is a really difficult thing to listen too! Even worse than American radio!!!! It's such a different life here, and it makes me laugh how well we have all adjusted and made the craziness of Haiti normal for us and that our night time entertainment now revolves around the critters of Haiti and not the t...

....in Haiti. It would seem that life here would be slower and less packed full of activities. Well, it doesn't seem to be that way!!!! Jaryse and Ecrissa keep me running!!! Ecrissa is almost potty trained with very very few accidents and Jaryse is talking up a storm!!!!! I have been busy also with therapy sessions with some missionaries, 3 local children, children in orphanages and I have been helping to finish up the training for the Haitian Rehab technicians with Healing Hands for Haiti. It has been fun to watch these students mature and make great decisions regarding how to advance the function of children with disabilities! We have been dealing with some normal Haiti issues such as spuratic electricity, extreme heat and humidity and crazy roads and travel situations. Lately though, there have been a couple added obstacles in our daily lives, our phone has been down and my computer is broken AGAIN!!!! UGH!!!! I am lucky to have great friends here who will let me borro...

I took a weekend get-a-way......to the United States!!! I had to re-do my fingerprints for the final stages of the adoption and this had to be done in the U.S., so, Shelley and I took a weekend get-a-way to Fort Lauderdale FL! it was the first time in over 14 months that I have left the country of Haiti. It was amazing to me how "normal" Port au Prince has become to me!! I was amazed by the cleanliness of the streets, by the landscaping, the electrical/phone lines were organized and straight, the cars were not all dented, and they followed the rules of the roads. There was constant electricity and water, there was a TV and real TV shows -not static, and we could walk outside day or night without an escort!!! It was amazing to me!!! I cannot believe how shocked I was to see my own country!!! It was a nice break from the Haiti reality! I look forward to introducing the US culture to my children when their passports and visa's are comleted and they can travel home to the US ...

A friend of mine has a small women's program here in Haiti that provides vitamins, some vaccines, a little food and education to local pregnant women. I help with this program when I can with especially some of the educational components of the program. One woman that we met over 2 months ago is 38 years old and has lost 4 babies. She has never given birth to a live baby. She and her husband so badly want a baby. When we met her she was about 28 weeks or so along in her pregnancy. She was retaining a lot of fluid and having trouble again. The woman that I live with began taking her to see an OB-GYN here in Haiti. She had high blood pressure and they followed her very very closely. On Thursday, May 17th baby David was born to this very exhausted, but healthy mommy!!!! We give so much praise to the Lord that He protected this Mom and her precious baby boy!!!!

It is amazing to me that she is 4 years old already! She seemed like such a baby when I met her! I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments in her little life. She is now walking all by herself, running, and even beginning to jump! She is feeding herself and dressing herself! She can put her own shoes and socks on! She is learning sign language and understands almost 30 signs and uses almost 20 signs without cues! This may all sound like things that a 4 year old should be able to do, but when I met Ecrissa at 17 months of age, she was severely malnourished, neglected and in an orphanage with few caregivers. She showed severe developmental delays. I fell in love with her immediately, but had no idea what kinds of delays would persist throughout her life. I am so proud of her and her amazing spirit. I thank the Lord every day for her and her precious life. I am so lucky to be her mommy!

This week, I spent every day teaching! So fun! I have collaborated with another Non-profit organization here in Haiti called Healing Hands for Haiti. They have a program where they teach Haitian Nationals learn how to perform basic physical therapy skills. They needed someone to help with the pediatric portion, and so since I am here in Haiti and have the background to do that-I volunteered! It has been so much fun. I had 6 students this week and they learned and practiced techniques with the handicapped children at an orphanage near my house that is run by Food for the Poor. We had such a great time and the students did a wonderful job. Next week, I'll do the same thing, but for 4 different students. This is really fun for me to share some of my skills with people of this country. They are the ones that can really impact their people and for me to be allowed to teach them effective ways to help the people of their country is so rewarding to me. I enjoyed this week and I look for...

