Life Is Never Easy

The other day I was down in the yard when someone came knocking on the gate.  They were asking for help, someone was hurt.  I went out into the street to see a man face down in the road with one of the students from the school standing by him.  As I was getting close to him he started trying to get up and everyone was trying to get him to stay down.  He compromised with sitting on the ground.  Someone had started pouring water on his head.  He was upset and wanted to go home.  The student translated for me and got him to relax for a minute.  Surprisingly he wasn’t hurt from his fall.  The student said that he seen him go right down on his face.  He stated that he had not eaten for at least 5 days and had very little to drink and that is why he had passed out.  I told him if he would stay there I would go get him something.  I ran back to my room and got him a bottle of water and grabbed 8 things out of my goody box (breakfast bars, granola bars, trail mix…) and put them in a ziplock.  I went back to him and gave him a breakfast bar and the bottle of water.  He quickly ate the bar and drank the bottle of water.  I gave him the zip lock bag and told him to eat something else but he set it down next to him.  I told the student to tell him he needs to eat more before he tries to walk home.  He stated he would be OK now.  As I started to protest again he said that he has a wife and kids and they need the rest.  The student stated that he was going to try to find him more food.  He went back to the school and in a few minutes, he came back with about a 20-pound bag that had rice, beans, corn meal, and grits in it.  The man was very grateful for the ability to feed his family.  The added weight was going to make his trip home even more difficult though.  I went and found Edmond, the school’s driver, to see if he could take him home.  We loaded him in the truck and he was on his way home with probably more food than his family has had in a month or more…  This is why it’s so very difficult to teach long term thinking in Haiti.  For so many, each day truly is a fight for survival and they can’t put anything into next week because it could cost them today.

I know that many of you are waiting for an update on Faeka (the baby I delived at the neighbors behind the school).  Thank-You so much for your prayers!  It’s been a struggle but she hasn’t gotten any worse so I guess that is progress in Haiti.  If you did not catch my facebook post, Faeka got sick and I was worried that she had gotten a possible bowel obstruction or Typhoid.  I told her Mamma to take her to the hospital.  She said that she would wait until morning.  I was worried that might be too late.  Well, she said that she took her to the hospital but they were full.  So, she went to a little clinic.  That means that no tests were done.  They gave her Tylenol and some gas medicine.  At this point she is still less than a month old and less than 8 pounds.  I figured that the Tylenol would probably cover the symptoms until it was really too late.  Her mother said she was doing a little better with the medicine.  I wrote her an order for a typhoid test so she wouldn’t have to go through the clinic.  When I went back to check on her later she had decided that she was getting better and didn’t need it.  She is still in a lot of pain, doesn’t like her abdomen touched, has constant bowel sounds, but is still going to the bathroom some.  She seemed to also be so hungry that she didn’t even know what to do with herself.  I explained again to her mom what should be happening.  When I told her she should be feeding her every 3 hours she laughed out loud.  This could be our culprit.  In Haiti by the time you’re a month old you are almost an adult.  If they continue breast feeding they figure if they only eat once a day, then the baby only needs to eat once a day.  But for many moms it’s time to start your baby on rice, bean sauce, and vegetables as well as water.  Or if you don’t have much money sometimes it’s just cookies and water.  She is up to 8 pounds 7 oz and I am hoping she will feed her more and will continue to only breast feed her like she told me she would.  So, I guess time will tell!

When I got to the house Faeka was screaming.  Her Mamma was amazed that in about 90 seconds I had her asleep.  Trying to teach her how to comfort her when her tummy hurts!  

Well as life has it, there are always kids and babies in need of help here...

Stacy with HERO Ambulance contacted me and asked if I was available for a medical flight.  After the last medivac, I am learning to ask more questions.  I would actually be flying for this call but would not be leaving the country.  I said count me in, sounds like fun.  There was a severely malnourished, special needs child that needed to be transported up north to Cap Haitian.  We didn’t have a lot of details and were worried about what we would find as it sounded very desperate.  A 10-year old boy with Cerebral Palsy, who was possible abandoned by his mom, was found living in an old warehouse and is very malnourished.  We would pick him up from the warehouse and transport him by ambulance to the airport.  Then I would accompany him to Cap Haitian by way of Mission Aviation Fellowship and turn him over to the people from the receiving facility, who do inpatient special needs malnutrition, at the airport and return. 

We walked into a very dark building and found this boy laying on a little bed in the back corner.  The only way to see much was from the light from my cell phone.  His mom had been found and would be going with us.  She was probably out providing for him and he was not actually abandoned but unfortunately under the care of younger siblings during the day.  Before we could get our cot, she had picked him up and was on her way to the ambulance with him.  She was very excited that he was getting help!  We placed him on the cot and he seemed a little fearful of the unknown.  It’s hard to know how long he had been living in that dark building.  But when his Mamma got in and we started moving he was all smiles.  He has his mom and was on a new adventure!  He seemed to actually enjoy all the bumps of the horrible roads. 

10 years old and about 25 pounds

Once we made it to the main road traffic was bad and we were running short on time so of course it was time to run lights and sirens! (This isn’t really a big deal because anyone can put lights and sirens on their vehicle in Haiti so you constantly see vehicles doing the same thing.  But our little patient thought that was even more fun and he was trying to imitate the siren sounds.  It was very cute!  Well, as luck would have it, the plane was full and weight was a big issue for the flight.  They actually asked if we had any 90 pound paramedics.  So unfortunately, my friend Bruce, who is a little smaller than I, got to make the flight up to Cap Haitian with him.  After they left Stacy told me, there was a scheduling issue and it was likely that Bruce would be left up there overnight.  That made me feel much better about not being able to go.  But thankfully they brought Bruce back.  Praying that this little man will get some help physically with his condition and well as some good nutrition.  As you can see he has a lot of contractures from a lack of understanding about the care that he needs.  His legs actually cross just below the hips from the contractures.  This may not be reversible.

Another call from Stacy a few days later and again were on our way to help a Neonate.  There is a 32-week little girl who was born that afternoon by emergency C-section, when her mother got Preeclampsia.  The baby was OK for a little bit but then started to have some breathing issues.  2 hospitals in the area do not even have Oxygen available and none of them could take care of this baby.  So they left St. Marc and started for Port-au-Prince and we left Port-au-Prince Headed for St. Marc.  We were anticipating a meet at Mission of Hope (MOH) in Titanyen, which was about half way for each of us.  She was not breathing well and would turn blue without being constantly irritated to keep her fussing but they didn’t have oxygen to take with them.  As it turns out Mission of Hope was the perfect meeting point.  We pulled in and literally 20 seconds later they arrived.  We headed to the clinic on their compound to evaluate and stabilize her.

Working on Lela in the MOH Clinic

Little Lela seemed almost perfect at a glance.  But her Oxygen levels were in the 60’s.  We placed her on oxygen and her levels returned to 98%.  Mom was reported to be getting sick and Lela had a fever so she was given antibiotics.  I started an IV on her.  She seemed to be doing better.  Meanwhile, Stacy was still trying to find a bed for this little one back in Port-au-Prince.  After a while we had a bed and felt that she was stable for the rest of the transport.

Isn't little Lela just precious? 

She did well during the transport and we arrived safely at the hospital.  The ER didn’t want anything to do with us until we paid the bill which is common here.  We contacted the pediatrician that accepted her and moved her right to the PICU and skipped the ER.  Dad still had to pay a $40,000.00 Goud (Haitian currency) deposit before she could stay though.  I am happy to report that the last update I saw she was doing better.  Praying that the Hypoxia doesn’t bring any long-term effects for her little body.

These are a few of the highlights since the last blog post.  But on a day to day level there is much more that happens here.  I try to keep these interesting and at a moderate length but I think on the next one I will try to explain the average day and week a little better.  So stay tuned!  

I greatly appreciate your continued interest and support of the work that Kelby’s Kids is doing every day in Haiti.  Together we are touching lives and making a difference everyday so that maybe life can be a little easier!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby 

The Highs and the Lows

It seemed like it took forever, until the last minute…  I had been working with a Mamma out behind the school for several weeks.  She kept talking like she was going to go into labor at any time.  But day after day, week after week, we didn’t have a baby.  She said she really wanted a Valentines baby.  She had told me that she was not going to the hospital because she had a bad experience with the last 2 children she had there.  She said she would deliver at home with her husband’s help.  On Monday morning February 15th one of her children came into the school and said that her mom has been trying to get a hold of me since last night.  She was having abdominal pain.  Well she has been telling me that for a long time.  I went out back to check on her.  It didn’t take long to figure out we were getting pretty close to having a baby.  I ran back to my room and grabbed everything I might need and ran to the dark and hot little house.  I barely made it back before she delivered a beautiful little girl!!  She and mom were doing well and I was thankful there were no complications!

Faeka Stacy Jean Louis - Born 02-15-17 at 7:55 am

I am reported to be the god father of Faeka.  Although this is an honor it’s also a big financial commitment.  I have been warned that if it becomes official I will be expected to pay for many of her needs as she grows up.  I did not weigh her when she was born, which I really should have done.  She had lost a fair amount of weight and was noticeable smaller after a few days.  But after working with mom, some instruction, and a little time she has turned the corner and is gaining weight again!

Faeka - 5 days old

I have been weighing her every other day and she is making good progress now.  She will hopefully be back to about her birth weight soon (I am guessing about 7 ½ pounds).  She had dropped to 5 pounds 12 oz.  It’s exciting to have a positive experience in Haiti with a child despite the lack of health care options.

Faeka at 2 weeks - 6 pounds 14 oz.  And hungry by the way she was chewing on her hand!!

Unfortunately, the day did not end on the high note it had started on.  HERO Ambulance called and said they had a baby transport they were already doing and wanted to know if I could meet up with them or come to the hospital to help.  I grabbed a few things and headed out the door.  We were able to meet up with the ambulance about 5 minutes out from the first hospital.  They had gone up to a little clinic and picked up a sick baby but the clinic also had a mom that was bleeding from a miscarriage.  So both patients were loaded into the ambulance with some family and they were off to Port-au-Prince.  I jumped in and made number 7 in the ambulance.  We were the highest priority so we were the first stop at our first hospital but the mother had to go to a different hospital yet.  This kind of situation is very much life in Haiti.  Always trying to do a lot with a little.

The baby had been born in a local hospital 8 days ago by a complicated and traumatic C-section.  She had not been doing well since she was born and her mother brought her to the community clinic as she continued to get worse.  She was very sick and the clinic called for transport to Port-au-Prince right away.  She was in respiratory distress, was very dehydrated, was hypoglycemic, and was hypothermic.  By the time I got the story we were at the hospital.  We went to work on her in the ER.  She was not breathing well and was also not ventilating well with assistance, she needed IV access, she needed fluid, she needed glucose, she needed to be rewarmed.  Everything flowed really well, almost like back home with the ER staff working side by side with the EMS Crew.  I had my first Intubation (putting a tube into the lungs to breath for her) in Haiti, on an 8 day old. 

We got everything done that could be done for her and she was admitted to the Ped’s Unit.  She was doing better for the moment but the long-term outcome looked rather bleak due to the amount of time that had passed before she was brought to help.  The odds were stacked against her from before she was even born.  Then medical system which she was born into let her down.  It continued to play out after she was born when she was sent home, when what she really needed was help.  Then, as she got sicker, the desperation of her mother not understanding her condition, not knowing if she should trust the hospital again, and not being able to afford the hospital again.  It was just a really bad situation that plays out in Haiti every single day.  Later that night I found out that she had passed away.

What a wide swing of emotions...  From bringing an infant into the world in the morning to losing an infant that night.  It was almost like the good had been overshadowed by the bad. Like at the end of the day we had only broke even.

Sunday (02-19-17) was a fun day!  I went out with HERO Ambulance and helped cover a 10 K ocean swim race.  It was called Swim For Haiti 2017.  It was a new experience and an enjoyable time.  And after 14 trips to Haiti I actually touched the ocean!

This was the view from "my office" for the day!!  I traded the ambulance for a 28 foot Boston Whaler with a pair of 225 HP motors on it!

There was a 10 K and a 1.5 K swim.  The 10K started on a small island off of La Gonave and finished at Wahoo Bay.  We had 3 big boats for medical and support staff.  We had 3 smaller motor boats patrolling and then they had hired a fisherman in a dugout canoe that stayed with each of the 50+ swimmers.

The day was fairly uneventful thankfully!  It was nice to be able to help out this organization as they raised money and awareness for Haiti.  There were swimmers from Haiti, Dominican Republic, France, USA, Australia, and El Salvador that I know of and probably were others.  This included  Naomy Grand'Pierre - the first Haitian woman to swim in the Olympics, competing in Rio.

On Monday morning (O2-20-17) the medical team that was staying at House of Hope came to help with our clinic.  We had put out the word that we could see a lot of patients.  We seen over 200 patients that day!!  Things continue going well at our Monday clinic.  It’s a blessing to be able to help people that don’t have any other access to medical care.  We see some very poor patients and if they had to pay even a little bit (less than 1 dollar US) they could not afford to be seen where payment is required.  In the same way on Tuesday’s the malnutrition clinic is providing hope to so many who can barely provide for their children.  The look of tremendous desperation that some of the mothers come in with that is transformed into Hope and Joy when they find out that there child now has a chance to grow up!  Most of the mothers have already lost a child.  Many to Malnutrition.

Saturday (02-25-17) I got a call from Stacy about a Medivac transport.  She asked if I could help HERO with a “quick” transport from a hospital near the airport to the airport for a medivac to Miami with a burn patient.  I headed to the airport to meet the crew and then to Doctors Without Borders where the patient was.  Doctors Without Borders has a burn unit in Port-au-Prince.  The patient was a female that had a propane explosion when she tried to light the stove.  She was reported to have 95% of her body burned with 2nd degree burns.  She was almost 6 days post injury before they were able to arrange the transport.  Very long story short, after 8 hours and making the airport stay open 2.5 hours late for us, the patient was on her way to Miami.  Praying this young lady will survive and have good recovery.

Stabilizing the patient on the tarmac before the flight to Miami.

Carnival started last Sunday and went through Fat Tuesday, which was followed by the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.  This gave the kids in the school a 5-day weekend.  I enjoyed the break as well!  Sunday, February 26th, was the first day since January 4th that I didn’t see at least 1 patient.  It was very nice to relax and watch a movie.

