Friends of Haiti,

Update on Terry: Since our last letter, she spent another week in the hospital, and I am not sure I have ever seen her that sick. It was a combination of the chemo and two of the medications she has to continue taking. The doctors added another medicine to keep stomach under control. Last Thursday they removed the central line and released her to the oncologist “out” here. All of her blood counts are still low but high enough they feel she can continue her treatment locally. It has been a long winter but we know people are praying for her; we are going to ask that you not stop.

outhouseWe don’t think we have ever shown you a picture of a bathroom before — or maybe it should be called an out house? Whatever you want to call it, it is the latest of Beaubrun’s continuing improvements on his school.

Although this may seem a little unusual for us to bring up, the fact is there are very few of these in Haiti. The majority of people, especially in the rural area, just go wherever they are outside. For a school to have one, and one others can use after school hours, is not something you see all the time.

According to The American Journal Of Tropical Medicine only 17% of people in Haiti had access to improved sanitation facilities in 2010. Sanitation coverage in Haiti is comparable to some countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Of 161 countries, Haiti is the only one where access to sanitation facilities became more limited from 1995 to 2010. In rural areas like where this school is located, the same article said only 10% of the population has access to improved sanitation.

The outhouse has no running water, and it is outside, but there was nothing before this one. There were also no schools before the one Beaubrun is working on so hard. If it not for you, none of it would be there now.

As always thank you for you prayers and thank you for helping our friends in Haiti.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry