Picture Update

The girls beating up on dada Troy

Oh Happy Day,

I am visiting with the triplets Hope, Grace and Faith. Whom are all doing so well. You would never know that just 8 months ago that they were clinging to life. Now Grace is up to 20 pounds 3 oz. Hope has passed up Faith and is 16.6 pounds and Faith is now the smallest at 16.1 pounds. Not bad for 2, 2 and 3 pound babies. They are still allergic to formula and are of the expensive substitute. Hope and Faith are crawling, pulling to stand up and walking around things. Grace is content to sit in the middle of the floor and watch all the fuss around her.

This morning we were treated to a pot and pan concert all 3 girls on the floor banging the pots and pans making wonderful music.

Church was great we participated in the Missions Sunday and all different Missionaries there to tell of the work that is bringing people to God. Girls were tired so did not stay for the wonderful potluck.

After their afternoon nap it was time to break out the swimming pool. Mommy got it out and Big Brother Julio helped to fill it. All three girls sat around the outside of the pool splashing to their hearts content. Julio who is bigger got into the pool and let the girls splash him. He even showed them how to float. Well what floating you can do at 5 and in 3 feet wide round pool, with 8 inches of water left in it?

Back in for dinner everyone ate great and now they have all had their bottles and are going to sleep for the night. I hope you enjoy the photos. Love Momma V

Hope, Grace and Faith look at us so big

Dear AMH Family,

It is with a heavy heart I will write this next update. I am asking for prayers for Dr. Kitty Humphries and her family. Her beloved husband "Jamie" passed away last month while I was in Haiti. Dr. Kitty and Jamie have been long time supporters of AMH and the children we bring to the Roanoke Valley. She has helped us so much over the years with so many projects I can not even begin to list them all. Now she needs our prayers.

I am posting a photo of Dr. Kitty and Jamie 8 years ago at their wedding. His Memorial will also be posted. We all want to thank everyone who has donated in Memory of Jamie Humphries.

Thank you all my love V




James (Jamie) M. Humphreys, 38, Bedford
James (Jamie) McCracken Humphreys, age 38, of Bedford, departed this life on April 23, 2010. Jamie was the loving husband of Kathryn Luth Humphreys, MD, and the devoted stepfather of Matthew, Elena, Nick, and Mariah (Ches) Bono.
He was preceded in death by his beloved nephews, Lloyd Davis Jiang and Miles Weston Jiang.
He is survived by his mother, Nancy Lloyd Fisher Humphreys, of Kansas City, MO; and his father and stepmother, Richard and Margaret Humphreys, of Leesburg, VA; his sister Kristin Elizabeth Humphreys, MD, and her husband, Shao Jiang, MD, and his darling nephew Andrew Kai Jiang of Kansas City, MO; his beloved grandparents Phyllis and James Humphreys of Derry, PA; his mother-in -law Kathleen Luth Adams and husband Budd Adams; his aunt and uncle Euniann and John Grove, as well as his cousins, sisters- and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews who loved him dearly.
Jamie was born in Munich, Germany. He was a lifelong athlete, excelling at hiking, soccer, tennis, skiing, and water sports. He enjoyed adopting companion animals and was an accomplished amateur astronomer and photographer. Jamie was a graduate of Handley High School in Winchester, and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Saint Andrews College in North Carolina. After mentoring many children as a teacher and athletic director at James River Day School and Bedford Elementary School, and as a soccer coach of the Liberty High School Minutemen and Peaks Area Soccer Association, he went on to work as an Airways Systems Engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration in Leesburg.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers day to all the Host moms who have been so supportive of the children they care for. For all of the long nights in the hospitals, all of the doctors appointments, and most of all for the love while they were here receiving life saving surgeries, so that they could go back to live with their parents in Haiti.

We had a nice semi quiet day. College kids over for dinner then off to study for finals at VT. It was a beautiful day to sit in the sun, play baseball or kick ball.

Enjoy some of these precious photos. I pray you all had a wonderful day also.

love V


A. Carpenter

Update on Christopher

He is in Michigan at his new host family and doing great. Almost sleeping through the night. He was unable to do that here with us.