Just the other day I got an update on little Akanabelle from my last post.  She has recovered from her aspiration pneumonia, is doing well, and was released from the hospital!!  Thank-You for praying for Akanabelle!!  It’s always such a blessing to see positive outcomes in the daily struggle that is life for most Haitians.

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby 

A Picture's Worth.......

One of the early recipeants of the Pillowcase Dress Project. 

This is Magdola about 7 years ago.  She was living in the school at that time as part of the children’s home here.  She touched my heart the first time I met her and it has been a privilege to watch her grow up over the years.  She now lives up the road at the Rev home (the children named their home and Rev means Hope in Creole).  I finally got a picture with her after all my trips up there to take care of Octaline.  She just turned 9 on February 4th!

7 years of friendship!!

I continue to be busy in the school clinic.  I just got my exam table last Friday!!  I am excited to not only have a place, besides the floor, to lay sick kids down, but also don’t have to hurt my back working on kids setting in a metal folding chair or try to examine someone with abdominal pain that is setting in a chair.  It also makes a nice desk/work station in my little clinic where up until now I only had the floor to lay things out when organizing shelves.  Thanks to my neighbor Troy Price for making my exam table for me and my clinic!!

There were many sick children at the clinic on Monday.  There were 2 Hydrocephaly kids.  This little girl lives out on the big island of La Gonave.  She just had surgery to put a shunt in so she is staying with Karen at her facility until she is well enough to make the boat trip home.

There was also 1 little girl with Microcephaly (Possible a Zika Baby).  She is having seizures frequently.  Unfortunately, a treatment regimen to manage her is out of the scope of our little clinic.

This is dry season and there are lots of kids with colds, coughs, and sinus problems.  Some of these turn into pneumonia.  This little one was not feeling well and was treated for pneumonia at the clinic.

 I don’t remember what this little girl was sick with but she was such a cutie and I took advantage for the opportunity to love on this little one for just a few minutes.

I have been working with this little one and her mother since I arrived in Haiti back in November.  It has been a struggle.  Her mother seems to be clueless on raising a child.  Even though she is her 4th baby.  She keeps coming in with complaints of crazy things and when I tell her that I will take her to the hospital for treatment if I can confirm her reports she can never provide proof of her symptoms.  She has taken her to the hospital many times in the last couple months.  They always give her prescriptions but I don’t believe a lot of what she says and she can’t ever answer half of my questions.  I have only seen her awake twice so I wonder if she isn’t drugging her so she can leave her at home unattended (this happens in Haiti).  So, this is a very difficult situation to say the least.  I don’t think she takes very good care of her even when she is with her.  When she was 2 months old she brought her to me for diarrhea and I found out she was only feeding her cookies and dirty water.  She said that doctor told her that her breast milk was bad and to stop nursing her baby.  Despite my lectures, she is not feeding her very well and I can’t get her to understand that you don’t feed babies the same thing you eat.  She brought her to my clinic again a few days ago.  She said she is sick again.  She was very light and has lost weight since the last time I seen her.  She is 4 months old (maybe, mom is unsure of her birthday) and weighs 7 pounds 6 oz.  I stood in my clinic holding her and thought long and hard about taking her from her mom for a week or so.  I know how much harder my schedule would be there with a 4-month-old.  I settled for having her bring her to the malnutrition clinic on Tuesday.  I told her that she will follow the program to the letter or there would be repercussions.  I honestly believe that she has Munchausen’s by Proxy.  A condition in which parents make their children sick so they can rush them to the hospital and be involved in all the activity that is involved in that.  She actually showed up today for the malnutrition program.  She is a little too young for the Medika Mamba (peanut butter) that we use according to the protocols, even though she has been eating who knows what at home.  So, we put her under the contract of the clinic but with formula.  I again threatened to take her away if she doesn’t follow the rules.  Please pray that I make the right decisions and that we can make Rosedena healthy again and that her mother is not trying to let her die, and if so, we intervein before it’s too late.

I was out taking pictures the other day and caught the neighbor boy playing on the porch.  They sit on their second story porch and watch all the activity in the school yard and probably hope someday they will be able to go to school.

Sunday afternoon I got a call from HERO for a baby transport.  It was a sick child at an inpatient malnutrition center.  She had been brought in before when she was very sick and malnourished.  She lives in Cite soleil, which is the largest slum in the western Hemisphere.  Besides not being able to feed her baby she had been getting her babies water from the cannel.  Which would be as bad or worse than drinking from the Ravine where I work (see pictures from earlier posts).  When she got sick again her mom brought her back to the malnutrition center because she didn’t know where else to go.  She wasn’t actually malnourished but was very sick.  She had been having diarrhea and vomiting for several days.  She had been giving her clean water as she was taught in the program.  They rehydrated her but she seemed to be getting sicker. Her Oxygen level had dropped into the 70’s and her heart rate was over 200 and her respiratory rate was in the 80’s.  When we got to her she responded well to oxygen and in a few minutes her Oxygen level was up to 98% but the rest of her vitals were unchanged.  She had apparently aspirated at some point from all the vomiting and had a very bad case on Pneumonia.  We took her to Hospital Espoir.  It was the best hospital experience that I have had so far in Haiti in the last 10 weeks!  I just got word that she is not doing very well tonight.  Please pray for little Akanabelle.  It would be a blessing if she could make it to her first birthday on Saturday February 18th and many more.

After we arrived at the hospital on Sunday night it was so sad to see this mother kneel down next to her daughter’s ER bed and break down in desperation for her daughter.  She knows the reality of life in Haiti where 1 in 5 children dies before the age of 5.

I hope you have enjoyed the extra pictures in this post.  I decided I should share a few more of the many pictures I take every day.  It is such a blessing to work with so many children here in Haiti.  It makes my heart happy to know that through OUR help, WE are making a difference in the lives of children every day.  Helping to change those statistics one child at a time.  If you have not yet partnered with Kelby’s Kids, what better day than Valentine’s Day, to say I love you to a child by helping to save their life!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…  But the content of these pictures are priceless.  Because Kelby’s Kids are God’s Kids and together they can have a hope for a future!!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby

Finding the "normal" life of Haiti!

Things have finally settled down into a more normal schedule so I don’t feel like I have as many exciting stories to tell you this week.  But the everyday stuff is just as important to the kids we are helping!

I wanted to cover an event in my last post but it was getting to long with everything I had to get you caught up on.  So, a little late but still of interest I hope.

On January 12th 2010 at 4:53 pm an earthquake struck the greater Port-au-Prince area.  Reports were that as many as 275,000 people were killed and another 325,000 were injured.  It left over 1.5 million people homeless or displaced.   On its anniversary, it’s effects 7 years later are almost no longer visible to the city.  The effects in the hearts, minds, and bodies of the Haitian people that survived, still live on.  Many people use that as a reference point for trouble or health problems in their lives.  Some of the people that survived their injuries still bear the scares or missing limbs.  I remember the emotions of the hours and days that followed trying to get information about people that I knew in Haiti and if they had survived.  I also remember thinking that I had only returned from Haiti a couple weeks before the earthquake and that our guesthouse had pancaked in the earthquake.  It could have happened while I was there.  I returned to Haiti a few times shortly after the earthquake to help the people who were trying to put their lives back together.

This is how the guest house has looked for years.  I posted this picture in Instagram back in November.

Since moving to Haiti full time the foundation of that guest house stands only about 300 yards from where I now live.  I walk past it many times a week and it’s a constant reminder of that time.

The UN was breaking up the concreate and the Haitians were collecting all the rebar.

I found it very interesting that 7 years later, to the day, the UN showed up with excavators to remove the foundation.  They were from Peru and none of us speak Spanish but we believe they are putting in some housing for personal.  It has set as an empty lot since then so we will see what happens in the future.

I have been busy in the school clinic now that I am able to spend more time there.  Octaline is doing well and I continue to be thankful that she has returned to good health!  I get a lot of your everyday things at the school.  Ear aches, sore throats, sinus infections, pink eye, scrapes and bruises from falling, infections from bug bites, headaches, urinary tract infections, coughs, stomach problems, ingrown toe nails, pneumonia, and colds and that’s just the last 3 days!  There is a lot of education that goes along with treatment.  Haitians don’t ever drink enough water, but they will tell you they do.  “Clean” is also in the eye of the beholder, literally.  If you can’t see it can’t be there.  So, we talk about clean water, safe food, hand washing, and taking care of infections.  Also proper ways to use medications.  Sometimes I think they think I am just making stuff up because I don’t want to give them medication.  They are under the impression that when you go to the doctor the more medications they give you the better that they were taken care of.  But people will go to the doctor with high blood pressure and then bring me 5 prescriptions to fill for them.  You look at the list and its Vitamin C, Iron, Tums, Ibuprofen, and an inhaler.  So, they are often unhappy when they have a cold and you won’t load them up with antibiotics and pills, even when the prescriptions that doctors wright often have nothing to do with there illness.

Donald is the man from the clinic on Mondays that had his foot partially amputated that I told you about in the last post.  We finally got him to a hospital that was willing to do surgery.  We have reports that they only did a surgical debridement so we will see what it’s like when he gets home from the hospital.  I hope that they removed all the infection and closed the skin.  If not, we could spend the next year trying to get it to heal and prevent it from getting an infection that will kill him.

The student with the ingrown toenail didn’t want to me touch his toe.  Even though it was infected and swollen and painful, he stated it would be fine.  So, I showed him the last picture I took of Donald’s foot and told him this started as a toe injury that wasn’t taken care of and he would end up the same way.  After almost passing out he agreed to treatment!

Clinic on Monday mornings up the road at Karen’s remains busy.  It’s always a good place to find babies to snuggle.

On Tuesday, Meredith will be starting her Malnutrition program.  I will be overseeing the medical side of it and the medication administration.  There is a very strict protocol for caring for these severely malnourished children.  You start by treating them for worms and Parasites so that they are getting all the nutrition and not any little stowaways.  Then you make sure that there are no underlying medical issues that are causing them to not gain weight.  Then based on their statistics like Height, weight, arm circumference, and if they have edema, you start them on the required amount of Medika Mumba.  That is a Peanut Butter that is fortified with all kinds of vitamins, minerals, protein, and calories.  You can not only live on just this and water but will gain weight!  Depending on their needs, a 3-year-old could be placed on over 2,000 calories a day.  They are not allowed to eat any food until there required amount for the day is gone.  It is an expensive product but very effective.  It is impossible to not gain weight if you follow the rules.  It’s difficult to penalize the child, but under the protocols children who don’t gain weight without medical reasons are kicked out of the program.  So, the parents must sign a contract that says they won’t share the Medika Mumba with other family members, sell it to the neighbors, or eat it themselves, because we will know and you will be expelled.  We also educate them on clean water and good nutrition for when they graduate the program.  I am excited to be a part of this program because it’s so important.  Small children that are malnourished will have developmental delays and learning disabilities that will follow them the rest of their lives, making an already difficult life even harder.

Walking home from church this afternoon I was passing a little girl who was maybe 10 walking the other way.  Just before she passed I noticed a spot on her chest, just above the collar of her dress, that appeared to be a tumor of some sort.  I stopped her and pointed to it.  Sometimes it’s hard not to let 26 years in medicine effect the way you think and act.  She pulled the neck of her dress down a little more to reveal a very large scar.  It caught me off guard and out of instinct I needed to evaluate the entire wound.  She had a massive and distorted wound to her shoulder, chest, and abdomen.  After a moment, I realized that I was alone and she was alone, she could not understand what I was saying, and even though she was a little kid, I was looking down her dress.  I put my hand on her cheek and said God bless you sweetie.  She smiled and we both kept walking.  It was obviously an old wound so it’s not like she is bleeding or could have an infection or some other life threatening emergency but she has been weighing very heavy on my heart today.  She has a massive amounts of thick scar tissue that is going to, if not already, cause her problems as she grows.  It’s possible that this may be from the earthquake, when she was just little, but I don’t know.  I believe that as she gets bigger she is going to have serious trouble from this.  Scar tissue is very fibrous and does not stretch like other skin.  When you have Keloid and Contracture scars they can do damage to underlying tissue and organs and can affect that way things grow.  It’s possible that this will, if it’s not already, change the way her chest is shaped and ultimately affect her breathing.  I have no idea where she lives but I feel like I really need to find her and evaluate her in the clinic.  I am sure that she will need surgery to release these scars soon, and maybe again before she becomes an adult.  I believe that God put her in my path (actually right in front of the old guest house) for a reason.  Please pray that I will be able to find her and give her a hope for a better and longer life.

As always, thank-you for your support and partnership with Kelby’s Kids!  If you are not currently supporting this ministry and want to be a part of changing kids’ lives, go to my support page - www.kelbyskids.org/support/

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

It is almost impossible to think that I have been back to Haiti for 17 days now.  It has been such a whirlwind.  I apologize that I haven’t written a blog post sooner but hopefully by the end of this you will understand why!

And as much as I would like it to be, it's not because I have been snuggling babies all day!

I arrived back home on January 5th after a nice Christmas break back in Michigan.  It was good to see friends and family over the holidays but I was ready to leave the snow as the temperature really started plummeting as I was leaving...  I think it was just about 12 minutes after walking into my little room with my suitcases that I received a message from Amber, the orphanage director from up the road.  “Are you back?”  She was back in the U.S. and one of her kids was sick so she needed some assistance working though the problem from Haiti.  And so, it began!

