Feb. 12

Blessings to all,

Walnes is letting me use his computer as mine does not want to work right.

I am sorry I have not been in better contact. But from limited electricity, to limited internet access to 12 hour days it has not been easy.

We have been able to help so many with all of your love offerings and prayers. We have over 100 displaced Haitians living right up from us and are providing them food and water. Everyone is to worried to go back into their house if they are still standing. The whole country is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.

But the children who are also scared are now starting to smile. I was downtown Port au Prince this week to pick up patients and it was beyond words. Almost everything is down. Then you go past a small house still standing. The thought of so many buried where they were standing on Jan. 12 is real. So many that will never be accounted for. We pass a large building every day that pan caked down. Someone climbed up to a floor that I guess one of their loved ones worked and put a beautiful set of flowers on the ledge. It is a daily reminder so many are gone and may never be found.

We started to take children released from the comfort this week. Sunday three more will join us at St. Emmanuel's School where we have been doing a daily clinic. I had thought that by now the lines each day would be shorter but as of yet they are not. So many with headaches, stomachaches, wounds that have not been seen and now are infected. What ever we can not handle we transfer to a hospital. Dr Bob and his team arrived this week and jumped right in. They are working at General Hospital, helping us with Clinic and started a clinic where they are staying and seeing patients each day. Diane, Terry, Doug, Jaxs, Gemina have been real troupers sleeping on the floor, cold showers, small meals. They have been such a great help. We could not do as much as we have without all of the teams.

Ginny is great she is with Haitian Christian Outreach and carefully explains to each patient about the medications they are receiving. We have been blessed with many teams who came down and still want to come to Haiti. I ask for your patients as we get each of your trips scheduled. Please understand that working in Haiti is harder than ever. We must not over book people and we are now needing to space out teams over the next months so that we can continue to give medical care to so many that need it.

The need has not diminished the earthquake has just brought so much of it to the surface. Pastor Mac thinks we can be on schedule with the surgery center he arrives in Haiti on Feb. 23. Our opening date is still scheduled for April 26. With two new OR's to work in we will be able to help so many more children and adults. Please pray that we can stay on schedule, that all of the funds needed to help so many continue to come in.

I wish I could send you photos but the computer I am working on is not mine. Please know that we are safe, well and doing all we can to help the Haitian people. It is so hard to talk to Tom and the kids and imagine that they are having snow and all that cold weather when we have sweat running down our faces. I pray you are all safe and warm.

Sorry I am not much of a writer. all my love V