Friends of Haiti,
Our monthly medical update- Terry is doing some better and much better than February or March. She is eating better, moving around more than she was and starting to get a little more energy. She can’t be in large or “uncontrolled” crowds so she spends most of her time inside. Although the platelet level is back to normal, the other counts are still low, putting her at risk for infection. May 13 she will have more bone marrow studies to see if all this has succeeded and hopefully we can get back to our normal lives.
In Haiti, touching briefly on our subject last month: There is almost no sewer system in Haiti at all. With cholera seemingly there to stay and this being very much a part of their everyday lives, it has been estimated it would cost $1.6 billion dollars to set up a water and sanitation infrastructure. Until then, there are Bayakous. These are unseen men who clean the cesspools or latrines in the middle of the night as a way to make a living. We say unseen because their work is done at night and although they do make more money than working in one of the factories they are looked down on by society in general.
We also want to share some pictures of the kids at Joe’s school in Port Au Prince. More than a year since he died, the school has not missed a beat. It will end the school year with 76 students after starting with 83; for a school in the city that is a very good record. Like here, children in Haiti are, by law, supposed to attend school until they are 16, but unlike here, that is very seldom enforced. The global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and over is 84.1%. In Haiti, for the same age group, the percentage is 52.9%. That statistic shows just how very important mission sponsored schools are and how very important you are to a child’s future.
As always thank you for the cards and prayers for Terry, thank you for helping our friends in Haiti and thank you for sponsoring a child or school and providing a child the opportunity to make a difference in their world.
Steve and Terry