The next 10 days are really kind of a blur now but I will do my best to tell the story, while at the same time protecting her privacy and keeping it to the Readers Digest version.  Octaline is the young lady that was sick and had already been taken to the hospital a few hours before I arrived in Haiti.  It wasn’t very clear why she had been taken to the hospital so a more definitive diagnosis was the first order of business.  It was almost dark by now and she will have to pay for the hospital room regardless, so it was decided that we would start first thing in the morning on this.  I got to bed early in anticipation of a long day tomorrow but also having got up at 1:45 this morning to get to the airport.  At 6:50 am one of the workers was at the school to pick me up (I was still on Michigan time and was thinking like 9 am would be a good “first thing”).  So with part of breakfast and no shower I was off to the hospital.  We went past the hospital we thought she was in to a small hospital I had never heard of.  It was not too bad but reminded me more of a little hotel.  And from what they had done thus far it was.  I assessed her and felt like she most likely had appendicitis and its day 6 now.  After a few phone calls a spot was secured for her at Bernard Mevs Hospital.  We signed her out AMA and just as we were heading out the doctor showed up and was upset we were leaving.  He said he was going to start caring for her now.  We told him he had wasted 16 hours getting ready to do that and we were leaving!  We loaded her into the van and made the trip to Bernard Mevs.  We got her into the ER and she was seen by the accepting ER doctor.  She quickly agreed it was appendicitis and she called a surgeon.  The surgeon stated she was for sure a surgical abdomen and scheduled the surgery.  I was keeping in close contact with Amber.  She kept telling me to do what I though was best and don’t worry about money.  Well, what I thought was best was not an option, were in Haiti, and how do you not worry about money when they bring you all the money the orphanage has for the next 30 days?  So needless to say, my stress level was pretty high a short way into this.  I told the surgeon that I would really like some diagnostic proof before we proceed.  He said he didn’t need it, he knew.  After he left I asked the ER doctor about it and she said she would do an ultrasound but she trusted the surgeon.  Now your probably saying what’s the big deal.  It’s just a quick appendectomy.  Not in Haiti!  A ruptured appendix would most likely be fatal.  But the surgery itself probably only has a 50/50 chance of being successful and the patient surviving.  Surgery is a very last ditch effort here.  If we do surgery she could die, if we wait and were wrong she will die.  So no pressure, just pick!

I am still trying to get used to the hospital setting in Haiti.  It’s very different in so many ways.  Like the bathrooms for almost the entire hospital are at the back of the parking lot.  So each time we had to help her across the entire complex and back.  After a while the ER doctor did an ultrasound.  She was not able to find an abscess at the appendix.  But she said she is not real good at finding the appendix on ultrasound.  Her pain had also changed though.  Now I was even less sure.  The ER doctor said “let’s wait for the Typhoid results, I am not sure I would have surgery now if it was me”.  So now there is more doubt of what to do.  I will spare you the thousand other things and details that went into the day to help the stress level.  We finally agreed upon admitting her with IV fluids and antibiotics for observation.  A nanny from the children’s home came to take the night shift because it was already dark.  I told her not to let them do surgery and call if they tried because we had already paid for it but we don't want it now. 

The next morning, we were back at the hospital by 7 am.  I won’t share all the details but there were many times it was evident that the staff in the hospital were going to use their position to let the white guy know that they are in charge.  So, we stood in the street in front of the hospital gate with the guards smirking each time they let other people in.  Finally, after 80 minutes, and with no reason for the change they waved us in.  We were really hoping to get her home but we couldn’t get the doctor to come in until after noon.  At noon, your next day starts for paying a second day of hospitalization, very convenient don't you think.  Some of the tests were back and she appeared to have a very bad infection of the GI tract.  The surgeon said he didn’t believe she was a surgical candidate any more but she would need to spend several days in the hospital for IV antibiotic treatment.  I told him who I was, what I did in the US, and told him that she lives in an orphanage.  I told him that we had already spent a month’s budget worth of food for all the kids on the hospital bill (it sounded about right but I was guessing?!) and could I please take her home and care for her there.  He smiled and said “I did not know, I will do that for you!”  He wrote all the orders and prescriptions for the next day for us to take her home to complete her treatment.

Then next morning we came to pick her up.  We assumed that we would be refunded for the surgery and would use that money to pay the bill.  That was not the case.  They do refunds by check.  We needed even more money to get her out of the hospital.  But, we finally got enough together and got her home!  Again, I was worried if I had done the right thing.  We were following the course of treatment the doctors had given and the first day she was doing well.  But the next day she got very sick again.  Her symptoms seemed to be evolving and I was still worried I wasn’t making the right decisions.  Her IV went bad and it took a while to get another one started because she hadn’t been drinking and had gotten very dehydrated again.  Her IV from the hospital was also infected but they do not use clear tape or op site dressings so I could not see it until I took it out.  I spent over 13 hours in her room that day with her.  But there were a lot of people praying for Octaline both in the US and Haiti and she started to improve again.  We switch from IV antibiotics to oral antibiotics but continued some IV fluids to keep her hydrated and feeling better.  About the time it was fairly certain we had gotten her though this, I had about done all I could do.  For the last 8 days, I had spent a minimum of 12 hours a day working with her or dealing with issues or traveling to and from the hospital or finding medications, or researching things, but most days it was more.  I hadn’t even unpacked my suitcases since I had gotten back or even had time to eat lunch (my good friend Sally had made me a big batch of Monster Cookies just before I left and they are what I survived on for 8 days!).  I wasn’t sleeping well either as I was always running over things in my mind wondering if I was doing the right things.  It was a little too much and it took its toll and now I was sick.  I gave Octaline her morning medications and told her I wouldn’t be down in the morning because I really had to get some rest and take care of myself for just a little bit.

So thankful that God has brought healing to this beautiful young lady!

I took the necessary precautions to try to sleep as late as possible Saturday morning and try to recover from being sick.  I woke up to a facebook message alert on my phone.  I had a conversation in the back of my head that I had with a teacher the day before.  So at 7:30 am I checked the message and he said that his wife was having trouble with her pregnancy and he asked it I could come and help because they couldn’t afford the hospital.  It sounded like from his description that she could be in preterm labor.  I quickly got up and got dressed and grabbed what I thought I might need not really sure if I could be possible delivering a 16 week baby today.  Edmond drove me to see her and I was thankful that she was doing much better than I had been anticipating.  She had been sick and was dehydrated but the baby seemed OK and it was just her not feeling well.  I started an IV on her and gave her 2 liters of fluid and went over some things she needed to work on.  Her last baby was born at 29 about weeks.  I am going to be helping them out with as much prenatal care and possible and will try our best to the this little one to full term!!

Getting ready to start an IV on Mamma

In the meantime, Meredith went to a training for her malnutrition program so I ran the Monday morning clinic with Makayla as my assistant!  She decided that medicine and especially the pharmacy are not going to be her field of choice once she graduates!  We seen about 35 patients that day.  Sometimes I start to feel like a broken record but they really would have less health problems if they would drink more water.  Was able to see this little Angel in the clinic.

She fell asleep on my shoulder about 2 minutes after this picture was taken.  I wanted to take her home with me!

Noella was brought in by her mom because she said she fell off the bed and now won’t use her arm right.  She said it had been 10 days since she fell.  We had her bring her back the next day and I was going to take her for an X-ray but there was a medical team in the neighborhood and we had one of the doctors look at her and he said she had a Nurse Maid dislocation of her elbow.  He reduced it but said it didn’t go back very well due to the time.  The little kids get picked up by their hand or wrist a lot in Haiti and they get injuries from it.  Hopefully she will have full use of her arm in the future.

We are also seeing a young man in the clinic that injured his toes.  By the time he got medical help it was too late.  They amputated the front half of his foot.  They did a very poor job and didn’t even close the end of the amputation with skin.  When he came to us it was all infected and not looking good at all.  I won’t post a picture as it’s pretty graphic.  Although I did use the picture as motivation for a student in the school to let me work on his infected toe.  I told him he would end up like the picture if he didn’t let me help him now!  Anyway, we are trying to keep him well while we wait for an orthopedic surgical team from the US to help him.  I am sure they will have to remove it above the ankle but we are just trying to prevent gangrene and keep him from getting sick until he can have another surgery.

I did have a lady come to the gate at the school with a toe injury.  She went to the hospital and now was looking for some help.  She actually had gotten an X-Ray but that is all they did for her.  They let her leave with a dislocated toe.  So I reduced her dislocation buddy taped her toes and sent her on her way. 

Do you remember Jean?  He is the guy that had the wound on the back of his heal and we took him to the hospital back in the middle of November and they didn’t do anything for him.  I am happy to report that he is almost healed!!  He just has a very small area that is still open.  We should be able to stop dressings in a couple more weeks!  Thanks to Meredith for taking care of him while I was in Michigan.  

Are you seeing a recurring pattern here with hospitals?  Are you understanding the level of stress I had trying to decide just how long to leave Octaline in the hospital to help her but not let it be a detriment?  The struggle is real. 

Let me continue…

On Thursday I was planning to go to HERO Ambulance and help put together a presentation to secure funding for our “Baby Bus” that we are trying to get started.  This will be the first ambulance dedicated to just Pediatric and Neonatal patients as well as high risk OB patients in the history of Haiti.  I got a call just before I was supposed to be picked up and was told there was a change in plans.  There was one of the very patients that needs this ambulance in need of our services.  They said they would pick me up and we would go and do the transport.  I was expecting an ambulance since that is often what you make ambulance runs in…. Today was a little different.

Before you ask....  NO, I didn't carry the baby on the motorcycle!  Just the Oxygen!

So it’s Haiti, what every it takes!!  The ambulance was in for maintenance and it would be a faster response by Moto.  They had a vehicle and just needed portable O2 and someone to provide care.  So, we loaded up.  Stacy on one bike with a huge jump bag full of medical equipment and Steve and I on the other with an oxygen tank (in an OSHA approved securing system of course)!  And we were off.  It was about an hour response by moto.  It would have probably been at least half again as long by ambulance or more.  Stacy later told me that I should just play on my phone and not watch were we are going because it’s harder when I try to “help” the driver!  We found our way out to Onaville Community Health Center.  There we found Deborah, our patient.

So Small... So Fragile... So Precious...

Deborah is a 31-week Preemie that was born in the local hospital yesterday.  This hospital apparently only offers one delivery service.  Mom delivered her first baby alone.  When Deborah delivered, she fell on the floor, landing on her head.  The hospital came and tied the cord with a piece of string, cut the cord, and handed her to her mom and said thanks, you can go now.  Her mom brought her to the community clinic the next day.  She was about 44 hours old when we arrived.  Her forehead was black and blue, her Fontanels (the “soft spots” on the top of a baby’s head) were bulging, indicating a head injury.  Her oxygen levels had been very low when she arrived and she required continuous oxygen to keep her levels up.  She had been accepted at Bernard Mevs Hospital which is the only hospital in Port-au-Prince that provides Pediatric and Neurological services.  So after a quick assessment we were on our way.

So the baby and I along with mom and Rachel from the clinic loaded up in the clinic's SUV and we were off for a fast and bumpy ride to the hospital.  Stacy and Steve escorted us on the moto's clearing and blocking traffic as we went.  When we arrived at the hospital the ER staff started working on her.  Even with a hospital that has a NICU in it, things are still very different in Haiti then I am used to in the US.  The nurses were a little irritated with all of us filling up the little one room Pediatric ER.  I was asked to leave by one staff member and when I left another nurse came and got me to come back and help.

After a while we really needed to get going so reluctantly we left.  Shortly after getting home that evening I learned that about 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital Deborah had found her healing in the arms on Jesus. 

I seen Octaline today for the last time as a patient, hopefully.  I am so very thankful for your prayers and for God’s direction in caring for her.  I truly was worried that I would lose her for a while.  I am thankful that God allowed me to be involved in His plan to restore her to health.  It continues to be a blessing to be able to serve here in Haiti.  I am further blessed by the part you play in this work so that together lives can be changed!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby

Ending 2016 with a full heart!

I can’t really put into words how blessed I am to be able to be living in Haiti and serving the children and people there!  I can see that for a very long time my life course has been preparing me for this work.  I feel like I am right where I belong and it’s such a blessing to me as I try to be a blessing to all those around me.  A big part of that blessing is the partnership that you have made with Kelby’s Kids.  This ministry to the children of Haiti is 100% dependent on you!  Without your encouragement, prayer support, and generous financial support, Kelby’s Kids would not exist.  If you want to know the stories and see the faces that together we have been able help, please look back though this blog for the last several months.

Lives have been changed and saved already, and we are just getting started.  I already have a surgery set up for a little boy the first part of January, others who are waiting for me to return to help them, and even working with one little patient that hasn’t been born yet.  In a place where medical care is either out of reach or so substandard that there isn’t any hope, we can be that hope!  That hopelessness creates a life where things are just accepted as out of there control.  Where an ear infection will result in becoming deaf, or a urinary tract infection will continue until it causes kidney failure, or pneumonia will end your life.  If you haven’t already, I hope that you would consider partnering with Kelby’s Kids to see even more lives changed in 2017.

Please help Kelby's Kids to keep these smiles going for many years to come!

If you would like to make a year-end contribution for tax-exemption in 2016, please remember the following.  Donations by check need to be post marked by December 31st  and sent to: Kelby’s Kids, P.O Box 57, Reed City MI 49677-0057.  If you’re making an electronic donation you can do it through this web site www.kelbyskids.org/support/  just remember they need to be time stamped by 11:59 pm on December 31st.

I pray that each of you has a very blessed 2017!

Humbled to serve on your behalf,

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby Klassen

Founder and President of Kelby’s Kids Inc. (A Non-Profit 501 (C) 3 Organization) 

A Christmas Story

I am still not enjoying this Michigan weather but am getting a little more accustom to it.  It does seem a little more like Christmas with some snow on the ground.  I have been home less than a week and I already miss Haiti a great deal.  I worry about my kids and hope they are all doing well while I am gone.  The kids in the school have been keeping me busy with many medical issues lately.  It still amazes me that the kids will go for weeks before they complain about an ear infection or a sinus infection or something.  I really need to work harder on teaching them to be more proactive with taking care of issues involving their health.  I also need to work on proper medical care.  I had a student that had a Bluetooth speaker blow up while it was charging and it burn him.  When he came to me it was covered in toothpaste.  This is a common treatment in Haiti for many things.

On Sunday evening I was in my room when one of the kids came up and said there was someone at the gate for me.  I grabbed my stethoscope and went down to the gate, really expecting a man who had been there several times wanting money for his daughter’s medical bills.  I had told him several times that I don’t give out cash and since his daughter is in a hospital almost 2 hours away I couldn’t really help him.  What I found was a lady holding a little girl with a laceration to her forehead and who was all but unresponsive.  I had a hard time getting the story from them but it seems that she just fell and hit her head some how.  Her mom was at church and the only family with this little 2-year-old was a 11-year-old sister.  She was only responsive to deep painful stimulus and her pupils were not responding appropriately.  I told Edmond, who doubles as the school’s ambulance driver, that she probably has a closed head injury and we need to get her to the hospital.  So, I ran up to my room and got some money and a few things in-case things went bad and then I took the child and got in the truck for a run to the ER after a quick stop at the church in the Ravine to get Mom.  When we arrived at the ER she began waking up.  Of course, that’s how it goes so that no one in the ER sees her almost unresponsive.  At the very least she was minimally responsive to pain for better than a half hour. 

