Post hurricane post

Thanks to everyone who has emailed and prayed for us and the Haitians in Jacmel this past week.

The hurricane hit early Saturday morning (about 2am). David and I laid in bed listening to the wind howl and objects flying around outside hitting the house.

Then our phones started ringing.

People in Peredo started calling us. The storm had hit there also and they were getting the worse of it. 

As we laid in our sturdy house, in our dry bed, we listened to our friends and the people we serve telling us about roofs getting blown off, tress crashing into houses and their gardens (aka their livelihoods) being destroyed.

I felt helpless.

The river was finally safe for us to cross (see picture! ha!) on Thursday. We left the truck on this side of the river. The water was so high that it could only be crossed on someone's shoulders.  Those of you who have been to Peredo know how wide the river was...it is even wider now.

Genio, David's cousin, had called that morning about a sick newborn. I have learned in the 4 years I have known Genio that if he asks me to come out to see a sick person, then the person is REALLY sick.

So we got there and he led us to this house.

 

 Or what was left of it anyways. The lady who lived there was pregnant and this tree crashed through the rook and hit her on the back, knocking her down. They got word to the Red Cross who contacted the UN who took her to Leogane (almost to Port au Prince) by boat.

She delivered a baby boy and they sent her home. 

I show up at her house 3 days later.

This is what Baby Boy looked like.

 

 He looked bad. He was totally lethargic and not crying at all when I was pinching his skin. He had that glazed over faraway look in his eyes. Mom stated she had breast problems and couldn't breastfeed.

I asked the question I didn't want to know the answer to.

"What have you been giving him to eat/drink?"

The answer: sugar water

For the last 3 days. His first 3 days of life.

I knew we had an hour drive back into town plus the time it was going to take us to walk back to the truck with mom and baby (about another hour). So I decided it would be better to walk into the main street of Peredo and buy some formula first.

When I first put the nipple in his mouth he chowed down like he was starving to death...because he actually was starving to death.

I called one of my missionary friends, Sarah at Olive Tree Projects and told her about the situation. She said to get them to her clinic ASAP. 

I went and visited Baby boy and mom at Sarah's clinic yesterday. The midwives are taking fabulous care of them! Here is Baby boy's picture 24 hours after getting formula.

Peredo needed lots of help before.

Now they need even more.

Here are some pics David took walking to and from Baby Boy's house.

We prayed with lots of people. We tried to give them hope.

 Haiti is still hard. Haiti is still heavy.  

But Haiti still has hope.

Baby Boy is proof of that.

 Romans 12:12

 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.

Invest Hope is praying about the right course of action to help the people of Peredo.

If you would like to help with the cost of helping a family rebuild, please email me at ginnyandrews@hotmail.com

On a side note...Job's house is 99% done (we just have to put in the front door and paint the house). It had no damage from the storm. Praise the Lord!