Overflow: For Jonathan Sake Outreach Day 9- Stacey

Thursday, January 9, 2014

For Jonathan Sake Outreach Day 9- Stacey

Stacey has been apart of the mission from the day she was born. Stacey was born at birthing center. She was born with hydrocephalus which requires a shunt. In Haiti shunts are rare as it requires a neurologist to implant it and maintain it. There is also a high failure rate because of poor sanitation conditions. The Mission fought to get Stacey a shunt in PAP (which back then was a 12-14 hour off road bus trip away). She was able to get her needed surgery but shortly after her back tab of her shunt clogged. Their were plans in place to send her back to PAP to get the shunt unclogged & fixed but a few days before they were to leave the earthquake happened. Unfortunately it was impossible for months to get it unclogged. We continue to facilitate her neurological care by helping send Stacey & her mother to PAP 2x a year for check-ups.

Stacey is an only child of a single mother. Her mother ADORES her & would do just about anything for her. I ABSOLUTELY love watching her mother interact with her & do therapy with her. I admire the fact that her mother encourages Stacey to work through her discomfort & pain so she can gain skills that otherwise she would not have. Stacey’s mother is eager to learn new therapy techniques that she can do at home with Stacey and because of her mothers dedication Stacey is beating so many odds and has gains so many skills.

One of the big challenges for Stacey is the size & weight of her head due to the fluid build up. Stacey’s head weighs as much as the rest of her body if not more. Secondary to coming to outreach faithfully and her mother working daily with her at home Stacey is now able to sit and hold her head up for ~5-10 seconds at a time, she is beginning to weight bear through her feet with assistance, and is able to hold objects in her affected hand when her good hand is held back.

Stacey’s mother has a heart for God. One day last year after outreach her mother approached me and asked me for a Creole Bible. I had prayed about purchasing her a Bible and the rest of outreach Bibles. I then realized many of the outreach families could not read (which is why when I discovered the solar power Christian radio’s from radio 4VEH with MP3 version NT on them). I ended up raising $ for 5 Bibles. I then did not know when I could bless her with the Bible as there are always other families present during outreach. I knew it was a God thing that the week after receiving the Bibles Stacey’s mother was the only one to show up the next week on her outreach day. I was so blessed to bless her with a Creole Bible and do a Bible study with her. She was incredibly excited to use her Bible to look up the verses.

A few months ago I got to go visit Stacey and her mother at their home (or what I thought was her home). It was quite the hike up the mountain a good hour straight up the mountain side on some steep narrow pathways. When we arrived Stacey was lying on a rug in the dirt. I went over and sat next to her and she gave me a big smile. I then pulled out toys to play with her. She loved the musical book I brought. She was full of smiles & giggles that day. Stacey’s mother was super excited about the solar power Christian Radio we were able to bless them with. At the end of the visit I asked if the house were were in front of was her house…she said no…and began taking us on a walk. As we walked she explained that she has been homeless and this church (pointing to a little stick sided church) after her mother kicked them out of her house. We continued walking till we came to a small stick hut and explained that she just signed a contract to rent this little house. She said she did not have a job & did not know how she was going to afford rent but was trusting God. A few days later she approach Presidue to see if we could help with rent and we were thankful that God provided funds so that we could bless Stacey and her with a roof over their head.