This Is Daina after she woke up while she was hanging out in the ER.

When the first doctor came in I told him what had happened and he said that they would admit her for observation as there CT scanner was down and they could not do a head CT.  When the second doctor came in mom was talking to her and I could tell she was not getting the story right.  This doctor spoke very little English but I was able to get enough of the story across to her that she yelled at Mom for not knowing what was going on, as I assume she just told them that she fell and needs stitches.  Then a baby in the NICU crashed and everyone went running.  After a couple hours, a third doctor came in who did not speak any English.  He stitched her up without hardly cleaning it and with very poor sterile technique.  I don’t have the time to tell you all the things that I seen and experienced in the Peds ER but by this time I decided that being in the hospital was probably a bigger detriment to her health than not being in the hospital.  By this time she was running around and acting normally. 

They wrote her a prescription for Tylenol and said we could go.  It took over an hour to check out.  After over 6 hours and very little care I was more than ready to leave.  We got her home a little after midnight and I told mom to bring her to the clinic the next morning so I could reevaluate her.  As it turned out Mom never brought her and it took me 4 days to find her.  I was really worried that something had happened to her during the night but on the other hand I knew that I was probably there only source of medical care so I hoped they would have come to me if she was not doing well.  But she seemed to be doing fine now and did remember at least part of the ER visit as I had to help hold her for the stitches and so now she was hiding behind her mom and wouldn’t let me get close to her.

You never know what is going to happen next and it keeps it exciting not knowing what the next phone call or knock at the gate will bring.  Things are going well at the clinic up the street that I work at on Mondays.  There is no shortage of cute babies that like to be held! 

The week before I left, I was back at the clinic on Tuesday taking care of some things and one of the kids in the neighborhood came in with wound on his foot and ankle.  He had been running and stepped on a broken bottle.  He had a jagged laceration to his ankle.  He had been like this for 2 days.  It was still bleeding and he still had a piece of broken glass in the bottom of his foot.  Due to his living conditions, we decided that it would be better if we would clean it up, stitch it, dress it, and get him on some antibiotics.  So, I put 4 stitches in his ankle and removed the glass from his foot.  We got him the best antibiotics that we had and prayed that it would heal well.  After a couple days, it was looking good.  The second time he came back his dressing was wet and dirty and rather nasty.  The next recheck it was starting to look rather infected.  At last report, he hadn’t come back to the clinic since so I am hoping that he doesn’t have a bad infection going and he waits until it’s really bad before he returns for help.

As we were finishing up with the stitches I got a call that Karen (she owns the building were the clinic is held on Mondays) asking if she could bring a girl by to be looked at.  A few minutes later she arrived with Benjie and was very frustrated with the Haiti medical system by this point.  Benjie was in the hospital but the doctors went on strike so they stopped caring for her.  Now they can’t find another place to take her.  In the 2010 earthquake Benjie had concreate fall on her crushing her pelvis.  She now has a permeant catheter directly into her bladder. 

Benjie with her Mom and Grandmother

The catheter became plugged and had to be replaced.  She had surgery about 9 days before to replace it.  I removed her dressing and found that she has a bad infection.  There is also the possibility that urine is leaking around the catheter.  Her entire abdomen is very painful to touch indicating that the infection has spread to her entire abdomen.  She is on oral antibiotics but is probably close to becoming septic from her condition.  Her stitches were pulling very badly and I am fairly certain that she did not have any internal stitches placed after the surgery.  It was time for the sutures to come out but I am sure that if they were removed the entire site would reopen.  They also had put a “surgical drain tube” in during the surgery.  This was a piece of plastic tubing, which I believe is probably cut from a nasal cannula, and placed as a drain.  The end of the tube was open and left hanging so it was a great avenue for infection to enter the site.  I redressed the area and told Karen that this was way beyond what we should attempt to do here.  She really needs a surgical debridement and to ensure the tube is in place and well secured.  She also needs IV Antibiotics.  I told her I would use my contacts to see what we could do.  I contacted my friend Stacy with HERO Ambulance.  She said that she couldn’t find any beds in Port-au-Prince in an appropriate facility due to the hospitals closing from the doctors being on strike.  She was able to find an accepting surgeon in Hospital Boniface in Fond Des Blancs.  She also arranged transport through Haiti Air Ambulance.  This is only about a 15 -20 minute flight but would have been a 4 hour drive which would have been very difficult for Benjie to tolerate due to her pain with any kind of movement. 

Benjie being loaded into the Helicopter for her flight.

I have not received any further updates but please join me in praying for Benjie as she is a very sick girl.

One of my last few days at school I was called for a student not feeling well.  A girl was complaining of a severe head ache and chest pain.  I moved her to the office and started to evaluate her.  She has not been drinking much water, like many people in Haiti.  Her vitals indicated that she was very dehydrated.  I asked her if she wanted to lay down and she shook her head no.  I told her that she would feel better if she laid down.  She again shook her head no.  I asked her why she didn’t want to lay down and she responded by passing out.  I caught her and got her laying down.  I started an IV started on her and began giving her some fluids.  It took about a half a liter before she started to respond to questions very well.  She is from the children’s home up the road and I found out that she has H Pylori and so she doesn’t like to eat or drink very well due to frequent abdominal pain.  She also stated that she had a heart issue when she was younger but was unsure what it was.  She seemed to have a very slight abnormality to her heart tones so I told the director of the Children’s home to be sure to have the pediatrician that is coming next week look at her.  After 2 liters of fluid she stated that she felt pretty good and was ready to go home.  It’s amazing what being well hydrated will do for you but it’s so hard to get the kids to believe you.

Two nights before I left Haiti Stacy called me about 11:45 and asked if I was available.  I said sure, what’s up?  She said a friend of hers had messaged that his wife was in labor and they were at the hospital and the hospital would not let them in.  She was trying to get more information from them as dad was kind of in a panic.  As we got more information they were going from hospital to hospital trying to find a place where she could deliver.  We were trying to figure out what to do for them.  After the 4th hospital turned them away we tried to convinced them to go home and I would come to their house and deliver their baby.  They weren’t too sure if they wanted to do that at first but Stacy told them that they could always just drive around in the middle of the night until he got to delivered the baby in the car!  Then they decided they would go home.  As I started to get ready Stacy called back and said that they had stopped by a clinic on the way home and they let them in.  So, they were going to stay there.  She delivered a healthy baby boy that night! 

It sounds very similar to the Christmas story, with Mary and Joseph and no room in the Inn for baby Jesus to be born.  But sadly, this is the everyday reality in Haiti.  I hope that today you remember the real meaning of Christmas and you can share some love and kindness to those around you.  Because it truly is better to give than receive.  But in giving you will always be blessed.

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby 

From Happy & Healthy to Helped & Healed!

Well, I promised you a story that had been evolving in my last blog post so I wanted to get that out at least before I head for the horrible cold and snowy north country…

On November 17, we (the medical team that was here for the week and myself (See post 11/23/16 “Going Down South”)) held a medical clinic in Port Salut for the victims of hurricane Matthew.  We had a young lady come thought the clinic for help.  I don’t remember now what her medical need was but after she was seen she was on her way out when she turned around and came back.  She said that she wanted to give her life to Jesus because she needed Him! (After surviving an earthquake and a direct hit from a hurricane it makes you reevaluate your life!!) 

We prayed with Marie and gave her a Bible in Creole with the date and place written in it to remember this day.  As we were talking with her we asked her about her leg.  She told us that she had been in the earthquake in Port-Au-Prince (PAP) and had been injured and lost her leg.  Her Prosthesis was in bad shape to say the least.  David (medical team leader) asked her about a new one and she said she needs one because this one is 6 years old but she could never afford one.  This one was given to her because of all the support after the earthquake but all the programs for prosthesis are gone now and you must pay for them.  David got her name and phone number and said he couldn’t make any promises but would see what he could do for her.  The day after we got back to Port-au-Prince we went to Bernard Mevs Hospital where the prosthetic lab is.  He was going to pay for her new leg so she could get it when she came to PAP next time.  It was not open that day so David gave me the amount of money that Marie said it would cost and asked me to see it through. 

I called Marie on Friday afternoon and asked her when she thought she would be able to get to PAP as I didn’t want to pay to early and have them forget who it was for.  She said it would be some time before she could find the money to take the bus to get there.  I told her to let me know before she came and I would go and pay.  She said OK.  At 7:20 am on Monday morning she called and said I am at the hospital where are you?!  So, I got my driver and we were off for the hospital.  When we arrived, I could not find her so I called her and she said she was stuck in traffic but almost there.  The next call she said she got lost.  After an hour of waiting she finally arrived.  I didn’t think too much of it cause it’s kind of the Haitian way!  We went to register her so I could set up an account and pay the fee.  The registration people sent us to the logistics office.  There we were referred to another hospital.  They stated they don’t have funding and have closed the Prosthetic lab here.  We headed out the gate and to the truck.  I talked with Edmond and he said it’s going to be more expensive at this other hospital, especially if they see the white guy, so I will drop you back off at the school and take her by myself he said.  As we were getting in the truck a Physical Therapist from the hospital came out and said that Macena, the prosthetic’s guy, wanted to see us.  So, we went back into the hospital.  As we were going in we met that lady that referred us to the other hospital and she yelled at him and told him we didn’t belong here anymore, we had a referral.  He said OK and when she walked away he said “let’s go upstairs to the Prosthetic’s lab and hide!”  So, we went upstairs.  He said Macena was stuck in traffic but would be there in a few minutes, not the first time I had heard that today.

 I really like this picture because it hard to see her but her difference stands out.  This is how she is seen in Haiti.  She is seen only as handicapped and not as herself.  But we can change that!!

A little over an hour later, I am setting here thinking if all he wants to do is see us and can’t help us I don’t have time for this, I have already been here 2 ½ hours and have accomplished nothing.  He finally arrived and was shocked at the condition of her leg.  He said I can repair this one until I can build her a new one.  He said we have no funding so you will need to pay me so that I can go buy the items to make it.  He said it would be 3 times the amount that David had given me but it would be 10 times as much at the other hospital.  He said it makes him very made as that hospital still gets funding from the U.S. and they charge their own people too much.  Well, I certainly couldn’t and wouldn’t tell her “NO”.  I paid him for the new Prosthesis and he went to work to fix up her old leg to get her by in the meantime.  He also got her measurements and made a mold of her leg so that he would build her a new custom prosthesis as well.  Now she at least has a foot again!  This meant that she would need a new pair of shoes for the trip home as she has only needed 1 shoe for the last year or two.  So, I gave her some money to get a new pair of shoes when she left.

Marie with her improved old Prosthesis.

10 days later the new leg was done.  I called Marie and told her to be at the hospital by 10 am the next morning.  I arrived at the hospital at 10 am and was met by Macena.  We called Marie and she said she was waiting for a Tap Tap (Taxi) to bring her from the bus station to the hospital but it wouldn’t be long.  A while later we called and she said traffic was bad but they were getting closer.  While we were waiting, I was talking with Wilfrid Macena, as I discovered that Macena was not his first name.  He began telling me his story and showing be pictures and videos of his recent experiences.  You see, Wilfrid is also a post-earthquake amputee.  He had a wall fall on him and brake his lower leg.  It got infected and 7 days later when he got help he ended up being an above the knee amputee.  He has taken adversity head-on in his new life style.  He thanks God for allowing to help his people.  He is the captain of the Haitian Amputee Soccer team.  He has traveled the world sharing with people that life isn’t over after an amputation and inspiring them to get back to as normal of life as possible.  He has also done a lot of work with Disabled American Veterans projects.

Wilfrid presenting the Pope with a Haitian Soccer Jersey on the 5th anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, in Rome.

Finally, after 90 minutes Marie showed up with her sister.  They both looked very nice and she was excited to be getting her new prosthesis.  After a little bit of last minute fine tuning the prosthesis was ready to go!  During the process of getting everything just right, it came up in conversation that during the first 2 calls we made that they were both actually still at her sister’s house getting ready so they would look nice for this event.  So, it wasn’t really a Haitian thing that made them late it was just a girl thing!!  It will take her a little bit to learn to walk correctly again as she has been compensating for the loss of the height of that foot for a long time.  But before long she will be walking almost normally.   It was so encouraging to see how happy she was to not only have a new, higher quality leg but one that matches her better and won’t make her stand out as different.  Being disabled in Haiti is a huge disadvantage.  People look down on any form of being handicapped here so the less people notice the less you must deal with that and the better life will be for her.

If I had shown you this picture first you would probably have never noticed that that foot wasn’t real or that she even had a disability.  Now, most of the time people that don’t know her will never notice.  Another plus for her with this one is that unlike the old one there is actually a gap between the big toe and the rest of the toes so she can actually where flip flops for the first time since January 12, 2010!

Marie and Wilfrid sporting their Prosthesis together with pride!  I think it made her much more comfortable to go though this process knowing that he is also an amputee and knows the struggles she deals with.

From old to new!!

I am blessed to have been a small part of this story.  Marie has gone from being a Happy & Healthy, happy go lucky, young lady to someone that needed to be physically helped.  I was able to be part of bringing her the physical help she needed.  But, she has always needed a spiritual help.  I am thankful that Marie has chosen a personal relationship with God so that someday she will find complete healing, because there won’t be any prosthesis in Heaven!!

Well, I will be leaving for the airport in about 2 hours.  It is bitter sweet…  I am looking forward to seeing family and friends for the holidays but I love life in Haiti and the Haitian people.  I also know that some kids will just not get help while I am gone.  I get kids coming with complaints that are months old.  Treatment was never an option until I arrived.  I am not even going to pretend to be happy about the cold, I am just going to try to survive it.  I am to the point where 76-77 in my room in the evenings is cool to me.

Thanks again for everything you do to be a part of Kelby’s Kids!!!  I will try to get another blog post out a couple days after I get home.  There is a lot to catch you up on! 

Blessings to you during this season of CHRISTmas!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby 

Year-end Gift to Support Kelby’s Kids in Haiti

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.

Those who have known Kelby through the years, understand that a long-awaited dream has become reality! For those who have recently become friends of Kelby's Kids, Inc, the Lord has been working out the details of Kelby’s move to Haiti for many years.

