Can't wait until March!

Andrew and I have tickets on hold now to go back to the Dominican (hopefully we will buy them tomorrow!!). I am so excited. I will be working on the continued development of the medical center that will hopefully be treating many of the Haitian refugees that come to the DR.

Andrew hasn't been since summer of 2007 and hasn't seen any of the medical center and has many friends that always ask where he is when I am there. We are thrilled to return and be together in the DR! We will also be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and will go to one of the beaches on the northeast shore to see a different part of the country!

Update from Today

Another update from our team on the Haitian/DR border:

We had a "Divine Appointment" arranged for us! Through various contacts we were able to get FREE FOOD from the

Dominican Government to prepare and serve over 1200 meals today! Free food from now on

and we can serve twice as many than with the food we had to purchase previously!

Had another delivery of meds today form a pilot/plane owner from NC - his second trip to deliver DR's and medical supplies.

Another trip to Jimami is scheduled for mañana (I'm not driving)

Thank you for your prayers!

Mama and son

Tent city outside orphanage building.

Suni, our own, on staff cook who prepares meals for all of our short-term trips is doing the cooking for all the meals we serve

(I think she is the best chef in the DR)

Meds/pharmacy under porch of hospital, more arriving daily.

Another Blackhawk in front of our Mission Emanuel compound, our workers in maroon T's in background.

Rudolfo, Suni and Steve preparing ensalada.

Distributing water and peanut butter

Emanule & Brett distributing meals

Mission Emanuel Care Team

Haiti Update

Update from the team that is on the Haitian/Dominican Border:

Drove 5 hours Monday Morning to Jimani, nearest DR border town to Port-au-Prince.

I was overwhelmed at whatwe saw. I walked through 3-4 operating rooms taking photos and video of surgeries.

My heart went out to these poor people. Little boy with both arms amputated; we gave him a stuffed pet toy and his face broke into a huge smile.

His mom and dad said it was the first time he smiled since the quake.

This place is like M.A.S.H. I had to drive back in the dark last night - 6 hours of stress and tension on these roads...

We will be cooking and serving 800-1000 meals for till Thursday when we leave. Another group is flying in from NC next week.

More photos and updates later.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

Bob H.

Couple after surgery in recovery (a kitchen/ER) smiling for the first time in weeks.

the open wounds on this ladies legs were...I had to turn around and walk out to composse myself. She was a trouper!

These people are SO brave.

tent city made up of mostly bed sheets - these (recovering after treatment) were so traumatized after the quake,

THEY WOULD NOT STAY INSIDE A BUILDING!, but rather sleep outside in the elements.

relief workers from all over the world are here.

U.S. Army Blackhawks bringing in patients from Port-au-Prince. Our "compound" is the building in the back

with our trucks and workers in maroon T-shirts. we cooked and served over 800 suppers last night.

no smiles from this guy.

Mission Emanuel in Haiti

Sorry it has been so long since I updated!! I promise to put up more information soon!! Mission Emanuel staff is very busy right now working to help with the Haiti disaster and there are already Haitians who have come into the neighbordhood (a 5 hour drive from Port Au Prince) to seek refuge. See below for an overview and keep the country and the workers in your prayers!

Video of ME in Haiti.

We are HOME!

We got home late last night after a 3 hour delay in JFK! It is good to be home but the last 10 days were full of blessings so I was also sad to leave!! There are so many new kids in the therapy program, all needing more equipment and more therapy but the gym looks AMAZING!

Lindsey did such an awesome job with the mural and I am so lucky that Deanna was there to help with all the equipment and training. Here are just some of the MANY pictures. More stories and pictures to come later! Here is a BEFORE and AFTER picture:

This is me with Martin. He was one of the first kids I met on summer staff in 2006. He is doing great!

This is sweet Jyaibel. Deanna rebuilt this chair to fit him and he obviously liked it (he slept the whole time!)

This is sweet Christopher using a walker for the first time. He did great!

This is a picture of part of the groups of parents and kids who have special needs. The secodn picture is me with Jack after the dedication on Friday. It is so exciting for the project to be completed (or at least the first stage!). There are so many kids who need therapy and who can't otherwise get it because this is the only clinic that provides free therapy. There was a father who drove from 3 1/2 hours away because he heard that there were physical therapists giving out walkers. It was such a humbling experience that he came for something that is so accessible to us.

There were close to 20 kids who came in while we were there. About 16 of them need ongoing therapy. More to come later! Thanks again to everyone for your support, the trip was amazing and such a success!!!

On our way!

Well, it is 11:30 and I leave my house in 4 hours for the airport after we pick up Lindsey!! I am so excited and filled with anticipation about all that is going on! Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed for us and given so much support!! It is very appreciated. Photos and stories to come as we return (10 days from now!).

Packing...

...So tonight Deanna and Lindsey came over to help pack. 5 huge duffle bags and 1 large suitcase are packed and ready to go!-not to mention we each a have a roller suitcase and a large (probably too big!) "personal item" each. I am so thankful everything fit in our bags even though we will definitely be paying overweight fees.

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed, I anticipate so much seeing the gym finished and it will be so soon! The families and the kids who will be receiving services there have no idea what is coming!-I can't wait to see their faces.

Prayer requests include: safe travel (including our bags making it with us!), allowing us to meet with all/majority of the kids in the program (sometimes transportation is a problem!) so that we can get them fitted for other equipment they might need and get a therapy program ready for them, overall blessing on our communication with the dominican people, safety and health for all of us and for the completion of the mural project.

I can't wait to post before/after pictures. I'll update this when I get back towards the end of the month

We leave on the 5:40 AM flight on 10/15th and come home on 10/24th.

Watch out Cielo, here we come!