I am attaching photo and part of the update his host mom Sue sent me. love V

Hi Vanessa!
I wanted to give you an update on Christopher.

He is a wonderful baby! He is mostly good natured, he does get crabby when he is tired. He now lets me rock him and I pat his back until he falls asleep. He loves to sit in one of several chairs I have for him and watch tv. He babbles and coos. He loves my husband and shows him with a smile :)

His tummy is doing fine. You must have broke him in for me because he has yet to throw up on me. I still don't let him eat more than 3 or 4 ounces at a time though. He only wakes one time at night, usually between 1 and 3 am. He eats a little and goes back to sleep within an hour.

His MRI is scheduled for tomorrow. He can have formula up until 7 am and then water after that until 10. His MRI is scheduled for noon and then we see the surgeon next Tuesday.

Even though this is a major lifestyle adjustment for me, I love doing this. I am anxious for his upcoming surgery so that he can start on the road to recovery.

My community is wonderful, I have had tons of diapers and formula donated to me, as well as gas cards to help me with the many trips to the doctors.

I will send you another update in a couple of days.

Much peace,

Sue Gasieski

Haiti Update…

What a blessed life we lead.  I am back home and got a full nights sleep last night.  Woke up to the most beautiful sunshine.  Temperature here are cold compared to Haiti but being from the North my body likes the cold better than the increasing hot of Haiti.

 

Christopher and I made it back to Virginia on Sunday evening around midnight.  Boy was it a long trip.  We had one complication after another trying to leave Haiti.  It started by them not wanting to issue a ticket for us to leave.  We were like ping pong ball being sent from one person to another.  Someone would say ok we have it all figured out.  Then someone else would say NO.  After two hours in at the counter and a visit from the Minister of Interiors assistant we were issued the tickets.  Then taken through immigration where they told me I am in Haiti so much I should be a haitian resident  I could hear them calling my name but it is hard to get from point A to point B with a baby, stroller and backpack.  Went through the next two screening places only to have the AA person say that the Letter to let Christopher out of the country from the Haitians was not enough.   Finally he agreed and we were taken to the plane.

 

We were the last to get on the plane and the wonderful flight attendants who are always willing to help jumped in.  We got seated and off we went.   The flight for Christopher (his first) went smooth until we landed.  It did not agree with him and he got sick all over both of us.  We got through Ft. Lauderdale fine and had a 5 hour layover more than enough time to clean him up and try to do something with me.   I thought he was doing ok tried to sit down at a restaurant and eat but as my food was delivered Christopher made a funny sound.  I picked him up and out it came again.  I felt so bad for him he had no idea why he was so ill.  The people around I am sure did not want to finish there lunch.  The waitress put mine in a to-go bag. Went to the rest room for his second bath at the airport.  The second flight we were blessed to meet a woman who had also just came from Haiti.  She sat next to me and loved on Christopher he went to sleep and then so did I. 

We got to Charlotte for our next long layover, I went straight to the gate but Christopher was not a happy traveler.  Tried giving him just water, by this time I knew nothing would stay down for him.  Wonderful people tried to help to calm him but he was tired and ill just did not want anything but his mom.   There was a beautiful little girl in the airport about 2 1/2 years old she wanted to give her bob (sponge bob) to the baby.  Her father was so nice and went a bought Christopher his own sponge bob.  Another lady who also has a baby a little older than Christopher walked the airport looking for soy formula and a pacifier.  The Ladies who drive the carts went all over looking for blankets as it was very cold and all of ours were soiled.   So many angels stopped to help us.  We finally got called and I was never so happy to be on a last flight.  Christopher did ok considering how sick he still was.  

I had called Tom my wonderful husband he went to the store before coming to get us and purchased Soy formula.   We got cleaned up gave him drops for his tummy before giving him a little soy formula.  It finally stayed down.  Most of the night Christopher and I spent in the recliner but he did not get sick again.   Monday Christopher was looking for mom but no vomiting.  Tuesday brought Momma Sondra (from the team who helped take care of Christopher after his release from the USNS comfort ship).  Christopher is staying with her for a couple of days and I am working on his travel to Michigan and his host parents who are excited to help him.  He will have surgery at the University of Michigan Children's Hospital.   We will keep you updated.

