GRAND OPENING STAND OUTREACH CENTER

I have realized it has been a few months since I sent an email update and so much has happened that I don’t even know where to start! I am excited to give you a glimpse of all that happened. I say glimpse as I am going to try to keep this as short as possible while still sharing all God has been up to in and through ministry these past few months.

For the past year I have been diligently working to pull all the details together to launch the new outreach center in Port Du Paix (PdP) which is an hour from NWHCM St. Louis Du Nord where all outreach events were previously held. This is a huge transition not just for me as it involved me moving to a new town but also a BIG change for the outreach families who now will have therapy in PdP for 20 weeks a year instead of 10, have new therapy time schedule, and will still have parent education and fun activities at NWHCM in St. Louis Du Nord. Thankfully all these supplies from the boat arrived 3 weeks before grand opening. We were able to paint all the cabinets dad had build for storage of all the new clinic supplies and toys thanks to help from NWHCM interns. We got the clinic all arranged moving the STAND tables upstairs and laying the new foam floor tiles down to create pediatric treatment area thanks to help of a visiting church team working at a local school. Upstairs we turned a closet a depot and office was created by adding shelves and a metal gate to secure money and all supplies. The amazon wish list of supplies for the clinic was a huge success and all items were purchased and shipped on the boat and arrived! It was alot of work but we are fully up and running.

The first week of the new clinic was a little slow due to continued political unrest causing riots and making it uncertain of safety for traveling. Many families didn’t want to risk the travel this past week. Although we did have 44 of the 77 children scheduled for therapy. It was nice to have a slower first week to get used to new schedule, new space, and new supplies. The new schedule is that everyday there are 3 groups of kids for therapy each day and each group has 7 kids. One group starts at 8AM, second group at 10:30AM and final group at 1:30PM. The children receive 2 hours of therapy followed by 15 minutes of prayer and devotion. One day per month they receive their week worth of vitamins and get their weight taken.

MEET THE STAFF

Lionel is the director of the outreach program he has spent the last 4 months learning from Presiendue and has been a great addition to our team. His role is coordinating and overseeing all the other staff, regulating/buying supplies, and overseeing the financial aspect of outreach and doing receipt reports.

Jenny is the lead Rehab Technician and I over the therapy aspect of the outreach program. She has been interning with me the last 4 months and has grown greatly in her leadership skills and is very capable of running the program. She is also my translator to ensure things are communicated clearly to my staff during staff meetings and education.

Joseph- is a Rehab Technician he has worked at the Miriam Center for the past year and has completed my 4 month pediatric course.

Sony- is an Activity Assistant who has been working at the Miriam Center for the past year and has completed my 4 month pediatric course. He plans to go to school in fall to become a Rehab Technician.

Nancy- is a volunteer Activity Assistant. She has worked at the Miriam Center for 7 months and has plans to go to school in the fall to become a Rehab Technician. She wants to keep growing in here skills before school.

Miss Marlee and Miss Roselande- are Pediatric Nurses who works for the outreach program. Their role is to run the multi-vitamin program and Ricket vitamin program, to advocate for kids in the hospital ensuring they are getting quality care, doing medical homevisits to check on kids and doing post-hospital clinic follow up homevisits. The nurses play a key role ensuring the kids get the best medical care we can provide.

MOMMA BRIANNA- Is one of the outreach mothers whose daughter has been in the program for the last 7 years. She works weekly for the outreach program helping to make the Moringa vitamins. She takes the powder and capsules it.

MOMMA NAHOMI- Is one of the outreach mothers whose daughter has been in the program for the last 3 years. She works weekly for the outreach program helping to make the Moringa vitamins. Her role is to collect the Moringa leaves, dry, and powder them.

MOMMA WILTER JEAN- Is one of the outreach mom whose works daily for the outreach program cleaning the clinic at the end of the day and preparing it for the next day. Her son has been in the program for the last 4 years.