Well, I first must apologize for the time lapse, but my computer was broken--AGAIN!!! This is the second time that it has broken, but thank goodness for Zach, he fixed it again!!!! So, the little girl above is Ashley. She is 4 years old and she has Cerebral Palsy. She has NEVER seen a therapist. She is such a hard worker and she is so much fun to play with! She has made great improvements over the 2 weeks that I have had the pleasure of working with her. When I first met her, she was so spastic that she couldn't ' even reach either arm out for a toy. After 7 treatments she is able to sit independently and reach for a toy with her right arm, open her hand and place the toy into a container!!! BRAVO Ashley!!!! It is so fun to see the progress in these children! I really just wish that I would have gotten her 4 years ago! Her family is wonderful and they love her dearly. They are very compliant with completing the activities that I ask them to do at home. She does not ...

We celebrated Easter today with a church service, wonderful worship time of celebrating how our Lord, Jesus Christ, died for our sins and rose again 3 days later. What an amazing thing!! How special I feel that He loved us more than we can possibly imagine. He chose to die for us, so that we have the opportunity to have eternal life with Him. Following the church service, we had close to 40 friends over for a wonderful Easter afternoon meal. We had an American Ham (which is such a treat), mashed potatoes (another big treat), baked beans, salad, rolls, apples with caramel and a load of other desserts! What a wonderful treat to eat with friends and eat such wonderful foods!!!! After the meal, the children found plastic Easter eggs that were stuffed with candies. Jaryse and Ecrissa did get to do this with me last year, but they did not really understand it. This year, Ecrissa could walk all by herself and she had a blast finding the eggs! Jaryse was such a great brother, finding eggs and ...

Well, April 1st has come and gone with no further mention of daylight savings time!! So, we here in Haiti did not observe daylight savings time this year. I think it'll be interesting to see if they remember that they didn't, but still take advantage of gaining an hour in the fall!!! Anyway, this week has been fun and busy. I had quite a few therapy sessions and all of the kids are doing a really great job! I helped another missionary friend of mine, Dr. Ed, prepare for a medical team that will be coming in next week. I will have the wonderful opportunity of being a part of this clinic next Tuesday helping dispence medications to the patients! I love these mobile medical clinics. It is so much fun and such a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Haitian culture, practice my Kreyol, and learn more about providing medical care here in Haiti. I also got to work out with my friend Shelley everyday this week! Shelley and I run in the mornings. It is such a needed o...

It is hard for me to believe, today is my one year anniversary of arriving in the country of Haiti. I have had the privilege of being a mother to my 2 children now for 1 whole year, and the changes that I see in them is just mind boggling! I have learned so many cultural things including things that I can relate to and things I cannot! I have begun to speak the language, although probably at about a 3 year old level!!!! I have learned so much about myself, what I know, what I don't know. What I like, what I don't like. What I can live with and what I can live without! I have had the opportunity to travel not only to different parts of Port- au -Prince, but also to various villages slightly north of the city, 2 hours south of the city, and 2 hours east of the city. I don't claim to know or have seen everything that this country has to offer! In fact, the more I learn and see, the more I realize that I don't know and haven't seen! This is such a land of unp...

Kids are great! Today, I found my son pretending to do therapy on his little friends back!! He has watched me during many therapy sessions here in Haiti! He was pretending to get lotion and rubbing her back and he was moving her around like I make my patients move from position to position! It was really fun to watch! I am just amazed every day at how much my 2 children are growing. They are imitating everything, their language is increasing by the minute. My little girl, who is deaf, is using more signs all the time, and the little guy pictured above is using English, Sign Language and Haitian Kreyol. It is an exciting time for me as their mommy as I watch them develop. We are still waiting for the legalization of the adoption. We are praying that it comes soon so that we can move forward with the passports and visa's soon. Well, I hope maybe that I have a little therapist here in this little man, and maybe he'll continue what I am doing here in Haiti when he grows...

Or sorta anyway!!! So, it is official, Haiti did not move their clocks ahead in recognition of Daylight Savings Time--Not yet anyway! The rumor is........They will do this on the first of April. That is what we found on the internet on www.worldtimezone.com . However, from what I have heard, the current President of this country does not like Daylight Savings Time, and the last time he was President they did NOT ever recognize time changes. So, who knows! I guess we'll see come April 1st!

OR NOT?????? We were told last week at church, to remember to set our clocks forward this week in observation of daylight savings time. Then, throughout the week, we were told that Haiti would not observe daylight savings time this year by some people, and that they would by others. Yes, that is what I said, this year. Apparently, Haiti observes daylight savings time every other year---Or that is what we heard anyway!!! The last thing that we heard was that we would observe the daylight savings time, even though they had observed it last year. Are you confused yet???? Well, so were we, but we decided to move our clocks ahead and make it to church on time for the service. And we did--and we made it AN HOUR EARLY!!!!!!!!! Or so we think!!! But we did have to wait an hour as the service started as if the time didn't change. But honestly no one is ABSOLUTELY for sure what is going on. No one really knew what time it was all day today! I am not sure when we will know! I g...

I know it has been 2 weeks since I have posted--Please forgive me!!! It has been an interesting 2 weeks. Our satellite here that provides our internet services has been not working well and often I am kicked off of the internet. But, I won't blame my lack of posting just on Haiti satellite!!!! It has been a busy couple of weeks. I went to a wedding of a Haitian friend of mine and that was quite the experience. The wedding invitation said that the wedding was to begin at 1:00 pm. We arrived at the church at 1:05 pm and there were only 4 other people there. Hmmm, wonder what that means?? Well, that meant that the wedding started at 2:20 pm. So weird!! But, it gets better!!! People were still just arriving at 3:00 including the groom's parents!!!! The wedding itself lasted almost 2 hours. Now you are wondering, other than starting an hour and half late and lasting for 2 hours, was it much like an American wedding? It wasn't that much different. There was a rin...

Or Maybe it's Englihs school!!!!!! I don't mean to make fun, but this is my favorite banner that is currently hanging in 3 different places that I have seen in the Port-au-Prince area! It is a local school that teaches Kreyol speaking Haitians to speak English. But, if you look closely at the spelling of English, there is a typo--Englihs! I think maybe, a different school may be a better choice!

This is a common scene in Haiti. This man is making charcoal to sell on the streets. The Haitians cook on open charcoal fires to make their rice and beans, fry their chicken and fry their potatoes. This food is delicious! There are a couple of things about this technique that make me think about the further consequences of this choice however. Haiti's mountains and land is largely deforested. This is determental to it's landscape, farming, and overall economic status. The charcoal makers cut down trees and make charcoal from the bark. This is a consistent activity that takes place on a daily basis. The trees are not replaced. So, now there is a problem with few trees here in Haiti. When it rains, the blessing of the rain washes away the nations rich topsoil into the ocean. This in turn affects the farmlands and farming gets harder and harder in this country. Food becomes more and more scarce and a source of income for farmers, merchants and families becomes scarce. D...

Isn't he Cute!!!! This is Jabez! He is a 17 month old little boy with Cerebral Palsy . I worked with him 2x a day for 4 days while I was visiting Jacmel over the past weekend. He is an adorable little boy that is being adopted by my missionary friends that live and work in Jacmel . Jabez wasn't real thrilled about doing any work when I first got there and didn't like moving much at all! He is really content to sit in his little bouncy chair looking cute with his thumb in his mouth!!!!! But, by the end of the 4 days, he was doing a really good job on the therapy ball and tolerating activities that encourage him to use his right arm. His mom and dad are fast learners and they were incorporating the activities that I taught them into their daily lives and they were doing a great job with the therapy ball exercises. I left one of my therapy balls with the family for a while since I can not be there on a consistent basis, this way the little man will still have opport...

What a fun weekend! 2 missionary friends of mine paid for me and my 2 children to fly to Jacmel for the weekend. Jacmel is a town on the southern coast of Haiti and is full of character! I got to work with a few different kids with disabilities, visit a school for children with disabilities and see the beaches, visit a waterfall, visit 2 different orphanages and watch some of the Kanaval festivities! Wow huh! That is what I thought! I was so blessed to be there with my children and enjoy all of that all in 3.5 days! The above picture is of one of the small "Ra-Ra" bands. This particular one was celebrating the Haitians overthrowing the French. They play very very loud music, march through the town and dance and act out their part of history. It is pretty interesting! My kids and I flew to Jacmel on a very small little airplane, and it took only 11 minutes to get from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel! Ecrissa thought that it was great fun but Jaryse was a little scared! He kept sq...

