Haiti update

I need to make a note of clarification about our last post. Our witnessing the struggles of parents trying to send their children to school is why we are constantly talking about the School Sponsorship Program. When you sponsor a child in school for $90, 100% of the money goes for their education. No administration fees are taken and you directly make a very positive impact on the child you sponsor and their family.
Thursday morning surgery was scheduled for the umbilical hernia on Jon Gary, the young boy pictured with Denise in our last published newsletter. Last week Sr. Pat had called and told us that there was a medical team coming and that it included a pediatric surgeon. Last Friday the boy’s father took him to the hospital to be screened for his eligibility. Jon Gary was accepted and his father took him in at 5:00 A.M. on Thursday. Denise and I drove the Gator down to the hospital around 10:00 to check on his progress.
When we arrived at the hospital we pulled up to the gate and were admitted to the parking lot. There were four cars in the lot, two of them ambulances. I backed the Gator in next to one of the ambulances and parked.
Conveniently, Sr. Jackie was standing on the sidewalk talking on the phone a short distance from where we parked. We are not familiar with the hospital so being able to talk to her would simplify the process of getting information. When she got off the phone we asked her about Jon Gary and she told us that his surgery had been cancelled. She informed us that the surgeon did not do umbilical hernia surgery on children under five. That in the surgeon’s experience, she had seen this condition take care of itself and make surgery unnecessary. When we left the hospital we headed over to the school that Sr. Pat runs in Foni Bo. The other half of the medical team was holding a pediatric clinic. When we pulled up outside of the gate where they were holding the clinic we were swarmed with curious children. Sr. Pat emerged and gave us an update on their progress. 250 children had registered for the clinic and they still had to see 200. She was being kept very busy with crowd control. Later she told me that they had seen 263 children.
Departing the clinic, Denise and I went to our favorite restaurant for an egg sandwich. We then headed back up the mountain to Grarcin. Just outside of town we were flagged down my one of our neighbors heading back from the market with a large bowl on her head. We stopped and her and another lady loaded up her bowl and climbed into the back of the gator. Immediately another three or four ladies tried to climb in too. They were very disappointed when Denise told them “Gator pa force”, the Gator does not have enough power. It would have been beyond their comprehension if she had told them that there was not enough room. It is not unusual to see a 125cc moto carrying three to five people. Tap Taps, the “taxi” in the larger towns are Toyota pickups with added leaf springs and benches in the back that squeeze up to 14 in the back with some people hanging on the outside.
Today, Friday, the medical team is going to Buchan Richard. This is the school where The Fr. Jim Agriculture Center is located. Denise is going to work with the medical team and I am going to meet with Sr. Pat about problems we are all having with finding food for the children’s lunches.