Jeremiah’s letter from the Lord (Jeremiah 29) sounds a lot like what the Lord was speaking to Kelby’s heart as he waited for the Lord to prepare the way for him to move to Port Au Prince and serve the medical needs of Haiti’s children.

Jeremiah 29:10-14:  This is what the Lord says: “You will be in [Reed City] for [twenty-five years]. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In this days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

We can all be partners with Kelby as he provides desperately-needed medical care for children in Haiti. We have opportunity to support Kelby (and ultimately Kelby’s Kids in Haiti) through:

• prayer (the most powerful tool in the hands of the Lord)
• financial support (Kelby is fully reliant on the support of all of us)
• sharing the story of Kelby’s work in Haiti (share Facebook and blog posts with others)

As 2016 ends, it’s not too late to support Kelby for the first time, or with an additional year end gift. All contributions that are postmarked on or before 12/31/16, are recorded for 2016 tax credit.

Please consider a year-end gift to support Kelby’s Kids, Inc and provide for the children of Haiti.

Until no child dies.

Barb Frahm, Secretary/Treasurer

Click here to support Kelby's Kids with a tax-deductible, end-of-the-year gift.

A little housekeeping about making donations. 

PayPal is a convenient way to give automated monthly gifts. There is a fee for Kelby's Kids to accept a PayPal account but we gladly pay the fee since it makes it more convenient for you to give.

Stripe is another way to give through the website. They, too, charge Kelby's Kids a fee. It's a bit more than PayPal (so, if it makes no difference to you, please select the Paypal option).

Sending a check by mail through your bank is free to you and Kelby's Kids. Please contact your bank or credit union about setting up the free BillPay service to mail a check to Kelby's Kids, P.O. Box 57, Reed City, Mich. 49677-0057. 

Please contact me (Barb) if you have questions about giving through electronic transfer or about any of the giving options listed above.

It's beginning to look a lot like..... Christmas?

It’s so hard to believe that it’s the 4th of December already.  Each day the reel feel temperature is still between 95 to 100 degrees or more.  It certainly doesn’t feel like winter or Christmas to me.  Although Christmas is still happening in Haiti!  They are starting to decorate the class rooms and you see Christmas trees and decorations on the street for sale.  But even if there is no snow and you don’t have electricity in your home to put Christmas lights on your tree, many of the people of Haiti are excited for the real reason for the season because they know that is where the real hope is!

A little Christmas display at the local grocery store (the Police truck was $285 U.S.)

Well, I guess I should catch you up on Jean.  I went back to the Hospital on Thursday morning and a doctor still hadn’t seen him since he was admitted.  They did manage to dress his infected wound after we got there which was about 45 hours into his stay.  So who knows what else it picked up after got to the hospital (people kept offering me a chair and even though my back hurt from standing around waiting, I was not willing to set on anything in his room.  It was pretty bad).  We tried to figure out what needed to be done.  The guy in the bed across from him was encouraging him to be patient and stay for the surgery.  Jean wasn’t too sure he wanted to anymore.  I asked my translator what had happened to his roommate.  He said that he got poked in the foot with something in the hurricane and he got an infection in his foot.  He stated that he has been in the hospital for 2 months now.  His wife showed me pictures of the before and after.  He did have an infection in his foot but the surgeon had totally degloved the top of his foot and up into his leg right after he arrived.  He had bugs crawling on the dressing so I know there was bad stuff going on under the dressing.  I said that is never going to heal without a skin graph.  He said that he was scheduled for one tomorrow.  Given my limited experience at this hospital already, I said “how long have they been telling them that?” and when it was translated everyone in the room erupted in laughter.  So, I imagine for some time now.  I also noticed they had been working with his arm more than his leg.  I asked what had happened with that and they said that his IV had gone bad and they were waiting for the swelling to go away.  I asked when it happened and they said 2 days after he arrived.  I told him that he most likely had gotten compartment syndrome in his arm and I was sorry but his arm was never going to be the same again.  With that Jean said, “I’m not having surgery, were leaving!”  I said good plan, lets go!  So with about another hour worth of work we signed him out AMA.  Which really should have just been AAbecause he hadn’t actually been seen by a doctor as an inpatient.  So, I took all of his medications we had bought and we took him home.

It's not a very good picture but it gives you some idea... You can see half of his house in this picture.  The tarps are very dark colors so the heat is intense.  And there are more like this all around him so there is almost no breeze. 

Friday I went and started an IV on Jean to give him more of the IV antibiotics that we had taken with us.  We went into his little 5’ X 9’ tarp house so he could lay down.  I started an IV on him and then cleaned and redressed his wound.  I am not sure how hot it was inside but I know my forehead was dripping faster than his IV.  When his IV was finished, I walked outside and when the cool 95-degree air hit me I felt like I had just stepped out of the shower, I was very wet!  I can’t imagine that being my home.  I will continue to work with Jean with oral medications and dressing changes and hopefully we can get his leg healed up soon!

Sunday was the day the election results from last Sunday were to be released.  There was not much on the news about the unrest.  Sherrie said “come here and let me show you something.” We went up on the roof (4 stories up) and she said do you see all the smoke.  They don’t usually burn much on Sunday mornings and they also do most of their burning in the evening to chase the mosquitos away.  I think those are Manifestations (demonstrations) and think we better stay close to home.  You couldn’t even see the second rim on the mountain side near us the smoke was so thick.  So we went out the back gate to the neighbors for our second Sunday in a row in a small house church.

Monday was a fairly calm day and election results were finally announced late in the afternoon.  So, Tuesday we had a Manifestation day.  The schools in Haiti don’t get snow days but we do get demonstration days!!

I had a visit from my little buddy from a couple weeks ago (the 4-year-old son of nearby missionaries).  He looked so much better and was doing great!  It sounded like his Pneumonia was totally gone!!  It was good to see him back to normal after being so sick and was blessed that the Lord had allowed me to be a small part in helping him feel better.

I know most of you have seen this little guys picture but I haven’t yet shared his story with you.

This little man is just over a year old and only weights 14 pounds.  His legs are very small and he is unable to even try to stand up at all.  His belly is rather distended and he probably has a bad case of worms which are taking all his nutrition that he is getting through the baby feeding program.  We had started him on a very careful regimen of medications for the worms and parasites a week ago.  In small children, you must be very careful how you kill the worms.  Once they have a lot of worms, if you were to give them a full does of medications it would kill the worms.  It will also most likely kill the child.  As the worms are dying they will ball up trying to protect themselves and will cause a bowel obstruction that will most likely be fatal for the child.  Once we get the worms taken care of we will see if we can put some more weight on him.  If not then we can look to other issues but with the complete lack of clean water it is the most likely cause…  In Haiti it’s all about looks.  There is very little education on the things that we can’t see that can hurt us very badly.  I have shared pictures of the ravine with you.  People wash clothes and bath in this water and some of the children play in it.  I had a mom bring me a 2-month-old yesterday that had diarrhea.  I asked what she is eating/drinking.  She said she still breast feeding but also some water.  I picked up the baby bottle that was setting next to hear and could see the dirt floating in it.  We had a long discussion on how important clean water is for out babies.

This week my friend Stacy from HERO Ambulance called and asked if I could help her get some equipment from another organization.  She said that an organization had left Haiti and there supplies and equipment were available to get.  So, we headed over to a very large, very beautiful home were a very disturbing scene was found.  This organization had come down shortly after the earthquake to do relief work.  When they got bored with the project they simply walked away.  We found medications, medical supplies, and equipment laying all over the floors of this house.  Conservatively, I would say there was probably at least $250,000.00 worth of medical supplies and medications laying on the floor.  All of them brand new and unused.  Now this could have been a real gold mine for us but since they left over 2 ½ years ago, now everything is covered in dirt, the rats have been living in it, and all the medications are now expired.  It was just sickening to see the waste and disregard for the needs of Haiti.  There is no reason for this kind of behavior.  They could have made 1 or 2 phone calls and everything would have been picked up and thousands of people could have been helped with this.  We salvaged what we could of the equipment and a few supplies.  The next day a dump truck would arrive and it was all going to the dump to be burned.  This is unfortunately a good example of the waste and miss use of funds from some large organizations and those who are contracted by government aid programs.  If you really want to help people, give it to the little people who are one the ground, living with, and helping people every day.  Not the people who never actually get out of there helicopter and meet the people where they are hurting right now.

I ran into this girl in the Ravine the other day.  She reportedly had boiling water spilled on her (Sometimes these things can be from Voodoo).  It sounded like she was about 20+ days out from the burn and they have been following up in the hospital.  It looked surprisingly good for where she lives but she did have a little bit of infection going.  I will be following her to be sure that her infection doesn’t get any worse.

Last night one of the school teachers came to the school to ask Sherrie for help.  Junior, his little 1 year old son, was in the hospital and not doing well.  He stated that he was born prematurely and he was told he was dead before he was ever born.  When he was delivered, he was actually alive but he has had medical complications ever since.  He said that the baby has water in his chest and needs surgery.  He said that he is out of money now and he needed money for the surgery.  I asked him what his diagnosis was and what the surgery would do and he wasn’t really sure.  They never give you diagnosis in Haiti, they just keep ordering tests and medications.  We are working to see what’s going on and be sure that this surgery is a good idea and what the true underlying cause is.  I really want to go to the hospital to see him and try to figure out what’s going on but if I do then they will know that there is “an endless supply of money” linked to this patient and we will be back in the same situation as we were in with Jean.  I have some suspicions as to what may be going on but we need to wait for word from the hospital (if they know).  We need to know what conditions they are treating him for and if it is something that can or can’t be cured in Haiti or anywhere.  Last night I asked him to go back to the hospital and have then write down his diagnosis and what kind of surgery they were going to do.  He called a couple hours later and stated that they had been transferred to another hospital.  This leads me to believe that they did not have a diagnosis and were just grasping at straws and decided that if someone was asking these questions they better transfer him before something happens to him.  Please pray for Junior, and his parents, and that we will be able to get a diagnosis, that we will be able to get him the care that he needs, and that it will be available in Haiti.

Be sure to continue to following my blog.  I have a story that has been coming together for a while but I want to be able to share it with you in its entirety.  Everything should be complete by next Sunday's post!

As always, I am humbled by your willingness to partner with me in my work, showing Gods love to the kids in Haiti, and providing hope though good health!  It is such a blessing to be able to serve not only the kids but anyone who is truly in need.  But the need is so great here.  Please pray for discernment for me in my decisions.  Not only the medical decisions I make continually as I work but also the decisions for further care somewhere else, which is often expensive and sometimes without positive results (as seen with Jean and Juniors experiences).  If I helped everyone I came in contact with that has a need, I could probably empty the bank account for this ministry in an hour or two.  It’s difficult to say no so much, when all you really want to do is help!

Could you tell this cute little face "NO"?

Until no child dies…

Kelby

Going Down South

Well how are all yall doing?  I just finished a fantastic week with a team from Alabama!!  It’s been a very busy week but a very good week!  I will try to cover the highlights without making this too long.  I think I have learned a little more creole this week but with a bit of a southern drawl!

Monday morning, I was able to get some more tests ordered for Laura so that we could get everything done for the doctor in the U.S.  I have not seen the results of those tests yet since getting home but will be working on that more tomorrow.

Part of the board of directors for Christian Light School (CLS) was here for several days and it was nice to be able to meet some of them and get to know them.  We had some great conversations and I look forward seeing them again soon.

This is the center of the neighborhood that all of the kids at CLS come from 

There were several sick kids in school after the weekend so that filled my morning.  There was a lot to do in preparation for the team on Tuesday.  I had to go through the clinic and try to find some items that we would need to take with us so I got a little start on the cleaning and organizing process in the clinic. 

Stacy called in the afternoon and had a 4-year-old that she needed some help with for a transport with HERO Ambulance but were not able to coordinate it between me not having a driver and the needed meet point and my schedule.  It was difficult to not be able to go help this little guy…

Tuesday morning started off before 5 am like usual.  The students are starting to come to me more for help and even though there a little shy about speaking in English to me we are getting them taken care of.  I was able to run out and get the last 2 things we needed for our trip from the pharmacy.  If only you would walk into Rite Aid and grab a case of IV fluids in the states.

The medical team arrived and we started to get to know each other and organize the luggage with the supplies in them.  While I was standing there talking, one of the Restavec classes came out carrying a girl.  At first glance I wasn’t sure what they were doing and found it rather odd but when they almost dropped her and she didn’t react I realized that she was unresponsive.  I quickly moved her to a bench before she was injured.  After a few minutes, she started to come around some.  She has been sick and not drinking much water and when she started vomiting she passed out.  I began assessing her and while try to do orthostatic vitals she was unable to stand, started vomiting again and almost passed out.  After a quick check with Sherrie to be sure there would be no trouble from her owner with treating her, it was time for some IV fluids.  I started a line on her and it amazed her what a liter of fluid could do.  After a while she was feeling better, her blood pressure was back up, she wasn’t nauseated anymore, and she was able to stand.  With some medications and some instructions, she was given a ride home.

Wednesday morning, the team and I headed out for Port Salut on the southern peninsula of Haiti.  It was a long, bumpy, dusty, hot trip with lots of traffic but we finally made it.  The trip took much longer than planned and so we were not able to do a medical clinic on Wednesday afternoon like we had hoped.  But, it was a very interesting trip.  It was amazing to watch the devastation get worse and worse the further south we drove.  It will take years for them to rebuild and get life back to normal.  They have said it could be a long as 5 years to restore power to the entire area.  Most of the poles are down or leaning significantly.  But on a bright side they now have miles and miles of new close line stretched across the area.  Our truck has a top on it which made it very difficult to take pictures so I couldn’t capture it, but it was interesting to see people using high tension power lines to dry their clothes on.

A large bridge on the main road to the southern peninsula was washed away.  Now you have to go down through the river bed to get out there.

Thursday morning we went to the site of our first clinic.  The building we were going to use was no longer available so they took us to another site where we could hold our clinic.  It was just a small house.  We went to work to put up tarps from the roof of the house and secured it to the walls of the property and in about 20 minutes a clinic was born.  We were able to see 75 patients that day for a wide variety of complaints and issues.  One of the patients was about 5 months pregnant.  She was concerned as she has not felt the baby move very much lately.  Before we left the statement was made (due to possible political unrest and road blocks) “don’t take anything you want to bring home with you.”  Although the medical equipment I brought added up at a fair amount I decided at the last minute to throw in my fetal Doppler anyway.  Even if I had lost it on the way home it would have been worth to see the look on her face when she was able to hear her baby and we told her that the babies heart rate was very strong.  She started crying and thanked us for telling her that her baby was alive!       