This is my daughter Ecrissa . We have not had formal testing, but through various informal testing, it is presumed that she is deaf. She does not respond to any noises, is not verbal and shows no signs of hearing even loud gun shots or thunder. She is doing great though. She is learning sign language and is using some signs independently without prompting. I took her with me to The Baptist Haiti Mission the other day. This is a large mission group here in Haiti, but we were on the street looking at the street vendors merchandise, when this Haitian man came up to me and Ecrissa and started talking to Ecrissa . He was telling her that she was cute and asking her name. After a couple of attempts and no responses from Ecrissa , I told the man that she her name is Ecrissa , that she is deaf and was unable to answer his question. He immediately took 3 steps back with a look of horror on his face. "OH" he said, "she is sick". "No", I replied, "sh...

Well, there has been a lot going on these last couple of days! I met Benjamin, the little boy in the picture above. He is a 7 year old boy with severe cerebral palsy. We will begin therapy intervention 1 time a week with me with the goal of gaining a little bit more mobility, functional use of his arms and hands and to address his poor range of motion in his wrists, ankles, and hips. He has not had any therapy his whole life, but he tolerated our first session very well. I am very excited to see what a little therapeutic attention will do for this child. I also was involved with a medical clinic in a village near Titiayan . I was able to do physical therapy with 2 children who have disabilities that I had met in November. When I met them the first time, I gave both families exercises to encourage proper development and to help improve the function of their children. The one little girl and her family have not done anything to help improve her arm, but the little boy is look...

This picture is from an area of Port au Prince called La Saline. La Saline is what is often referred to as a slum. This means that most of these people are "squatters" and do not actually own the land that they are on. Some may be paying a small amount of rent, but most are just hanging out until they get caught by the landowner and are forced out. These people are very very poor. What you see in the above picture is very typical of housing for a large majority of Haitian people. There is basically one room inside that metal shack, although sometimes they'll separate the room with a hanging piece of cloth to make two rooms and often there are at least 8 or more people living in the same home. The roof is most likely leaky and the floors are dirt. So during the rainy season, this home is often a muddy mess and the people living in it are dealing with hardships in maintaining their home and their fragile health. There is no toilet, they will just go outside somewhere, u...

This has been a fun week! The above man is a missionary here in Haiti who was having severe back pain! He was treated yesterday and he is no longer having any pain! This is what PTs are all about! How fun! I also got word that the missionary that I told you about with arthritic changes also had a pain free day! This has made me so happy! Emmanuel had a great therapy session today too! His fever was gone and he was able to stand with the loftstrand crutches for 1-2 seconds and he did that a bunch of times! That was really fun too. The medical clinics that I am usually involved with on Wednesdays has been moved to Thursdays, but we didn't have it this week because the Doctor passed a kidney stone the night before. YIKES, he was in alot of pain and so we took the day off and will resume again next week. Well, i'll write more later!

What a busy week!!!! I have been doing so many things this last week. The little boy in the picture above is Emmanuel. He has clubbed feet and his mother would really like to get help for him. There was a lady that tried to get a medical visa for him and so I was initially doing physical therapy with the thoughts of preparing his trunk and lower extremities for future walking. However, they could not find a doctor and a hospital to donate services, so now I am trying to teach him to walk with loftstrand crutches. I'd love to use a walker, but I don't have one available, so I am using what I can. This is something that I am dealing with as a therapist here. I have to learn to use what I have, and not have all of the technology and "things" that I am used to having at my fingertips in the states. In the U.S., I would never teach a child to walk on feet that are like his, or using the loftstrand crutches at this stage, but here in Haiti, we just need to do the best we...

Today was another Haitian Holiday, a continuation of the Independence celebration. I am sad that I never got to try some pumpkin soup, but I'll guess I'll save that for next year! So, we decided to hike through the mountains up near Kenscoff . We drove up the mountain and then down into a ravine and then we hiked up the mountain through a village called Gamot and we hiked all the way over to a waterfall that the locals call, dlo ti sous . It was such a beautiful hike, so peaceful and so different than the hustle and bustle of Port au Prince. The villagers are so friendly. They are less malnourished than the people that we see in the city, because they are truly living off of the land. There were banana trees, lettuce gardens, corn, onions, peppers, black berries, and we saw lots of cattle, goats and donkeys. The water was so clear and clean, and in a country where drinking water is not readily available, it is such a joy to see clear and clean water that is actually safe to ...