A big Thank you to all in the airports that helped with Christopher.  God always brings angels to help us with the children. 

Other News:  While in Haiti we went to a remote village near Bassin Bleu.  Beautiful country and people.  The were so welcoming and want to donate land for us to build an orphanage or Clinic.  I will also put up some of the wonderful photos.  This however will require a lot of prayer because getting to this village is very, very hard and you must cross the large river that floods half the year.  During the times of flooding the people are cut off.  They need a large bridge more than anything.  I have no connections with this type of project.   I was pleased to see the village doing so well.  Some illness but not the worst I have ever seen in Haiti.  This village also is made up with over 90% of farmer's however when the river is up they have no way to get produce to market to make any money.   We were able to pass out 17 new Machetes to the farmers.   I felt like we were gearing up for a war giving out all of these large knives.  But as I have been told so many times the Machetes is the best tool you can give a farmer.  We want to Thank our friends at Stellar One for the donation to be able to help these wonderful people. 
There are so many opportunities to help in Haiti.  But knowing where to help and focusing on those projects are key.   Anyone wishing to help in Haiti please step out of your comfort zone and help.

Have a blessed day. 

I hope you like these photos. 

love V

Hello!

Hello from Haiti,

This is my last full day here this month. Yesterday we were able to get all documents for Christopher Cenary, so he will be leaving with me in the morning. Please pray for the following.

No trouble at the Haitian or US airports

for his mother who is letting him go so she can care for his 4 siblings

for the new host parents who will be getting him later this week

for the doctors who will help to make him all better

I hurt my back earlier this week, I am prayerful that God will give me the strength to get to Roanoke with him. His head is very heavy.

We were unable to do the following:
get a truck

fix all of the elec problems

approval for Ratesse Oyis to travel to US still working on it.

See the new Global Orphan project

We were able to:
Christopher Cenary visa and travel papers

Visit Double Harvest a great program that AMH will be partnering with medical teams
see a house that we can rent after June for the mission teams
work on other mission teams for the summer, VBS, Building and medical

See many patients who need care

Interview a few people who may be able to come to the US for training to fit Prostheses

Talk to another group who may be willing to partner with helping the Haitian Amputees.

See part of the destruction of St. Josephs, see 10 of my boys. All are in good shape and glad to be back in school.

See feeding program resume with the start of classes

Hold clinic along with everything else Kez has going on down here

and much much more.

Thank you everyone for your notes I am glad there are those of you following the blog. Have a blessed week.

love V

Working in Haiti...

... is not always easy. For example we have been looking for a used truck for over a week. We could not find one anywhere. So we finially decided to purchase a new truck which I would not do in the states. But Everyone has convinced me that if I get it new we will know when a problem is going wrong. If we purchase used we will have someone else's problems. Well now the problem is that there are no new trucks to purchase. So many people lost there cars and trucks in the earth quake they bought them all up quickly. So it will be a few weeks before they get the ones that are waiting in customs.

If you would have told me that I would go to a dealership in Haiti and be turned away told I would have to wait. I would have said NO way. They need the sell to help the economy.

Another issue is we forget even though we are living in the middle of the earthquake mess. Is that business that we have relied on are no longer around they were distroyed in the quake. It took hours to find a new photo place to get passport photos.

The guys that are here helping at St. Josephs needed hardware supplies. It took hours again and 4 different stores as all the supplies have been purchased by people down here doing the same thing.

The Haitian Government is trying its best to recover but it also is facing massive problems. I went to the Minister of the Interiors office, it has been put in a small store area. Filing cabnits everywhere. So little room, its difficult to be organized, struckured and effenct under these conditions. We had a meeting at Noon when I arrived they were busy. I asked do you want me to wait or would tomorrow be better. So I will go back tomorrow. We have to be willing to be understanding and patient this is not our country we are here to serve.