An open air clinic.... It could be a new trend!

Friday morning we headed to a school for our second clinic.  It was a little better layout than the yard by the little house but the breeze wasn’t as good.  We seen all 86 patients that came for help.  It was interesting to see how many pointed to the hurricane as the start of their complaint.  We had babies that were only a couple weeks old and all the way up to even seeing a 95 year old man, which is very rare in Haiti.  We even found a patient that nobody knew about!  One lady came in and because we didn’t have any pregnancy tests, and although she said that she wasn’t pregnant.  We were able to confirm that she was in fact pregnant with the Doppler.  

This little guy must have thought he waited to long in line and it was past his lunch time cause he kept grabbing my thumb and sticking it in his mouth to chew on!!

Saturday morning we headed for home.  After a long discussion on Friday night it was decided that we should not do a clinic in the morning and finish up some other projects that were planned.  There was talk of road blocks and possible unrest in the afternoon so we decided it would be best to leave first thing since we had a long trip.  We had hired some workers when we got there to do some cleanup work in the area, we also had hired some carpenters to fix the roofs on several houses while we were there.  They would continue working for the next couple days but sadly our work was done.  We were disappointed to not have been able to do as much as we had hoped or planned but we were still able to make a difference in the lives of 161 adults and Children who have had their world turned upside down.

Damaged houses, debris everywhere, power lines down.

When we arrived home, Sherrie meet us and told me that the director of the children’s home up the road was bring a 4 year old boy with possible Malaria.  When he arrived, I noticed he was much paler that I anticipated.  He was the son of another missionary in the area and not one of the orphans.  He had a very high fever and was having trouble breathing.  He had gotten the walking pneumonia that is going around and it hit him pretty hard.  I started an IV on him to get him some fluids and got him on some antibiotics and a breathing treatment.  He perked up some with the fluid but was defiantly not feeling well.  As it was almost 6 pm and a curfew had been imposed to limit unrest over Sundays presidential election and not being able to travel if something happened during the night they went to a guest house one street over so I could check on him if he got worse.     

Sunday we walked about 150 yards out the back gate to a house church since we were not allowed to be on the roads.  In the afternoon, a couple of the ladies on the team did a wonderful job getting the rest of the clinic cleaned and everything on the shelves for me.  The medical team left all the leftover supplies for me to help get my inventory built up in the clinic.  This saved me probably 2-3 days of work if I would have just had to dump everything in a pile on the floor and then have to work around it and then go through all of it.  It will need a little tweaking as I go but I am thankful that they save me so much work!!  It was also such a blessing to have all the remaining supplies to get the clinic up and running.  It will save me a lot of time and money trying to get all of the things I would have needed. 

I went over to check on my little patient across the road in the afternoon and he was doing a little bit better.  I had left his IV in incase we needed it during the night.  I gave him some more fluids, and another breathing treatment.  By the next morning, he was doing much better and they headed for home to be with the rest of their family.

Sunday night you could see the  large market fire in Petionville from the school roof.  Protesters had set the market on fire after the elections earlier in the day.

Google image...  We weren't that close.

Monday morning, my brother David (a Firefighter & Paramedic) who I meet here at CLS about 4 years ago, and lead this medical team, took the team to the Ravine with the baby feeders.  When you walk around everyone knows David as he worked her for about 2 years.  He introduced me to many people and told them I was the new guy in town to fill his spot.  He also did this in the school so now things are really getting busy because now the people feel they can trust me.  It was such a blessing to be able to work with David again!  We had some good times together on past trips working together and telling war stories from work back in the states.

Tuesday morning, I said goodbye to the medical team as they headed for the airport.  It was hard to believe that a week had gone by already.  It’s hard to believe that I have been here 2 weeks already.

I took a guy to the hospital that we have found in the ravine the day before with a large infection in his lower leg.  He has had it for 4 months but was unable to afford and care.  The medical team provided some money to take him to the hospital.  So, we went to the hospital and seen a surgeon who said that it would need to be surgically debrided.  He was to be admitted to the hospital.  This is a strange process in deed.  The doctor wrote orders for lab work, a chest X-Ray, and medications and IV fluids.  We took the medication form to the pharmacy to confirm they had the medications and they are set aside.  We then went to the office and invoices are given or each item.  We then went to the cashier and paid for the items.  Then we went to X-Ray and got his chest film which they gave us the original.  We then went back to the pharmacy and picked up all his medications.  Then we went to the lab for his blood work.  They told us they would come to his room and draw the blood.  We found him a bed in a rather small room with 6 beds in it.  The family is required to care for them at night, provide food, and care for all their personal needs.  The nurses only give medications and start IV’s.  We left him in his room and went to get his wife to come and care for him at the hospital.

I had this post ready Tuesday night but we had no internet so I will add today as well…

This morning (Wednesday), his wife came to the school and said that we needed to come and get them to care for him because nobody is doing anything.  So back we went to the hospital and he was lying in bed but he did have an IV.  We found out that they had never done his blood work so we had to go to the lab and get them to come and take his blood.  The nurse wrote us an order for more medications so we went through the process to get those.  They started some of the medications when we returned.  We talked to the nursing office and they told us that they would get the surgeon to come and see him.  Tonight, we got a phone call that after 32 hours in the hospital he has not been see by a doctor yet other than the doctor in the clinic when we first arrived.  So tomorrow we will have to go back to the hospital and will most likely leave with him as nothing is being done for him but running up his bill.  It’s a very frustrating system here in Haiti.

One of the children in the baby feeding program.

I hope that each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving Day and that you remember to be thankful for everything you have.  There is so much more to life than black Friday sales and football.  I will probably have beans and rice for thanksgiving dinner and that’s just fine!

If you’re not already involved I hope that you would consider partnering with me in this work.  Maybe even a year-end tax deductible donation to help some of these kids so that they can have a chance to grow up!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby Klassen 

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I think I just might be almost settled in now and it is starting to feel like home!!  This is my little 9’ X 15’ house.  Since tinny houses are the in thing now, I am keeping up with the times!!!  I guess I could technically brag that I am living in a 36 room, 12 bath, multi wing, 3 story house in the Caribbean but since it’s really a school first and only home to a few people, I wont do that!

Everything I have goes into the 4' X 8' box on the left.  It has a shower curtain on the front to try to keep the dust out.  

I think I am ready to get started cleaning and organizing the clinic tomorrow morning if time allows!  It has been a very busy start to my time here so let me try to catch you up!!

When I first got here time was flying by...  I brought a little electronic alarm clock, with the red numbers, so I wouldn’t have to keep a flash light in bed with me to look at the clock I had (it has to be on the inside of the mosquito net!).  When I plugged it in it was flashing very rapidly.  I set the time and it didn’t take long to realize that there was a problem.  It was chugging along and added a minute to the time every 12 seconds.  So now I still get to sleep with a flash light.  BUT, that seems to be the only casualty of my trip!!  Nothing else was broken missing, or damaged (except of course the suitcases which only survive about 3 - 4 trips) under the gentle care of the airline and TSA people!  So very thankful, again, to walk quickly though the airport in Haiti without issue!!

When I arrived on Wednesday to Christian Light School it was dinner time.  I was able to catch up with Sherrie on what had been going on since I had left.  After dinner, I got all my things to my room and was a little overwhelmed at all the stuff I have already in my tiny house.  It looked like a big job and when I turned the light on in my room and the bulb burned out so I decided it wouldn’t be tonight.  I just found what I would need to get to bed as it had been a long day.  It would end up being a 3-day task to get it all sorted and arranged and get my medical things stored until I get the clinic ready to move them down.

As I started the unpacking progress on Thursday morning.  But at about 10:45 I got a text from Stacy, with HERO Ambulance (Haitian Emergency Response Organization ~ I have been harassed about wearing a T-Shirt that says HERO on it at home!).  Her text said “Welcome back!  Babies need you here!”  That made my heart happy!  It was followed by a picture of a little 2 day old that had a very large tumor of some kind on his left arm.  It went from his hand to his elbow.  He was in a small mission run clinic in Grand Goave and needed to get to Bernard Mevs hospital NICU in Port-Au-Prince.  I of course say YES come and get me and I will go.  Stacy was on another detail so I would be working with Steve.  He was on his way to meet find me.  After a little work with several people helping and a warm walk to a major intersection we met up and started the 1:40 response up to Grand Goave running code (Lights & Sirens).  It was a very interesting trip.  I tried to take a video for all my public safety friends who run code in the U.S. because you wouldn’t have believed it, but my phone isn’t allowing me to shot video right now for some reason.  Upon arrival, we went off the main road worked our way back into a little compound quite a ways off the main road.  No wonder our directions were go to Grand Goave and ask a Moto Taxi to lead you to the mission, because we never would have found it on our own.  When we arrived, we created quite a buzz around the compound.  This kind of thing doesn’t happen there every day!  We found the baby who wasn’t even 48 hours old. 

At the mission compound getting a report from the clinic staff.

So early in life to have such issues to face.

As you can see he has a life altering/threatening problem which needs attention as well as a work up to see what other issues he may have going on inside his little body.  He was difficult to get to wake up and respond well and because of this he had not been eating well.  So, he was getting a little dehydrated.  We worked during much of the 2 hour transport back to Port-Au-Prince to get him to nurse but even with the ride in the ambulance on Haiti’s roads and lots of trying to irritate him to wake up there was not a lot of success.  But thankfully his vitals and condition remained stable during transport.  The only thing that took a turn for the worse during transport was the passenger side mirror on the ambulance when a Tap Tap (Taxi) cut us off.  Thankfully the Tap Tap had room for 1 more people on it, because if it had been full, the mirror would have hit the back passenger in the head instead of the edge of the truck!  So we were very blessed it wasn't worse.  But we arrived at Bernard Mevs and delivered out patient to the Peds ER.  A person that heard the story has stepped up and is providing the expenses for the surgery!  He will probably lose his arm but it will save his life!  A surgery which his mother could never have paid for.

Getting loaded into the ambulance for the 2 hours trip back.

When I returned to the school after the ambulance transport I was told about a little 3-year-old girl that was sick.  They had her mother bring her to the school.  I assumed that she had a little cough or a fever or something.  When they arrived, I was met by a mother with a stack of medical paperwork who asked me to please not let her only child die!  We looked over the paperwork and quickly realized that she had some serious medical issues.  We made copies of her paperwork and told her we would look into this and get back to her.  We sent the paperwork to a doctor who has worked in Haiti and can read French to understand the paperwork better than we could.  She determined that she has a kidney stone as well as a systemic Strep infection that they don’t feel they can treat in Haiti.  She has had an extensive medical history already at 3 years of age.  So, we decided to get more tests to try to better understand her condition and how to best address the issues.  On Friday, we went to her doctor who stated that she is out of options and needs help.  I shared with her the tests that the doctor in the US wanted and she stated that she agreed with all of them.  She wrote us orders for the 18 lab tests and an Echo Cardiogram.  After the lab test we went down stairs for the Echo.  During the Test her mother came out and got me in the waiting room so I squeezed into the little exam room with them.  They were doing an ultrasound of her kidneys.  I asked what about the Echo and they stated that they don’t do those here.  I kind of felt like we were taken advantage of because a “Blah” (white person) was with them and they always have deep pockets.  I thought since were already doing it lets just confirm her last Ultrasound.  They were very convinced that her stones are gone!  Praise God!!! she is hopefully free from the stones which would explain why she hasn't had pain in the last 16 hours.  Some of the tests were inconclusive so we are looking at more tests for tomorrow.  We need to find out why a 3-year-old has Kidney Stones? If she still has a strep infection, and is it getting worse or better from the treatment she had?  And consider the possibility of other issues as she has had many medical problems since she required resuscitation after being born.  So, this is going to be a complicated road to try to figure out but we hope we can make a difference in Laura’s life.

A medical team is coming in on Tuesday.  0n Wednesday I will be traveling out to the southern peninsula with them to do medical clinics in the area’s effected by Hurricane Matthew.  Yesterday I was able to go to 4C’s (Caribbean Canadian Chemical Company) and get the medications we will need for these clinics.  They didn’t have everything I needed but we were lucky to find almost everything.  It still takes a while to get used to the Haitian money system.  I was a little shocked when they got me one basket of stuff and told me it was $27,390.00  But, that is in Haitian Goud's so it was only $415.00 U.S.  I am looking forward to going out with this team and being able to help as many people as possible.  You still hear stories of people with injuries, broken bones, and illnesses that are just getting to help a month after the Hurricane.

Yesterday afternoon I was able to finish the unpacking, sorting, organizing in my room.  I then put a couple little jump bags together so I can grab it and go for minor and major emergencies.  You can’t do that before you leave because you have to separate the liquids from the sharp things from the expensive things that you don’t want to turn over to the airlines to try and break.

Today is a pretty good day.  The real feel temperature is only 100 so it’s cooling off from when I was here in September.  I went to Quisqueya Chapel this morning for church.  Now I am just relaxing a little and writing this blog for you before a very busy week starts.  Monday and Tuesday, we will try to get Laura in for her additional tests.  I need to prepare some things for the medical team coming in on Tuesday and pack some of my things to make the trip.  Then at 5 am on Wednesday we will head out!

Please be praying for the 2-day old baby (had not been named yet) as he is cared for and that he will not have any complications once he returns home and will not become an outcast because it his issues.  Please also pray for Laura as we try to do everything we can for her to get her well again.  Please pray for safety and health as we go out to the southern peninsula to do medical relief work and that we will be able to be effective and make some life changing differences while were there.

I want to thank you all again for your support of this work in Haiti with children.  Your encouragement, prayers, and financial support are very encouraging to me and means that together we can make a difference in the lives of kids everyday!  I am still needing additional support to be able to provide effective medical care while I am here.  If you want to get involved please go to the Give Pray Go page on this web site or contact me at Kelby@KelbysKids.org for additional ways to give.

I seen this on Facebook today and thought it was fitting as my Creole is not very good yet, but I can still love on these kids.

"Live every moment, Laugh everyday, & LOVE BEYOND WORDS"

Until no child dies

Kelby      

As The Clock Strikes 12....

