Therapy UPDATE (June/July)

I just want to start out saying how blessed I am to work alongside such an amazing, dedicated, talented, caring, passionate team of individuals. I will start with an update on our current therapy staff & a few visiting therapy staff we have had over the last 2 months.

Nicholson- My therapy Assistant 

Nicholson continues to grow not only in his therapy skills but also his leadership skills. It is hard to believe he started 8 months ago knowing nothing about therapy & never working with a special needs child before. The past few months I have seen him step up multiple times when I was sick & run the therapy clinic well! Unfortunately the past month I have been plagued with a run of bad health again (details for another blog) and many a day I was not fully present or present at all in the therapy room. I am so proud of him. He not only did his therapy schedule but helped supervise Carlos our new Haitian Therapy student... helped with the various American therapist who were visiting...and ran many random errands. I don't know what I would have done without him. Over the past couple months Nicholson has decided that therapy is something he would like to do long-term & would like to go to the rehab tech program that Nahum is currently attending & where Carlos is in school at. I had the opportunity to visit (see details below) and it is a GREAT program. They learn so much in 18 months & come out with the knowledge & skills to not only be a successful therapist in Haiti but make a BIG difference in so many lives. I have been helping him fill out the needed paperwork to apply. The school is very hard to get into. They only accept 16 students & typically have 100+ apply. I am praying that if it is God's will he will get accepted & have the chance to pursue an education as a Rehab Tech. With that said though I will need to raise funds to cover his education (probably around $8,000). Please pray about & consider helping me put Nicholson through therapy school. Below is small quote from a proposal he has written for why he wants to go to school...

"My goal is to get a college degree in therapy so I can help these poor kids who are dying in my country almost everyday. I always tend to make myself believe that I alone can change the world because it gives me great inspiration and courage to continue to fight for what I want to accomplish. One reason why I think therapy is the perfect fit is my surroundings. A lot of men, women, and children here cannot afford to get the proper care they need due to the fact that it cost money to get it. I want to support them in every way possible. Hopefully one day I can open a non-profit organization to provide care for those who cannot afford. As a christian I also know this country needs a spiritual awakening and being a therapist is one of the perfect opportunities to share the gospel with my patients when they come in..." (Nicholson)

Please keep Nicholson in your prayers as he continues to discern God's will for his life and walk in complete obedience to the LORD. 

Please Pray about and consider donating towards helping send Nicholson to school. He is a good therapy assistant & has GREAT potential to just keep learning & growing in skills. Contact me if you would like information on how to donate. 

Jennifer- Visiting PT

Jennifer came to work alongside me for 10 days. She was such a blessing to the ministry not only pouring into me while I was not feeling well but pouring into Nicholson, Carlos & the children. She also brought 6 70lb bags of therapy supplies & supplies for the Miriam Center. Her husband also blessed me with his photography skills taking many of the pictures here (Thank you Wayne) :-)

Molly Height- Occupational Therapist

I was blessed to have Molly back this summer for 2 weeks. She came last summer for 5 weeks as one of the therapy interns. She has a heart for therapy, the children & mostly God! I am very grateful for the time she spent pouring into Nicholson & Carlos while I was sick. Unfortunately I was not able to serve alongside her but so grateful for the time she poured into the ministry.

Nahum- Therapy Student in PAP

Nahum started working at the Miriam center as a translator but fell in love with the kids. He was then hired as my therapy assistant. He fell in love with therapy. Over the years he grew in his skills & leadership until he became Haitian Director of the Miriam Center. In March his dream of going to school for therapy came true. He started the 18 month Rehab Tech Program at Loma Linda University in Haiti. I had the privilege of visiting him while I was in PAP in July & got to see him thrive in his school environment. I even got to see him apply what he has learned to help treat the Miriam Center's nurse who was having shoulder problems. I am so proud of Nahum & all the hard work he is putting into his schooling but more so his heart for God & taking what he learns to help those in need in his country. He has visions & plans to open outreach centers across Haiti to provide therapy to special needs children in need. He is praying hard for God to make clear his vision & plans. Please pray alongside him about this. I am excited for him to come do a 3 week rotation under me in September. We can't wait to have him back for a few weeks (especially the kids...they miss their Nahum!).

Overall...therapy happened Monday-Friday 9:00AM till 5:30PM. The kids continue to get excited when it is there turn to go to therapy. Lots of fun...laughter...and progress is being made by the kids. I am EXCITED TO SEE WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR AUGUST....

Outreach Weddings :-)

What a tremendous blessing to be apart of 2 of my outreach families getting married. About 6-8 months ago Diane Cornelius (dubbed wedding lady in Haiti) because that is the ministry that God has called her to. In the states she owns & runs a bridal shop in Lexington, KY. She fundraises and brings everything a couple would need to get married...dresses, rings, shoes, suits, decorations, jewelry, food & pays for the wedding licenses. This is God's ministry call on her & her husbands lives. She has done over 100 marriages thus far at the mission. Coming in 2-3 times a year to do weddings at the various campuses.

In Haiti getting married is expensive anyway you look at it. Even if you do NOT have a ceremony where you invite close friends & family you are still looking at $40+ USD by the time you get a physical, pay for transportation to the city to see a judge, & get the needed paperwork. Majority of people (especially in our area) cannot afford this. So many go there whole lives without being officially married. At first I thought well...I mean a paper doesn't change much...does it? I mean if they are living as though they are married & have for years then what does a paper change... Well little did I know a marriage paper changes ALOT! It makes it so you can participate in society fully. You can be apart of a church, you can hold leadership positions and you have the dignity & pride knowing you married the love of you life. These are just a few things. 

Diane contacted me probably about 6-8 months ago letting me know that a team from Lexington asked her to help with communication while planning a wedding for anyone from the deaf community that wanted to get married. As I was helping...I got to thinking about my outreach families. I wondered how many of them who had significant others in their lives were married...I wondered how many would like to be if the opportunity arose. I talked to Presidue & asked his thoughts on having an outreach wedding. He seemed to think it would be a good. He said he would ask the families & find out if there was interest. Many of the outreach families (probably 2/3) are single mothers. There was interest. So I voxed Diane & asked what she thought AND she was EXCITED and all on board.  We originally had about 7 families who wanted to get married but for various reason were unable to this time but we had 2 families that did get married the first week in July!!!

Diane's first day at the mission we hiked the mountain behind the mission so that she could meet both of the families. We could tell them the schedule for the next few days and hear more about their stories. 

DAY 1- SATURDAY = HOMEVISITS

Family #1- Stevens Family

Stevens has been coming to the Miriam Center Special Education Classroom that Stephanie set up for the past 2 years. He is one of the original kids. He has a very loving & caring family. We had a nice visit with Stevens family. Stevens parents have been together for 16 years. They have 5 kids Stevens is the youngest. Stevens is one of the original kids in Stephanie's special education classroom. I just loved seeing how excited both of his parents were to get married officially. They both just could not stop smiling. I am Excited for the dress fitting tomorrow and to spend some more time with this family.

Family #2- LesKatie's Family

LesKatie has been apart of the therapy aspect of outreach for the past 2-3 years. Most weeks her father brings her to outreach. I have only met her mother a handful of times. We had a nice visit with LesKatie's family. One thing I notived when we arrived was they were charging bother their solar power lantern and solar power christian radio out on the rocks.  LesKatie was full of smiles and laughter. Her parents have been together for 13 years. They have 2 kids and one on the way due in September. LesKatie's mom was not feeling well at all... she had the chickagonya virus on top of being 7 months pregnant. She did not feel well at all.

DAY 2- SUNDAY= FITTINGS

Sunday afternoon the couples came to the mission. We started up in the chapel with a time of fellowship. Diane & her husband shared about the ministry God had called them to then Diane's husband shared a scripture lesson. 

 

After that their photographer Sarah (a professional wedding photographer) took portraits of the families...She photographed all 3 days & made them each a photo album & printed 3 pictures for a frame.

LesKatie's Parents

Stevens Parents

Then the Men & Women split off (why I mostly have photos from a girls perspective). The men got fitted for their tuxes, shoes, etc.  while the women went to get fitted for their wedding dress. It was so much fun to help these ladies pick out their dresses & see the excitement on their faces.

After everyone was fitted. We met back together and took each couple individually to get fitted for their wedding rings. What a beautiful moment!

That Evening I set out to decorate a PVC pipe walker for LesKatie so she could participate in the wedding :-) It was fun... some ductape, streamers & bows

DAY 3- WEDDING DAY!!!! YAY!!!

The brides started showing up at 2:30 to get their hair, nails, makeup, etc. done. The guys showed up around 3:30 to start getting dressed. I was unable to participate in the getting ready part as I was running Monday outreach & then had a staff meeting to attend. I am so thankful for the interns who took my phone & captured pictures for me :-)

The wedding was small & intimate. Each couple was allowed to invite 15 family & friends to the ceremony & reception to follow. The entire service was translated into English for all the Americans who were attending & helped pull it off. I did not get a ton of picture because I ended up sitting up front with LesKatie & left my phone back at my original seat.

The couples then got a tap-tap ride home

What an ABSOLUTELY wonderful day to be apart of. You want to know something truly WONDERFUL. That next Sunday LesKatie's parents showed up at church!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Some fun pictures we took at the end of the wedding. 

The night ended with a beautiful sunset.