May your week be blessed. Please pray that we are able to bring Christopher out for Brain Surgery.

all my love,

Momma V

April 12th

Saw Ois today. We have two hold ups. The largest one being that the sister has not yet been made official guardian. There are conflicting ways of going about this and as always in Haiti nothing is easy.

Tried to go used truck shopping.... Yea right so many lost their cars in the quake there is nothing used that is worth anything. Also so far nothing under $20 Thousand US. So we go out again tomorrow. Renting is expensive and paying $20 an hour is expensive. Please pray for us Kez needs a small truck or Jeep to get to as many tent cities as possible.

Saw just unbelievable tent cities today. One is recorded at 50 Thousand people on the only golf course in Haiti and it is privately owned. He wants the people removed No where to put them.

Another 10 Thousand at Delmas 33. It is a muddy mess. You get tired just trying to walk and not fall.

Clean up is limited. People are trying but first you have to get a crew hired. Then find the tools to work with, have a reliable dump truck operator to show up on time and he has to go very far with loads to empty. NIGHTMARE all of it. But everyone goes on that is all they can do.

Saw another burning body today. Thought I had seen my last one of those but no such luck. As people do uncover people they have no choice.

Blessings to all of you
Love,

Vanessa A. Carpenter

So Blessed...

The best part of anyone's Job is to see the fruits of your labor to come full circle and accomplish what you are doing, make since of all the hours, prayers and time away from your family.

These photos show just that. I am so blessed to know these wonderful people who entrust their child to AMH and we (the team behind the scenes) who all work to make them well and return them to their parents.

Yesterday was a hard and great day. Bringing home the first earthquake evacuated baby to his parents was priceless. Bringing home Solyvien to his papa who faithful waited for the 5 years that it took me to find him care. It does not get any better than this. Atlius saw his Papa and Momma and lit up like a christmas tree. He did recognize them reached for Momma. God is so Good.

Please continue to pray for all of the work we do in Haiti all of the children we are still trying to find care for.











All My Love,

Vanessa A. Carpenter

Updates...

Blessings everyone,

Well I am no where near caught up but off to Haiti again.

We are blessed to be taking Solyvien Favra home. Solyvien has been in the US for the past 10 months receiving corrective surgery on his foot. I will include a before and after photo. Solyvien has done so well that they only had to operate 2 times instead of 3. He has attended school at Glenvar Middle School for this year and leaves behind a whole school of friends and teachers who will miss him.

Solyvien was very worried after the January 12 earth quake in Haiti. We spent weeks in prayer that his family was ok. They were finially located well but now homeless. They had lost everything. Solyvien can not wait to go back and take supplies to his family. While waiting Solyvien did a water drive in front of Wal-mart and collected so many needed supplies. Most were given to the red cross as we do not have the funds to transport water to Haiti.

I will send you and update of him once he has been reunited with his family. Blessings to everyone who has prayed for him.








We want to send a big Thank You to Stellar One Bank in Salem Virginia, their branch won a contest between all the banks and was awarded a cash prize. All of the employees voted to donate the funds to AMH. We sincerely thank you all.







Another thank you to all who have raised funds for AMH, the out pouring of love for our work in Haiti has been wonderful. We have received donations from across the country, from Schools doing penny drives to Hospitals, Doctors collecting un used supplies and medical equipment. We have now 1 1/2 semi trailers full of donations that need to be sorted packed, palliated and shipped to Haiti. We are starting to raise the $8,000 to $10,000 it will take to get it all to Haiti safely and to the surgery center. Kez has used up most all of our supplies since the quake. So getting these things down to her is very important.

We have two more medical teams coming down in May and other dates open for anyone wishing to come to Haiti. Just give Kris Meadows your information at amhmissions@hotmail.com She will book everything for you.

Please pray that we are able to find a reasonably priced vehicle to purchase this trip. With the cost of Gas out of this world. We have to replace our beyond repair Jeep. Kez has been struggling without transportation for months. She needs and deserves a reliable vehicle to be able to get to all of our patients.

If you have not yet met Kez you will love her. I do she was a present sent directly from God. Her heart is pure and her love for the Haitian children is as strong as mine. Check out her blog at www.myhaitiankids.blogspot.com





Ok I know I do not update enough trying to do more. all my love V



Vanessa A. Carpenter

Angel Missions Haiti - Director

www.AngelMissionsHaiti.blogspot.com
www.AngelMissionsHaiti.org

Sammy...

Hello,
I'm not going to let you guess. I'm Little Samuel Alexis, Dr Guerry CENORD's nephew. I'm your grateful friend too. For you let Jesus enter your heart(I'm first speaking to Dr Bob) to recieve my uncle 's phone call for help some hours after my birth who refered him to Vanessa who promptly handled the rest of my healing process in agreement with her all the medical staff, guess family and all those who prayed for me.
According to miss Betty: <>
God bless you!!!

Sammy

Update

As predicted, Haiti made the news for a whole ten minutes... then the olympics and now the world goes on. When are we going to WAKE UP to the fact that these are our brother and sisters in Christ. God made us all, we were blessed to be born in this country we owe it to God to reach out to our Haitian brothers and sisters to help them.

Yes I know our economy is in a bad place right now. But honestly can't we all find something to give up so that we can help these children. We will be judged by what we do and whom we help and whom we ignore. YES it is easier to say I have bills. We all do. But none of us are living in these horrific conditions. None of us are sleeping in puddles of water being rained on all night long. None of us are watching our children die before our eyes because of NO FOOD NO MEDICINE TO TREAT THEIR ILLNESSES.

Please I beg of you. What is the one thing you can give up this year so that funds can go to help just one child. Is it that Coffee at Starbucks, Is it brown bagging it to work instead of fast food meal (that is not even good for you). Nothing is to small all funds go to help the people of Haiti. Please help us this year.

Below is information you may want to read. Opens your eyes to how life really is in Haiti. All my love V



“FEW EVENTS OF SUCH FEROCITY”
According to a February study by the Inter-American Development Bank, the cost of physical damage from Haiti’s earthquake ranges from $8 billion to $13 billion. It says, “there are few events of such ferocity as the Haiti 2010 earthquake.”
The study looks at natural disasters over the past 40 years and concludes that the death toll, per capita, of Haiti’s earthquake is four times, or more, higher than any other disaster in this time period. Nearly 24,000 people per million of Haiti’s population died. (The total estimated death toll is well over 200,000). The closest equivalent is 4,000 per million, in the 1972 earthquake that struck Nicaragua.
The Partners In Health agency estimates some 1.3 million people were left without shelter by the earthquake. The majority of those people still do not have adequate emergency shelter nor access to potable water, food and medical attention.
According to US AID, there are approximately 600,000 displaced people living in 416 makeshift camps in Port-au-Prince. Sanitation conditions in the camps remain a grave concern. With heavy seasonal rains fast approaching, the population is extremely vulnerable to exposure and water-born disease.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert on March 4 about another deadly danger that lurks: malaria. It said, “Displaced persons living outdoors or in temporary shelters and thousands of emergency responders in Haiti are at substantial risk for malaria.Each year, Haiti has 30,000 confirmed cases of malaria. Officials believe the actual number is closer to 200,000.
Partners In Health says it has established clinics in five of the makeshift settlement in Port au Prince, serving some 80,000 to 100,000 people.
A “BROADLY INSUFFICIENT” RELIEF EFFORT
Two leading directors of Doctors Without Borders have called the relief effort to date "broadly insufficient." In a March 5 interview, they say that, “The lack of shelter and the hygiene conditions represent a danger not only in terms of public health, but they are also an intolerable breach of the human dignity of all these people.”
They call conditions in the makeshift refugee camps where many survivors still struggle to survive “shocking” and “shameful.”
Partners In Health voiced similar concerns in a March 5 press release and conference call. They called on governments and NGOs to do a better job addressing the “inhumane and rapidly deteriorating conditions on the ground in Haiti.”
PIH Executive Director Ophelia Dahl, recently returned from Haiti, told the conference call, “We witnessed hundreds of thousands of people living in makeshift temporary shelters; spontaneous settlements made of scraps of cardboard and plastic bags. What little people have is soaked, because they’re sleeping in the rain, and the makeshift shelters are already breaking down and dissolving. The conditions for the homeless and displaced people are absolutely inhumane and getting worse every single day.”


