HAOT/AHE UPDATE

HAOT/AHE OT society had our last meeting at Respire, Greasier. A lot of people were unable to make it in person do to lots of rain and timing but glad that Consuelo could join us by phone. We had 12 items on the agenda to discuss which left the meeting being around 3 hours long! We are excited about some opportunities to start helping as a society across Haiti. We have decided to meet every 2 months so that we can be more affective as a society moving OT and Therapy awareness forward in Haiti. Our first big project as a society is our ZIKA awareness campaign. As a society we are making a brochure that will be distributed to dr. offices and clinics across Haiti. The goal is that the brochure will be parent friendly. After further discussion we will make a Massage Handout and a Feeding Handout to accompany it. As many baby's born with Zika have a hard time being calmed and feeding difficulties. 

ZIKA is a big concern in Haiti right now because it has been proven to lead to microcephaly and other deformities if a mother contracts it during the first trimester of pregnancy. In the last few weeks I have had 2 babies come to me who were born with Microcephaly. There is no way to confirm if the cause is microcephaly but I am thankful that the Miriam Center is a place that these moms can come for help. Please keep these  2 precious little ones in your prayers. 


Meet Noel and her dedicated mother. This sweet girl stole my heart today! She is a 4 month old who is the size of a newborn. She was born 2 months premature in her home. It's a miracle she is alive with no prenatal care. She has lots of battles ahead as she has a heart that is in A-fib, club feet, contractures in both knees and hips, microcephaly and difficulty eating. I am excited to come alongside this mother and empower her to get her daughter the care she needs. Please pray for courage, patience, and energy, and peace for this sweet momma

Meet Noel he is a precious 18 day old boy who showed up at the mission this morning. He was referred to me by the doctor. I made his little hand braces and foot braces as she had club feet and hands. Pretty sure he has more going on than just what's visible. Please pray for his mom as she also has 11 other kids and Noel is not breastfeeding wells. Praying we can encourage and help this mom to care for Noel and help her thrive.

I was able to set up a meeting with Mr. Richard Romage, PT who is the President of the PT society of Haiti and also the Clinical Manager of Réhabilitation at the PIH/Zanmi Lasantè Hospital in Mirabalais. We had a wonderful time discussing the development of each of our associations and discussing how we could work together. I was very excited to find out about an initiative that has been made to form a sectorial table for Rehab in Haiti between the OT, PT, Rehab Tech, SCI, and PNO Associations. I did not know any of these other associations even existed in Haiti. Excited to meet up with everyone in August!

I am very EXCITED about all the collaboration that is taking place between all the Associations that are passionate about Therapy and the importance of spread awareness across Haiti. 

THE BIG MOVE....CHANGE

That moment when I finally sat down...the stillness and silence unfamiliar lately ...The chance to finally reflect on this season of transition and change that has been plagued by busyness...feeling of being overwhelmed and times of Anxiety and Fear. As I thought...prayed...reflected...listened the words that kept coming to my mind were FAITHFUL and PRESENT. God has been so FAITHFUL and PRESENT with me through each step of this transition. I am very excited to write and give you a personal account of God’s faithfulness through this season. The countless ministry doors He has opened and the PEACE He has given me.

In December you may remember I joined the new ministry team of CTEN (Commission to Every Nation). God was faithful to open this door not only to find a supporting organization but 1 that is grounded on caring for, loving on, praying for and encouraging each missionary individually to fulfill their individual ministry call. That alone is huge but they also make it easy for you my faithful supporters to donate and make tax deductible donations and help me with donor communication...appreciation...and fundraising by printing and sending out my paper mailings for me. I just got back from attending orientation in Texas at CTEN headquarters June 14-17th. These 3 days were full of helpful and informative information but more importantly 3 days surrounded by godly, mission minded leaders full of wisdom and ready to share from experience and love. I can confidently say God has not only been PRESENT and FAITHFUL through this season of transition but has chosen to BLESS me personally and Bless my ministries as well.



But first I want to clarify my ministry partnership and relationship with NWHCM (Northwest Haiti Christian Mission) as many have approached me with questions. Here are some common questions....

1. Are you still a full-time missionary under NWHCM?

• NO, I am a Ministry Partner

2. What does it mean to be a Ministry Partner?
It means I am choosing to partner with NWHCM instead of serving through them in order to fulfill God’s call on my life not only to minister to and advocate for children and families with special needs but to educate and train nationals to be therapists ACROSS HAITI. My calling is and ministry has become BIGGER than NWHCM requiring me to do a lot more traveling throughout Haiti. Both NWHCM and myself came to this realization. In order to fully fulfill my calling and not be limited something had to change. After months of prayer and discussion the decision was made for me to transition from a NWHCM Missionary to a Ministry Partner.

3, How does this change your day to day?

• My everyday routine looks about the same. I will continue to head up and advocate for the therapy program at the Miriam Center and the For Jonathan Sake Outreach program. I will spend more time on the road as I partner with other rehab teams (STAND, PHOENIX RISING, etc.), Educating Nationals (UNAH/LLU, FSRL, etc.), Supervising students on their clinical rotations and partnering with other organization to provide education and support to their staff.

4. Why did you move off campus
• One of the benefits of being a full-time missionary through NWHCM is having housing right on their campus and I guess you could say one of the downfalls (so I felt at first) to not is having to move off campus. Scary as it was I am so thankful for the help & support of NWHCM to help me find safe, close housing. I can confidently say it is actually really nice to have closure at the end of the day and feel like I am “leaving” my work and ministry at the end of the day.

I am very thankful for the years I was a full-time missionary through NWHCM and I am thankful and Excited for this new season of PARTNERSHIP with them. Ministry growth requires change and brings along growth pains...But God is PRESENT...He is FAITHFUL...and He is BLESSING the call He gave me. 

MY NEW HOUSE

I am very excited to report that I have moved into my own little place about a 5 minutes walk from the mission. It is very safe having 10ft. walls with broken glass around the top and a big metal gate that is locked at night. I have the bottom floor of a house all to myself. I have purchased solar panels, inverter, batteries, and a generator in order to have power. I do not have running water yet but am working towards that goal hopefully soon. I do have to say that it is nice to "leave" work/ministry at the end of the day. I have gotten so used to living where I served that this is a new concept but so far I like it. There are hard things with the move like not being able to kiss the kids goodnight and stay to talk to teams after devotions. With any change their is always pros and cons. A HUGE THANK YOU to Jody, Junior and Presendeu. I would not have been able to find this place, work out the details or get moved in without their support, help and love!