It's a girl!!

Dr. Israel delivered a little girl that
cried as soon as it came out of the
womb. It is so important that Haiti
has good OB/GYN doctors if they want to
reduce the maternal/newborn death rate!

Spinal anesthesia

Here Dr. Rena is giving this pregnant
woman spinal anesthesia before Dr.
Israel performs the C-section.

A morning in surgery

Today Dr. Israel (ob/gyn) invited me to
assist him in a C-section at the
hospital. It was fun to be back in the
OR!

Christmas Eve in Haiti 2

I was invited to the home of Bette
Gabrian's for Christmas Eve. The
Sisters were invited as well as other.
The weather was beautiful. My first
Christmas away from cold weather!

The Christmas tree

We gathered around the Christmas tree
and Edwin and Bette's house to open
some presents!

Christmas Eve in Haiti

Here Sister Mary Mac and Sister Anna
help prepare the food. We had turkey,
dressing, mashed potatoes, roast,
scalloped corn, German pancakes etc.
We had lots of food for Christmas!

Christmas Day

Early Christmas Day morning I went to
church with the Sisters at the Catholic
Cathedral in downtown Jeremie.

Dr. Bourdeau tries on glasses

Dr. Bourdeau tries on glasses that his
son got as a gift for Christmas.

Leaders of HHF

On the left is Sister Mary Ann, the
administrator of HHF; and on the right
is Dr. Bette Gabrian. She is the
director of the Public Health Program
for HHF. They are enjoying the
Christmas Party.

Fwd: Pascal sings a love song

Pascal, a driver for HHF, sings and
plays on guitar a love song to the
crowd at the Christmas Party.

Dancing at the Christmas Party

Here Dr. Briese (dentist) and Jose show
the crowd how to dance at the Christmas
Party.

Employees singing

Here some of the employees sing the
national anthem at the Christmas Party.

HHF Christmas Party

The Haitian Health Foundation had a
Christmas Party for all its employees.
Fun was had by all! Here you see
Cassimir as the MC and Dr. Bourdeau to
the left.

It's Mary Kay day at the clinic

It's the last day the clinic is open
before the holidays. It's very quiet.
Thanks to donation from Kristi Johnson
I gave all the nurses Mary Kay makeup.
Here's a group picture after everyone
had put on lipstick.

A Tetanus Case

Here we are reviewing a case of tetanus
in a 7 year old. He presented with
tetany 3 days after stepping on a nail.

The Risks & Danger Signs of Pregnancy

Today (jodia) I (mwen) reviewed the
risks and dangers signs of pregnancy
with the nurses at the Center of Hope.
They are very good nurses!

The judges

Here's the team of judges who decides
who has the best scientific
presentation at the seminar.

Time to party after the Seminar

After a day of learning and presenting
the Cubans invited everyone to their
house for for food, drinks and lots of
dancing. The Cubans love to dance.

Another Winner

Dr. Alexius also wins for his work on
teaching sex education to youth. He's
a general medicine resident (on the
left).

The winner

Dr. Rena was one of the winners for her
presentation on the use of Fentenyl
with lidocaine with spinals for C
sections.

Anemia Presentation

Here Dr. Bourdeau and Dr. Homere
present data from the anemia project at
HHF at the Scientific Meeting.

Scientific Seminar

The Cubans held a Scientific Seminar at
the nursing school on Saturday. The
medical team had posters of their
projects and gave presentations. The
poster on the wall says "To be
internationalist is to pay back our own
debt with humanity" (Fidel Castro)

Hair Cut Day

Sister Anna needs a haircut. Has your
stylist ever looked like this?

Fwd: The Talents of the Babes of Borde

Sunday it was beach day and the water
was absolutely beautiful. On our way
home we had a flat tire so the Babes of
Borde discovered we had another talent!

Poinsettas in Haiti

Christmas in Jeremie with Poinsettas!

CARE International

On Friday, Sister Anna asked me if I
wanted to ride with her over to CARE.
She has a child in the nutrition
program who is HIV positive. Her
mother and father are HIV positive
too. CARE International is the
resource for these people. We brought
the mother with us. A social worker
interviewed her. After gathering all
the information, they then will come to
this families home to provide
medication, education and food to help
them. It's a wonderful resource for
the people living with HIV in this
community.

Fwd: The Health Agent

HHF selects and hires a health agent
for each village. He or she lives in
that village and is responsible for
many aspects of that village. They
know the immunization status of their
village. They know who is pregnant.
They should be watching for
malnutritioned children. They are
responsible for recommending goats to
people in their community. They travel
from their rural villages to HHF in
Jeremie frequently for education. They
are vital to the rural public health
program. Here is Michel. He is the
health agent for Tessier where we held
the education programs.

