February 3, 2011

For Makendi and Ti-Frane Joseph, bedtime meant laying down to sleep on the cold hardness of a front porch in Port-de-Paix.  The children and their father were homeless, squatting on the steps of the mayor’s office at night to stay out of the rain. But the porch could not stop the mosquitoes from biting. And it could not help them when they got sick.  One day, the brothers’ dad died.  Makendi and Ti-Frane were sick, too, their eyes yellow.  They were alone  – until workers from NWHCM found them.  Now they live in a mission-run children’s home and their health is better than ever.  It’s estimated that more than 300,000 children in Haiti have lost one or both parents – about one in ten children.  Thousands of others suffer from life-threatening malnutrition that requires full-time care.  For those children, Northwest Haiti Christian Mission offers hope.  The mission operates a network of homes for orphaned and neglected children, providing a safe, nurturing environment for those who have no other place to turn.

• An estimated 189,000 children in Haiti have lost either their mother or both parents.
• More than 200,000 children in Haiti have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
• Nearly 20 percent of children under age 5 are severely malnourished.

Training Prep:

Weights tonight.  Have had some foot problems.  Two things going on at once.  A neuroma and “something else”.  Steroid shot help the nerve but the “something else” is a problem.  Doctors says arthritis or a floater.  Neither is good but lets hope for just arthritis.  MRI being scheduled.  Appreciate the prayers for– just old age Mark–get use to it, diagnosis.