The Best Christmas Present

I heard from Vanessa today that we have been given an incredible gift. A doctor named from Philadelphia has been talking with us about providing surgery for a number of Haitian children with Hydrocephalus (excess water on the brain). He is an accomplished neurosurgeon who has actually worked in various parts of the world and has pioneered a shunt-less technique to provide relief for children in developing countries. This doctor is interested in working with AMH and now has two hospitals, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, that have agreed to provide free care for these children. With this assistance, we hope to be able to provide much needed medical care for up to 20 Haitian children suffering from hydrocephaly! This is just awesome and we have prayed for such a hero. We are so excited to be working with him!

From our trips to Haiti this year, we have already identified a number of children who need this surgery. In fact, we saw no less than six children just in October with various stages of this condition. The worst case we saw was a little girl with a head circumference of almost 38 inches. The amazing thing was that this little one was alert and very interested in her surroundings. She tracked our movements and listened as we talked with her mother. She ever turned her own body & head over to get her mother's attention at one point.

There are many children in Haiti and a number of medical missions have been trying to help. We pray that we are able to raise the funds to bring these children to the US this year for this life-saving surgery. We know that it is in God's hands and it is through his providence that we have the opportunity to partner with so many incredible medical professionals and institutions. Please consider helping our mission in some way. Host families will be needed in Philadelphia and Wilmington. We will need to raise quite a bit of money to pay for the necessary expenses involved in getting each child a visa and for all the travel expenses as well.

Achemine (Mia) had her surgery last Spring in Roanoke, Virginia. She is doing wonderfully now. Mia is happy, alert and developing in all areas. Her father and mother are so thankful to have her back home.Time is ticking by quickly for some of these children and they don't have the luxury of waiting long. duPont Hospital for Children and the doctors are ready to get moving and so are we! As always, prayers are needed and much appreciated!

Happy Holidays,

Fran