Should have waited a bit longer before sending that last one out....

I JUST received this Fantastic News from Anna, who is the director of the Americas projects for Heifer International:

A collaborative project to carry out nutrition/food and income security support in Pestel with your team has been approved. 

I cannot adequately describe the potential of how wonderful this can be!  Please check out Heifer International:

Heifer.org

I will talk with Anna this week to learn more about the plans, and then I will let you know.   This is a wonderful gift from God to the people of Pestel, and to all who have been praying for the people of Pestel.  

I'm pretty jazzed up about it!   

Ben

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

February Updates

Hi everyone

Just want to share a couple of developing items:

Agriculture/Nutrition:   waiting for a final report from Heifer Intl about their site visit to Pestel.  The emails I've received from different people seem very positive!!

Water:   lots developing in this area.  A key component of our next trip (in early March) will be to scout out water sources and start to develop a strategy to provide clean, safe water to different areas of Pestel.  I've connected up with another group that has similar interests for Pestel.   This is likely to develop along a series of potential solutions (as opposed to a single solution).  

Health:  thanks to all the volunteers who are inputting data!!!  We're going to get more data soon.  We're also going to try having the workers collect data on cell phones in March.  That could eliminate the need to do data entry, and expedite our ability to analyze the data.  

We'll be running the Vitamin A/Albendazole campaign in March/April.  Then in late May I'll return to train them on some new material, including an Anemia Campaign to be piloted on the island.  If anyone is interested in helping with the May trip just let me know.  

Administration:   we're in prayer at this point about discerning issues related to administration of this effort.  I'll keep you informed.   In the meantime I'm VERY grateful to learn that two friends will be helping me by off-loading some of the administrative work!  

Finally, consider how these two very different scriptures might connect together [thanks to Paul Nisly for this]:

From Isaiah 58

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

7Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness^a will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

11The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

AND Psalm 127

Unless the LORD builds the house,

its builders labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

2In vain you rise early

and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to^a those he loves.

  

  

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

Data entry....volunteers needed!

Hi all,

We have a bunch of data from a household survey that needs to be entered.   Would you be willing to work on entering some data?

The data was collected in October/November by the health workers in Pestel.  It includes a tremendous amount of really important information including items such as # of people living in the house, educational levels, income, nutritional information etc etc.

With Heifer Intl and Water Missions involved now, this data will be very valuable to them as well to help determine whether their efforts are making positive changes in specific areas.

The data we have so far (we're expecting more soon) has been scanned into the computer.   I can either send you the PDF or the original papers.  

If interested, you would be sent an excel file with instructions.   I could then send you a number of survey response sheets to be entered in.

The survey contains about 128 questions, so it is going to be more time-intensive than the last survey.  I would probably send you about 10 response sheets at a time, depending on your willingness.   

Thanks as always!!

Ben

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

Update from Water Missions International

Hi all,  

I thought I would pass along this report from Julio of Water Missions International.  He recently surveyed the island (Cayemite) which is the 6th Section in Pestel.   The needs on the island are very dramatic, as I've mentioned in the past.  

I am very impressed by the care and precision of this report, and this is a recommendation of where the Water Missions purifying unit, being funded by Variety International, is to be installed.

Photo is of Julio speaking with Dr. Seneque (in all brown shirt) at WMI in Port-au-Prince

Dear All,

 

On January 25^th I visited Pestel and the island of Cayemites. On my visit to the island I was accompanied by Dr. Philippe Seneque and the Mayor of Pestel.

 

After 1 hour trip by boat from Pestel to the island and a very long walk to the "only" existing water source in the island with a population of 21,000.  The water source is an open shallow well with a constant visible quantity of 2000 to 3000 liters of water and is located in the village of Fontas. This well serves a total of 10,000 people in this village and the neighboring village of Boucan Philippe. This well is over 100 years old and it never dries. During the approximate 30 minutes I was at the well conducting tests and talking to the residents, over 30 people came to fetch water and each one carried a 5 gallon bottle or bucket on their heads for 300 to 400 meters to their homes.  The majority of the people carrying water were girls from 11 to 16 years of age. I did not have equipment to test the recovery capacity of the well but according to the residents using it for years, they say the well always maintains the same level and it overflows during the rain season.   

 

The terrain throughout the island is mainly rocky and the only usable water source is this well. The other existing option is to truck water to Pestel and then by boat to the island. This option is very expensive and out of reach for the poor people living in Cayemites island.

 

Dr. Seneque said that 20 cases of cholera have been confirmed in the island and this statistic is increasing. It is assumed it comes from the water source but I am certain it comes also from the great lack of hygiene found in the island.

 

I observed the school children passing by singing a song about washing hands to avoid cholera but their little hands were very dirty and they were eating without washing the hands while touching everything can could.  

 

While we were at the water source Dr Seneque received a phone call with two cases of severe diarrhea which he believed it was cholera. This call was coming from the other end of the island. He told them to put the sick people on the boat and take them to Pestel for treatment.  Cayemites island has only a very small clinic with one nurse.  

 

While we were in the island there were also two Cuban men doing fumigation of homes and other open areas to apparently disinfect and kill germs as they said.

 

After completing the assessment and the water tests, the bacteria test shows high contamination, conductivity is 950 and turbidity is 1.34

      

 

An additional note to keep in mind is the city of Pestel. We were unable to assess the water situation there but I received information that their situation is precarious. There is not water sources in Pestel and the water they use is solely from rain collection. The water is of course very contaminated due to the ways it is collected.  Their water has never been treated and only now because of the cholera epidemic, the UN delivers water to the hospital only.

Blessings,

 

Let Go and Let GOD

Julio

 

Julio Paula

Country Director

Water Missions International

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

www.watermissions.org

Changing Lives Through Sustainable Water Systems

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

SPAM email from my HOTMAIL account

Please do not open any email sent from BENFREDRICK@HOTMAIL.COM     (HOTMAIL account.....)

This is defunct, but somehow a series of  junk/spam/harmful emails was sent from it.

I will try to shut this account down.      

My correct email:   benfredrick@gmail.com

BEN

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

Oh yeah...forgot about this one

Here's a quick video update I tried to put together from my recent trip.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQJ0sJxESaI

Ben

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/

Some updates from Pestel

Hi all,  

I just got off the phone with Sister Fidelis (who lives in Pestel) and we had a very nice talk and chance to update one another.

I received a short email back from the Heifer Intl representatives in Haiti:   sounds like the meeting this past weekend in Pestel went well.  They are now developing a recommendation!   

Water Missions International will be traveling out to Pestel this upcoming week to explore a couple of sites for the water treatment unit, generously being donated by Variety International.   One thing to consider:   the units are expensive, but it might be less expensive to purchase 2 at once because some of the cost is due to expenses related to travel and educational sessions that will occur throughout the upcoming year after the unit is installed.   The unit installs very quickly--within 2 hours!!   So it's really just a matter of bringing the unit (or units!!) out to Pestel.   

I sent along a video link (Johnny Zook's CharRocket) to a microfinance organization in Lancaster.  They really like what they are seeing!  We'll let them know how the piloting of these stoves goes during our March trip.

 

From Sister Fidelis:   a really neat new development.

Over the past year a group of youth in the village of Ferye (where Sisters Fidelis and Jo have a house) have formed a development group, modeled after the adult development group that Sister Fidelis initiated for Sections 1 & 2 of Pestel.  They formed  in order to help improve their village.

Now how cool is that?!?   

They reached out and invited a group of Haitians (from Port-au-Prince) who do medical work, and the group is now in Pestel.  This group, which includes a Haitian doctor, 2 nurses, 1 lab tech, another medical specialist, and an administrator, will be conducting health education seminars as well as running clinics in Ferye.  

I am hoping to have opportunity to meet with this group during the March trip.  

Ben

PS:  You can see a short video of Fidelis & Jo's house in Ferye at this site (scroll down) and you can also see some other short videos I put together a couple of years ago:

https://sites.google.com/a/fabfamily.org/haiti-medical/haiti-medical-missions

--
Haiti Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/