As the clock struck midnight last night it meant 2 things…  The first thing it meant was that I turned my pager off, bringing an end to my career of over 16 years with the Reed City Fire Department.  The second thing it means is there is only 9 days until I will be in Haiti!!  It feels like I still have 1000 things to do before I go.  My “to do” list seem to only get longer and never shorter.  I guess when it’s time to leave for the airport on the 8th the lists will be done even if everything is not crossed off.  The last week was very busy and the reality of my retirement from EMS on the 23rd hasn’t really set in as I haven’t had time to set down and think about it. 

The last 2 Sundays (the 23rd in Midland and the 30th in Reed City) were such a blessing as both the church I grew up in and my church here each had times of commissioning me as I prepare to make the move to Haiti to serve as God directs.  It was a blessing to have an opportunity to say good bye to friends as well as the many words of encouragement from so many.

The details have been finalized for me to stay and work at Christian Light School as I get started in Haiti!  I am looking forward to the opportunity to open the clinic and to work with the children in the school and surrounding community.  The Haitians have a proverb “Sak vid pa Pampe” – An empty sack can’t stand.  That is why the school provides almost 700 meals a day.  The students can’t learn if they are too hungry to concentrate.  This theory goes all the way down to the baby feeders in the ravine who feed the babies so that they will have enough nutrition for proper development so they can excel in school when there older.  So, providing good medical care will now be another means of filling that sack for over 350 kids so that they can get the most from their education.  This is the best way to bring them out of poverty and give them a hope for a better and brighter future.     

One of the many students at Christian Light School whom I will be working with.

I am currently working a plan to head out on the southern peninsula of Haiti on November 16th with a team doing medical relief work in some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Matthew.  I will give you more details on this once I have them.  It is my hope that we can make a life changing difference in the lives of the people that we encounter, not only in immediate medical needs but also by providing hope that someone cares for them and their needs after the devastating event.

I want to give you a quick financial update.  I am pleased to announce that we have reached the monthly support mark set for my anticipated monthly expenses in Haiti!  Thank-You to those of you who were willing to come along side and partner with me for Kelby’s Kids!  We are off to a great start but we have only covered my sustainability in Haiti, which is a very important part of this ministry.  No Kelby… No Kelby’s Kids…  Now we need to continue moving forward to ensure medical effectiveness.  Medical supply and medication costs add up quickly and when a clinic serves several hundred patients they can go out the door even quicker.  I received an order of medical supplies today of some things I thought would be difficult to obtain in Haiti.  It was $200 worth of medical supplies, $190 of which are disposable/single use supplies.  Those supplies all fit into a single Walmart type shopping bag.  So, it will take an ongoing, monthly medical budget, to maintain the needed items for the clinic to operate effectively.  I have done some street clinics and there is no worse feeling that knowing what a patient needs but not having access to it.  Not being able to take care of a simple problem because of not enough IV fluids or not enough antibiotics can get very discouraging.

It’s still a little surreal to think that I am now completely unemployed and without any form of income.  I also don’t think it has set in that I have ended my career of over 25 years in Public Safety.  I am looking forward, with excitement, to getting to Haiti and being able to serve with my skills but in just a little different capacity than I am used to here.  I am truly blessed and humbled that this is all possible because or your generosity and support.  Together we will make a life changing difference in the lives of many kids!!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby 

The Clock Is Ticking

I can’t believe that I am in the final countdown…  I am going to look at tickets tomorrow but I only have about 3 weeks left from today!  There is still so much to do but I know it will be here before I know it.

I only have 2 shifts left at EMS.  I work a 48 and then a 24 and on Saturday morning when I walk out I will complete my U.S. career in EMS with 25½ years of service.  I know it will be bitter sweet but I continue to look forward to what the future will being in Haiti with Kelby’s Kids.

Funding still continues to come in as well as commitments for monthly support.  I am almost to my goal for covering monthly expenses and soon will start securing the funding of the daily expenses for the activities in the clinic.  I continue to be honored and blessed by the support that has been shown.  For more information on financial needs and support options please look back in my previous blog post.

I want to be sure to let you know of 2 upcoming events that you may be interested in being a part of.  Both my church I grew up in as well as my church here in Reed City will be having a short time of prayer and commissioning for me before I leave to serve in Haiti.  If you’re in the area and would like to come to one of these I will be available for questions before and after services as well as have my information table set up.

The first is next Sunday, October 23, 2016 at the Midland Free Methodist Church (5821 Eastman Ave., Midland, MI 48640).  You can choose between the 9:30 am or the 11:00 am services.

The second will be Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Reed City Church of the Nazarene (5300 220th Ave. Reed City, MI 49677).  The service time is 10:30 am.  A luncheon is being planned for after the service for a donation to support Kelby’s Kids.

If you have any questions about either of these dates, please feel free to contact me at Kelby@KelbysKids.org or 231-499-9056.  I would love to see as many folks as possible before I leave and this would be a great opportunity to do that.

As the death toll in Haiti passes 1,000 and continues climbing, I am anxious to get back to help those that have survived the devastation of Matthew but may succumb to the delayed effects of such a disaster.  After 2 weeks they are just gaining access to some of the most remote areas that were hardest hit.  Many of the areas have been completely destroyed and the pictures resemble what you may expect after a nuclear blast.  I am looking into where I will be able to go to do relief work in the southern tip of Haiti when I return.  It will be a long road for many who are dealing with lack of medical care, not enough food, and very little clean water.  Plus, the continued wound care for those that were injured as well as the illness that comes after these types of incidents.  I hope that my timing is good as the short term relief workers are returning home, that I can help continue that care to the people in need.  After the needs are able to be handled by the local organizations again I will return to Port-au-Prince to start the work that I set up on my last trip.

Almost complete devastation of the buildings and all of the leaves stripped from the trees. 

I will update you when I know my exact departure date as well as where I may be serving with the relief efforts once I am there.

Thank for your continued encouragement and support as I prepare to make the move to Haiti!

Until no child dies,

Kelby

THE LEAP OF FAITH!

Well it’s done…  I have taken the biggest leap of faith thus far in this journey.  Thursday night I turned in my letter of intent to retire from the Reed City Fire Department on October 31st.  Friday morning, I turned in my letter of retirement for Osceola County EMS as of October 23rd.  It is very exciting but very stressful and a little scary at the same time.  I have been working for the county for almost 23 years.  It is a very big step to just walk away.  This means that I am 2 pay checks away from being unemployed with no foreseeable income (I am a decade away from being eligible to collect on my pension).  This means that I will be dependent on you for your prayer and financial support for the continuation of Kelby’s Kids! 

My plan at this time is to prepare as quickly as possible for the move to Haiti.  I was initially going to try to go to Haiti for the immediate relief work after Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti.  The information is just now really starting to come in and the devastation is very extensive.  The death toll is climbing by the hour.  There is almost nothing left of entire communities.  Instead of going down for a couple of weeks and further delaying my commitment to full time work in Haiti, I have decided to just get down there as soon as possible.  By the time I get to Haiti, most of the short term relief workers will be heading back to the US to return to their jobs.  I can pick up things as they leave and maintain the long term issues that will come from this latest disaster in Haiti.

I told you earlier that I needed about $1,500.00 in monthly support before I could get to Haiti.  This is still true but I feel called to serve as soon as possible in the wake of Matthew.  I currently have $880.00 in monthly support pledged.  This will hopefully cover most of my expenses to live in Haiti during this start up period if I keep life very basic.  It will provide little funding for the supplies and medications that I will need to get the clinic up and running and to go out with relief teams and serve the people hardest hit.  It will take additional ongoing funding to support the work of the clinic and medical supplies to provide disaster relief.  At this point, support is only going toward ministry expenses that meet those requirements for reimbursement.  All of my personal expense in both Haiti and Michigan will have to come from my savings.

With that being said, I will need an average of $1,500 per month for operational expenses long term.  I would like to get $1,000 a month for standard ongoing medical expenses, which is not much when you get into large quantities of medications and supplies for a clinic. That is a basic budget of $2,500 per month.  So, until I exceed $3,000 a month in support I will not be able to address any kind of compensation or wage to cover my expenses with my Board of Directors.   So in the interim, I will be burning through my savings which I was really hoping would last me for years and not just a few months.  Now more than ever it would encourage me to know that you are stepping out in faith with me so together we can serve Kelby’s Kids in Haiti. 

I know there is much economic uncertainty in this country.  But there is certainty in Haiti, and it’s that times are very difficult and bleak for so many.  If you have been considering supporting Kelby’s Kids, the time is now! I would like to hear from you to know your commitment even if it will be several weeks before you could start to donate so I can better plan how together WE will help the people and children of Haiti.  There is an immediate need for both one-time gifts for the immediate relief needs as well as long term monthly support.  Many of you have indicated the desire to support me once I have things “up and going.”  That time is now!  The $880.00 in monthly support only represents 12 people.  So if we just add another 36 people I would have a complete budget!

There are many ways to get involved.  You can go to my web site www.KelbysKids.org to the support page.  There are FOUR donation options.  One is a Stripe account where you can do one time donations by credit or debit card.  Second is by PayPal.  You do not need to have a PayPal account to give, just a credit or debit card.  This is the current method to give monthly support.  When you click on the donation button by PayPal there is a box next to the amount you enter to donate that says “make this recurring monthly.”  You just check that box.  There has been some trouble with this for several people.  I have found that PayPal is a different format when you are using a mobile device as well as with Google Chrome.  You need to use internet explorer or another format to open PayPal through my web site and then that box will pop up for you on the first screen.  The third option is to set up an auto bill pay account through your financial institution.  If you would like more information on this please contact me at Kelby@KelbysKids.org   A fourth option is to mail a check made out to Kelby’s Kids to P.O. Box 57, Reed City, MI49677-0057.  If you do not want to take the time to make monthly donations, you can do annual or biannual donations.  Just contact me so I can divide the amount you will give so I can anticipate an average monthly budget.

I have so very much to do to get ready to move to Haiti.  I am working hard to be in Haiti by the first full week in November.  Your prayers for a smooth and stress free transition would be greatly appreciated.

I have truly been blessed by your outpouring of support thus far.  I know that this will continue and together we can touch the lives of so many in Haiti.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  Thank you again.  You and your generous support makes all this possible!

I am humbled to serve.

Until no child dies,

Kelby Klassen

President of Kelby’s Kids Inc.

Friends make the world a better place!

Adventures of September 2016 Trip

As I sat down to write this blog post it’s only been 2 days since I returned home from Haiti.  But it’s with a heavy heart, as I am now sad that I came home.  As Hurricane Matthew bears down on Haiti, I wonder how many will die or be washed away and never be seen again, or how many will be injured and not have enough people to help them.  I wish I was there to do what I could to ease the suffering that will occur.

Grab a cup of coffee, this is a long one.  But I think I lost some of you last time by breaking it up so here goes!!

I hope you were able to follow along on Facebook and Instagram with the pictures and videos that I posted during my trip.  Hopefully they helped you to get a better sense of what I was able to do by seeing those.

My trip down went without any problems!  No flight issues and Jet Blue was good to work with at a $200 savings over American Airlines.  My 12th trip and never been stopped in Customs!!  I thank God for protecting my medical supplies so I don't have to give them up or pay “Taxes” to the Customs guys.  Let's pray for many more trips like that!

When I first arrived at Christian Light School things didn't quite look like I was planning them in my head and I was a little apprehensive and maybe even a little disappointed about how things might go.  But it didn't take long before I felt like I was back in a familiar place and a place I know I have been called!

Thursday morning school started at 8 am and I had my first patient at 7:55. I thought that was a good sign.  But as it turns out he was my only patient for the day.  It's the rainy season and like many children they have Grip (a cough/cold/flu).  We found him a mat and let him lay down in his room where he would get lots of water and 2 meals rather than send him home where he would have nothing.  So again I questioned if this was going to be what I anticipated.

One of the Little Angels getting ready for school to start at Christian Light School.

Sherrie, the director of Christian Light School, has been working in Haiti for 16 years.  She has been through a lot and is a great source of knowledge about not only Haiti, but this journey I am on toward full-time work here.  She does an amazing work in Haiti with the over 300 kids in the school.  She also provides almost 4,000 meals a week to not only keep the kids healthier, but help them to be able to learn so they don't concentrate on empty stomachs.  

I decided that working in a larger medical facility would be a good idea as there are many health issues in Haiti that we do not see in America.  It would be a great way to learn about tropical medicine as well as build relationships and a network to assist with special needs or really sick kids as they come along.  Edmond took me to several hospitals in the area.  One of them is called Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs or Our Little Brothers and Sisters, also known as St. Damion’s Children’s Hospital.  As it turned out this is the same hospital that I took Baby Boo Boo to during my last trip.  This is one of the largest children's hospitals in Haiti.  I was given an appointment Monday morning at 9 am to talk with them about volunteering once a week at their facility.  I also went to Grace Hospital and will be contacting there HR director about possibly working with them as well since they are within walking distance from the school.  But they do more chronic inpatient work than they do clinic or ER type things.

As it turns out it's NOT about who you know, it's about how you dress!  Thursday I wore shorts and a T-shirt as I wasn't really sure what I would be doing (remember ONE patient).  Friday I had planned to go out with the baby feeders into the ravine and see the littlest children.  So I put on my scrubs and grabbed my stethoscope and headed down stairs.  I had so many asking for help I had to make appointments.  I was able to go out with the baby feeders and saw about 15 of the kids who were sick or had other issues.  Many of them have low grade temps from having Grip.  I saw several kids from the school when I got back and then I did a blood pressure clinic for the cooks, custodial staff, and some of the teachers.  I then saw a couple of the teachers for some chronic issues they were having.  I finished the day by seeing the Restavek's (child slaves) classes.  I saw almost 25 of them.  They had many issues but one of the biggest ones was no dental care.  Many had cavities and stated their gums would bleed when they got the chance to brush their teeth, which is probably not very often.  Brushing their teeth made their gums very tender since they are not used to it.  Some of them had complaints that we just grabbed a Tylenol or Ibuprofen for, but that is not an option for them.  It was sad how many were very hesitant to be seen because it might get them in trouble with their owner.  Several had to be reassured they were safe and would not get in trouble.  I look forward to working with them more to not only make them feel better, but to make them feel loved by someone as well.  So in all I probably saw 75 patients on Friday!