Vanessa A. Carpenter

Showing Our Hope for Haiti

Like many others, I have been devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. My family is an adoptive family, and two of my children, Zoe and Andy, were born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We were fortunate to meet both of our kids’ birth mothers when we were in Haiti to complete our adoption in 2004. Since then, we have exchanged letters and pictures. Watching the reports and video coming out of Haiti became too stressful because we did not know whether our not our children’s birth families had survived, were injured, or homeless. We decided to do something to help instead of just sitting and worrying.

We decided to start a fundraiser for Angel Missions Haiti. Vanessa Carpenter, the Director of Angel Missions Haiti, helped care for my children in Haiti. My children spent most of their first year of life at an orphanage run by Vanessa Carpenter, “Three Angel’s Children’s Relief”. Without the loving care from Vanessa and other wonderful volunteers, my children would not have survived.

The last two months my family has kept busy taking orders, folding and stapling labels, and mailing Hope for Haiti Bracelets. My kids have enjoyed helping. They were very proud to speak to their classmates about Haiti and show off the bracelets that they were selling. Our extended family has helped as well. My sister helped put together a website to take orders from, and my mom has helped with mailing orders. So far, we have raised $1,000, but we still have many more bracelets to sell. We have sold them at schools, churches, stores, and benefits for Haiti. People from all over the world have helped our fundraiser. Bracelets have been mailed to France, Hungary, Germany, and around the United States. We have also had some wonderful volunteers that have contacted us through our website and are selling the bracelets in different parts of the country. We are looking for others that would like to help.

We received word last Saturday that my daughter’s birth mother is alive. She is living outside her home in Cite Soliel. We are still waiting to hear word from my son’s birth family. I am thankful that we have had something positive to work on during this time. My children are seeing how important their birth country is to our family, friends, and to others throughout the world. Thank you to all that have participated in our fundraiser. We will continue to spread our hope for Haiti one bracelet at a time.

March 17

Dear Friends and Family,

Yes I know I need to slow down but doing so is almost impossible. So many children needing help, so many of you wanting to help. My phone still rings all of the time.

UPDate of the Triplets

Faith, Grace and Hope are doing fantastic. They continue to grow but do have the allergy to formula undercontrol.

Miss Grace is stll the largest coming in a 17.1 pounds
Next is Faith she is at a whopping 14 pounds and last but in no way least is Hope she is 13 pounds.

All the girls are doing great. There host family is doing therapy with them reguarly. Big Brother Jiolo is fantastic. All of the girls love their big brother. I love these new photos.














Vanessa A. Carpenter

Vehicle Needed

As many of you know we have tried to keep our Jeep in Haiti running. It now needs a decent burial. We are in desperate need here. It is next to impossible to work in Haiti without a Vehicle. We were paying $200 to $250 to have someone drive us. This is money that can be spent to purchase food and medicine for so many children.

I am told I should replace it with this type of Vehicle
Dodge Ram Truck 1996 to 1998, 4 Wheel Drive, Manuel Transition, Cummins-Diesel Engine, 3/4 ton to 1 ton size. It would be great to find one with an extended cab or an extended bed.

I was told that this type of truck would work out well in Haiti. If anyone wants to help search the web for this truck, or raise funds for this type of truck please email me. As I am not that smart when it comes to purchasing a vehicle for Haiti.

Please pray God shows us a vehicle either donated or in our limited price range.

all my love,

Vanessa A. Carpenter

Updates…

 

Hydrocephalus:  Water on the Brain a condition that you do not see here in the US because it is treated right away.

Please meet Chrisno and his host parents.  With treatment, LOVE, therapy look at how this child is doing. 

 

 

 

We can treat this in Haiti we just need help from each of you. 
Love Vanessa

Updated Pictures…