Hi everyone,

Hopefully, this finds all of you healthy. We are; Terry is doing very well and slowly gaining some of her strength back. There is no timeline for recovery, but it seems each day she is able to do a little more.

Last month we mentioned the COVID-19 in Haiti. Remarkably, there are only 62 confirmed cases. But the emphasis is on “confirmed.” Knowing Haiti as we do, and knowing that so many cannot afford to be tested (if there is testing) or even to go a doctor, the actual number is likely much higher, especially in remote villages.

Social distancing rules are in place there much as there are here, but in countries like Haiti, they are much harder to adhere to. The picture of the man and cross was taken Easter morning at a church in Port au prince. Like here, churches across the country remain closed, as are schools.

Its hard to imagine the “stay at home” orders we are under and doing that in Haiti. In our villages, the only times you are in your house is to sleep or sick. Most of the time, if you are sick, you lie outside. There is rarely anything other than a banana leaf mattress on the floor, or maybe a chair or two. And with no electricity why would you want to stay inside?

Ventilators have made the news here a lot lately. According to a BBC report, there maybe 20 working ventilators in Haiti and few doctors who know how to operate them — for a country of over 11 million people.

Haiti’s ability to respond to this is bound by its economic problems. Over 60% live below its poverty line, so you either go about your daily business and run the risk, or stay home and be unable to put food on the table. Many are taking that risk. And as one person Beaubrun knows said, “if COVID comes to our village, we will all die”.

We are still running the programs and as safely as possible. Three women in each place do the cooking. When it’s ready, people form a line (no one sick in the line) at least an arm length apart. We fill the bowl or plate, and they leave. We do not know any other way to do it.

One of the program’s budgeted funds run out this month, so please pray we can keep these operating. We do have extra right now, we can use but that goes only so far.

One of the things Haitians are proud of is their heritage and have worked hard to preserve relicts from the past, especially from the slavery period. There are several museums in Port au Prince and many around the country with restored items from that period. One of the country’s most prized sites, a UNESCO world heritage site that includes the ruins of Sans Souci palace, was a church that was started in 1810 and completed in 1813, burned on April 13. To say the least, people throughout the country are mad at their politicians for not taking better care of it and other sites like it.

As always, thank you for your prayers: for Terry, our friends in Haiti, and for your help in providing for them. We both know this is a difficult time we as a country are going through and we appreciate every single thing you do.

Please be safe. We pray God will keep all of you in good health.

Hi everyone,

Wow, our world has sure changed over the past few weeks! Without a doubt, none of us have ever seen anything like this and hopefully, won’t again.

Haiti’s first positive Coronavirus case was reported March 16 and, like other countries, they have shut down too. Flights and the border with the Dominican Republic are shut down. As far as we know the only people getting in are healthcare personnel from other countries, and especially Cuba. Cuba has a long history providing help to Haiti, and we have worked with Cuban doctors, sending patients to them or one of their facilities for tests or x-rays.

As with any disaster in Haiti (and this disaster comes just behind good news, as they have no new cases of cholera) people are just going to die — most because of a lack of care and knowledge. Hopefully things we have told them and taught them come into play as they did with cholera.

We also know there are times when people can’t help or give. We understand that, especially now. Since all schools in Haiti are closed, as are most other business, any funds we receive will go into the nutrition programs and nothing else. And it won’t be for just kids; we will just feed whoever shows up until it is gone. We know this goes against our “social distancing” practices, but we feel that we cannot let the kids go hungry. We plan to have food cooked, and then they can pick it up and leave. They would just starve if ministries shut down these programs.

Terry had the transplant, is home, and doing fairly well. We had to stay in St. Louis for two weeks, in the hospital for eight of those days. She has been having problems with kidney function and some counts are not coming up as quickly as we want, But having been through this once, we have some idea what’s next. Her hemoglobin and hematocrit are very low, which causes her to be very weak, and since the chemo destroys everything, her immune system was weak as well. The only times she gets out is for a trip to the bone marrow clinic and back home.

It is a time for us to pray:

• for each other and each of us be as careful as possible,
• for doing the things each of us have to do, including getting out,
• for a cure,
• for those who have lost jobs,
• for those who have lost loved ones,
• for Terry,
• for our friends in Haiti, and their needs,
• and for all of you.