Saturday I got to be the Biology teacher for 2 classes!  Many of the kids come to school on Saturday by choice as they don’t have much to do and know how important their education is.  The teacher for this class uses DVD's that are in English.  He doesn't speak English very well so he has a hard time following the video and being able to answer the kid’s questions so I took question and answer time and helped them as best I could.  Those classes were a long time ago for me!

Sunday I went to Quisquueya Chapel for church.  Many of the people there are Americans so it was fun to see some familiar faces and talk with some new folks about what they are doing in Haiti.

Monday I went back to Our Little Brothers and Sisters for my meeting.  It wasn’t as productive as I had hoped.  There was a little bit of a language barrier and I am pretty sure they don’t understand my credentials.  There is a big difference between the government run ambulances in Haiti and my ambulances in the US.  I will continue to work on this project as I still believe it would be a great benefit for me as well as for them.  I also went to 4C which is a pharmaceutical company in Haiti that is from Canada.  It is where I can buy bulk medicine when I return to Haiti. 

After that I had the privilege of going to Bernard Mevs to visit a friend.  Dahicha is a little girl with special needs that I met at Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage 2 trips ago.  She instantly had my heart wrapped around her little finger.  She is not doing well and ended up in the PICU on a ventilator.  She has since had surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids to improve her breathing but the last word was they were unsure if that would be enough or if she would end up needing a tracheostomy for the rest of her life.  That would be a very difficult thing to manage in Haiti with all the dust.  Please continue to pray for little Dahicha.  It was also nice to be able to see Marla who manages EGO with her husband Ken.  It was heartbreaking to hear how she almost lost Dahicha before they got her on the vent.

This is Dahicha after surgery during a unsuccessful trial period off the vent.

Tuesday I went back out with the baby feeders to check on the babies that I had seen on Friday and see how they were doing.  All of them were doing better indicating that it was just the Grip going around during the rainy season.  After I got back I had several more students and staff come for assistance.  There are so many issues that are from basic things like not drinking enough water.  There is a lot that can be done for basic health education.

Wednesday was a day for sorting and packing.  I had the opportunity to leave a few things in a large tote on my last trip.  This trip I have filled that tote as well as my second suite case with items to leave.  I now have almost 90 pounds of items waiting for me on my return so I can get more needed items down there without carrying things back and forth.

One of the Restavek came to the school for help in the afternoon.  He had been sick for several days.  He had pneumonia.  I found enough antibiotics and did my best to explain through a translator how to take them.  It was children’s concentration so he has to take a lot of it each time.  I hope that he understood the instructions for the medications and the importance of taking it all and not saving some for later.  I hope he is doing better now.  I made arrangements for someone with the Restavek Freedom Foundation to check on him in a couple days.   

So, strangely familiar to my last trip, I got a Facebook message on Wednesday night.  It asked if I was available for another Ambulance transport with Hero Ambulance.   There was another sick baby that was in need of help.  After some details were worked out I was on my way with Edmond to meet the ambulance.  We met up by the overpass and then headed out of Port-au-Prince (PAP).  We met up with the organization that requested us and did an intercept in the parking lot of a gas station in Mariani.  We found Dalia and her frightened mother.  Dalia was a 21 day old, 4.5-pound little girl who was severely dehydrated, malnourished, anemic, and septic.  We loaded her into the ambulance and after a quick assessment, we were off.  Setting around a gas station after dark drawing attention to yourself is not the best of ideas.  Sometimes you felt like you were going to hurt her just trying to hold on to her with all the BIG bumps in the road.  She was stable enough that trying to start an IV on scene was not in anyone’s best interest and trying on the road would be impossible.  After about a 45-minute transport back into PAP we arrived at St. Damion’s Children’s Hospital without incident.  As much as I would like to know that outcome, it will be impossible to get any further information on her.  But I think with the appropriate care she will survive.

This is Dalia in the ambulance during the transport back to PAP.

Thursday morning it was off to the airport to head home in front of the storm.  At that time Hurricane Matthew was an unnamed tropical depression which quickly changed.  At this point I really wish I would have known and been able to stay.  There will be so much to be done after the storm clears.

It has taken me a couple days to write this post.  I apologize.  I have been glued to Facebook trying to get any news I can about Haiti and the effects of the hurricane.  The last category 4 hurricane that hit Haiti directly killed 8,000 people.  At this point it raises a lot more questions than it answers about the future for me.  I would really like to go down in a very short amount of time and help with the disaster relief work.  I am not sure how that will all come together at this point but I am looking into it.  I will keep you posted as things progress.

The calm before the storm.  One of the last few nice days before Matthew.  Before so much devastation and before so many lives lost. 

Thank you for taking the time to read about the latest adventures with Kelby’s Kids.  I am so blessed to be able to serve with you and for you as your representative to Kelby's Kids!

Better by the Dozen

Well the clock just struck 12 midnight so it’s officially day one of my trip to Haiti. 

I really should be in bed but there is still so much to do. I feel like I am missing something, and with only 130 pounds of luggage I am sure I am. 

My alarm will go off at 7 am and I will start toward Detroit making the traditional stops along the way, including the never missed send off lunch with Mom and Dad in Midland before arriving in Detroit tonight for my 8 am Wednesday (21st) morning flight to Port-au-Prince. 

Although this is my 12th trip to Haiti it almost feels like the first. This will be the first official trip of Kelby’s Kids since completing the process as a non-profit, charitable organization.

I want to give you a quick update on how things are going since we are over half way through September.

As you have seen, September is “Partnership of Support” month. I am working toward raising the first level of support needed for operations in Haiti. I need $1,500 in monthly support pledged before I can stay in Haiti full-time and cover all of my day-to-day expenses. 

If I am not fully funded I may have to make trips back and forth at first (which won’t be cost-effective). I am excited to let you know that I am at $375 per month already! I believe the remaining $1,125 per month can be pledged by the time I’m ready to go.

If you are interested in monthly support through my website, PayPal has an option to easily make your gift recurring. (My other giving option — Stripe — will soon have that feature available, too!). With automatic monthly payments you won’t have to remember every month to send your support. 

You can also set up free BillPay through your bank. They’ll automatically take care of the transaction every month for you. Or an additional option, if you don’t want to do electronic transfers and don’t want to write a check and use a stamp every month, is to give quarterly, bi-annually or annually. 

So if you want to write a check for $500 every year just let me know and it will go toward the goal of $41.67 in monthly support.

I know that this trip is going to be as much of a blessing as all the rest and that there will be many unexpected things along the way, as is common in Haiti. So make sure that you don’t miss out on the adventure. Be sure to sign up on my web site for email notifications of blog posts. You can also follow along on Instagram @KelbysKids. And now you can also follow along on my brand-new Facebook page — @KelbysKids. Be sure to like my page so you can get the latest stories as I won’t be posting as much on my personal page about the trip.

I will be spending most of this trip at Christian Light School (CLS) (See last blog post for more details about CLS). We will be meeting to settle all the details of this partnership. The biggest job on this trip will be to get the clinic back in shape and ready to be up and running upon my return. 

Although I have no doubt that as soon as I arrive there will be a steady follow of kids who all have needs as they have not had much of any medical care for some time. With only 500 kids to care for, that means I’m only seeing 100 kids a day on the school days. So it should be a relaxing time! 

I will also be doing some networking in the area and looking for a few other places to serve with — once I have everyone happy and healthy at CLS. It will also be a time to get to know the neighbors in the area I will be living! 

And then there is always the unknown like the many adventures of my last trip! 

Sadly, I recently learned that our baby Boo Boo has died from complications of his premature birth (see the blog post from May 26, 2016). In a county where one out of every five children dies before the age of 5, the statistics were not in his favor. 

But being a 26-week preemie hardly ever looks promising anywhere! It was a blessing and privilege to be able to be a part of his care during his transport to the children’s hospital and giving him the best chance possible. God chose a different way to make his tiny body healthy and strong and I look forward to the day I can see him again and give him the big hug I wanted to that day but couldn’t as he was too frail to hold. 

Thank you again for your support and encouragement. This last month has truly been a blessing from all of the support that you have shown to me and to Kelby’s Kids. I look forward to the future with great anticipation as we see what you and I can do for Kelby’s Kids! 

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby

Help Me Bring Hope Through Good Health

Dear Friends and Family,

So much has happened in the last couple months that I need to update you so we can move forward in this journey together!

I want to start by letting you know that due to some exciting events recently, I have named September “Partnership of Support” month, so that there will be no delay in the work of Kelby’s Kids in Haiti. Let me explain!

After my last trip in May, I had looked at partnering with a large organization just outside of Port-Au-Prince. After starting the hiring process, it became obvious that I needed to stick to my original plan to be an independent ministry, to be the most effective in the work to which I feel called, the children of Haiti. I again went in search of the best place where I can best use my skills …

This summer was a busy one. I was able to spend almost 700 hours at kids’ camps, serving the needs of the kids who come for hopefully one of the best weeks of their summer. During this time I was also able to continue moving forward with the legal requirements for Kelby’s Kids, Inc.

I am very pleased to announce that Kelby’s Kids has been granted 501 (c) 3 status by the IRS! That means that I am now the President of Kelby’s Kids, a tax-exempt, non-profit, charitable corporation! It’s kind of scary when I think about it! But, I know that God is faithful and will go before me in this journey. 

It’s not as big as it sounds at this point, but my hope is that some day we can be doing great things for the kids in Haiti. Right now it’s still just me using the skills that God has given me to serve others, like I have been doing for years, but now I am dependent on your partnership for it to continue.

In the last several weeks I have been drawn back “Home.” I have contacted the director of Christian Light School (CLS) who has been a long-time friend and place to visit or stay on many of my trips to Haiti. It’s the neighborhood I stayed in on my first trip and 9 out of my 11 trips to Haiti. It will be where I stay on my 12th trip and will be working for the start of Kelby’s Kids in Haiti. 

In partnership with Christian Light School I will be serving the 260+ students at the school, providing for their medical needs. In addition, CLS has a restavek program. Restaveks are child slaves in Haiti. CLS has convinced the owners of these restaveks to allow the children to come to school a couple hours in the afternoon. These children have no medical care provided by their owners.  I will also be working with the children from their Little Angels feeding program for 3 and 4 year olds from the community at the school. 

In addition I will be going into the Ravine with the baby feeding program.  Every day the workers go out into the ravine and feed all the babies and provide them with vitamins. I will go out with them several times a week to address medical needs for the most vulnerable in this community.  There are also satellite schools that CLS works with, and I can serve them occasionally as well.

So from the start I will have over 500 kids who receive 98% of their medical care from me.  Once I get all the untreated and chronic medical issues under control, I will look to branch out in the area and find other ministries to partner with.

Due to recent events in Haiti, medical care in this area is very difficult to come by. The interim president has stopped paying the doctors of the public hospitals, which caused them to go on strike, closing all public hospitals in Haiti. This leaves only the private and charitable organizations to care for all of the medical needs in Haiti.

Needless to say they are all very overwhelmed. The clinic in this neighborhood that I worked with a couple trips ago closed when Dr Ed’s health was failing. This is the one where I was able to do some dental work and actually pulled some teeth. CLS had a small clinic, but had to close it sometime ago due to a lack of medical staff to operate it.

So with very limited income in this area, medical care is all but a dream. I am excited to be able provide hope to these kids by providing as much medical care as possible to the kids of this community!

In preparation for the privilege to serve these kids, I will be making a trip to Haiti on September 21st until the 29th. I will be finalizing details of my work with CLS, getting the small clinic on the campus ready to open again after several years, making a list of equipment, supplies, and medications that I will need, and finalizing the place I will soon call home! If everything comes together as planned, I will be looking at a move date around the end of October or first part of November….

There is one remaining detail.

People have been very supportive thus far in this process, and for that I am truly grateful. I have had some fund raisers and many donations. I have been able to cover all the costs for the process of becoming a non-profit. I have some start up funds and maybe a little extra for a special project with a particularly sick child.

But, at this point, I have almost no foreseeable sustainability (sufficient monthly support). In a few short months the money will be gone and I will be out on the street, and the kids will be left with no medical care again. I need to know that I can continue this work indefinitely with your partnership; together we can serve many children!

Many people assume that with my retirement comes a pension. But this is not true. It will be a decade before I will be able to draw anything from my pension. So when I retire it will be with zero income.

I am confident that others believe in this calling I have to serve the children of Haiti. So the challenge for September is the Partnership of Support. I need to raise monthly support from people willing to look at long term partnership. I need a minimum of $1,500 a month before I will be able to leave for Haiti long term. This will cover housing, food, transportation, and other monthly or utility type bills. I figure I will probably need an operating budget of around $2,500 a month for long term operations.

This will be for basic care. It will not provide an excessive amount of supplies, medications, and equipment. Any additional or extra money will go toward increasing the effectiveness of the medical care for the kids. As support continues to increase, I will be able to cover things like ER visits, blood work, X-rays, and possible hospitalization if needed. I currently only have $110 in monthly support pledged. That means that I need an additional $1,390 in monthly pledges before I will be able to make the move to full time work.

Please seriously consider partnering with me in providing much needed health care to kids in Haiti.

Statistically one in five kids in Haiti will die before the age of 5. I know there are a lot of places where you can spend your hard-earned money, but I hope that you will consider being a part of changing and saving the lives of these kids. I can’t do it alone, but TOGETHER we can make a difference and bring Hope through good health!

Until No Child Dies,

Kelby

Fundraiser This Saturday!

I am so excited about this event! It's growing by the day and should be a great time. You'll find many different ways for you to support the ministry of Kelby’s Kids — and also get a great meal and some nice things for yourself, too!

There will be games, outdoor activities on the lake, a dunk tank, a barbeque dinner, and a DJ.  You will be able to participate in a silent auction, gun raffles, and opportunities to partner with Kelby’s Kids on a regular basis.

I am hoping this benefit will be a great kickstart to my financial needs in Haiti.  So come out and have a great afternoon with your family and friends and support the much needed medical care to the children of Haiti!

Pampered Chef + Kelby's Kids Fundraiser!

If you've been wanting to refresh your pantry's supply of Pampered Chef items, now is the time! All proceeds from this flash sale will go to support my work in Haiti.

You don't have to be a local to take advantage of this fundraiser. All the items can be shipped directly to you.

Hurry! The event ends August 6.

Thank you for your support!

https://www.pamperedchef.com/go/BoGRli