The Father's Club

Now the men all gathered together in
the rural area (village called Tessier)
for their education. They received the
same education as the women. They were
taught about how a woman's body worked,
natural family planning and their
responsibity in this method. There are
other contraceptive methods available
in cities but in the rural area where
people are poorer, access and
medications are inconsistent, natural
family planning remains the most
important method to give these people
some power in controlling their family
size.

Mother's Clubs

Haitian Health Foundation has a strong
public health focus. The believe in
educating and promoting communities in
many areas of life including health
care. Much of their community
education is done through mother's
clubs and father's clubs. This week I
attended both with Charlemagne, the
teacher. It reminded me of the
Homemaker's Clubs in the rural areas of
North Dakota. These women learned in
these groups about a variety of things
but more important supported each
other. Here Charlemagne is teaching
the women's clubs about their bodies
and about natural family planning.

An Abricot Tablecloth

For those of you who like linens, here
is an example of the tablecloths we
purchased last Saturday in Abricot.
They are made locally there by the
Haitian women.

The Cuban OB/Gyn doctor

Finally a Cuban ob/gyn doctor has
arrived. He sits in the middle in this
picture. If HHF wants to reduce the
maternal and newborn death rate it's
vital that we have a good OB/gyn doctor!
His name is Dr. Israel.

Threesome in Church

Here's Marie, Annette & Obed attending
a Pentecostal Church on Sunday.

The church choir

Here's a picture for the Calvary church
choir. I thought perhaps we should
consider getting rid of the robes and
going to this outfit.

Church on Sunday

Obed (the pharmacist at HHF) invited
Marie and I to church on Sunday. I
thought he told me he attended a
Protestant church. As we walked that
morning he told us it was Pentecostal.
Church here is two hours. It was a
large church with many people in
attendance.

Housing projects

HHF is very involved in building of
homes for the poor. Here Mary Ann
Laxen and Sister Mary Ann inspect one
of the new houses built in Jeremie by
HHF.

Haiti is beautiful

This picture is taken from a chair I
was sitting on in Micah's home. I was
able to look out to the Carribean
waters as I rested.

Beautiful tablecloths in Abricot

This factory is known for the women
making beautiful tablecloths. Here a
woman is using a coal heated iron to
press the damp tablecloth. I will show
you later what a tablecloth looks
like. They sell for between $60 - $100
US dollars.

The factory at Abricot

We watched the Haitians make the
nativity sets. Each person is
responsible for a certain piece of the
nativity set. I have given some of
these to friends. Now you see how they
are made!

An adventure to Abricot

On Saturday, Dec. 4, we drove to
Abricot to purchase items for the
L'Hibiscus shop. Sister Anna was ill
so Nicole, Marie, and I were the
buyers. We had great fun. It was a
two hour ride west of Jeremie on
TERRIBLE roads. The beach was
beautiful and we had a wonderful time
with Micah who employs Haitians to make
gifts. Here we are resting and eating
some of the beef jerky Pam sent down.

Boys will be boys

Here's a group of boys at the St.
Pierre School. They loved the camera.
Every time a flash went off the whole
group cheered.

The Teachers at St. Pierre School

Hats off to teachers. Here are the
people who started the St. Pierre
School. They are showing us art
projects the children have done. They
were learning to make flowers and
stitch on cloth. Very committed
teachers!

St. Pierre School

Sister Mary Ann took Mary Ann Laxen and
I to the St. Pierre School. It is on
the waterfront in one of the poorest
areas of the city. Some men a few
years ago gathered the kids from the
street and started teaching them in a
shack. That led to someone donating
money to build a school which led to a
food program which provides these
children one warm meal a day. I saw
the shack four years ago and now I saw
the brand new school. Amazing progress!

The Women's Development Center

In late October Sister Mary Ann called
me to ask what a "serger" was. Sister
Raymond from the Women's Development
Center in Jeremie wanted one for the
girls in her school. They are learning
to sew and she wanted them to be able
to use a serger as well as a sewing
machine. I told Sister Mary Ann I
would donate a serger to help these
women develop more skills. Mary Ann
Laxen was kind enough to bring one with
her last week. Here I am presenting a
serger to Sister Raymond.

Thanks to Judy at the Food Court

Mary Ann Laxen arrived on Sunday
bringing with her quilts that Judy from
the UND Med school food court made.
Here you see a baby born two days ago
wrapped in one of Judy's soft baby
quilts. Thanks Judy!

Beauty shop at the Springfield House

Thanks to Rhonda for sending a perm and
rollers with Mary Ann. Last night
Nancy gets a perm. I haven't given one
in 20 years but all went well. Nancy
is happy with her curly hair!