Hi All:

Tom and Nick Failing and myself have settled into the routine in Haiti
again. We had a nice trip down, our connection was very tight, 50 minutes
only, in Chicago, but it appears that the number of flights offered by
American Airlines under the new administration from US Airways are quite
limited, at least those that go to Port au Prince and don’t include an
overnight layover on both the outgoing and inbound flights. So, had to
take what was available (so far, looks even less desirable for my next
trip, the end of July) and we figured we could run if needed. As the
weather was rather nasty with rain and clouds, the trip was very bumpy and
we saw nothing out the windows til we were almost on the ground and 20
minutes late. We got our carryons plane side and really hiked to the next
plane, headed for Miami, and arrived when it was mostly loaded, not a lot
of time to spare. It was only about 1/4 full, but that wouldn’t mean they
would hold it up for a  few stragglers, especially a scrawny Haitian
donkey and his plumbing friends.

We connected with the German surgeon and two other German friends of Olga
Lapp, who runs the women’s center, helping widows and other disadvantaged
ladies make ends meet with teaching them sewing skills, embroidery, etc
and then shipping them back in our suitcases to distribute in the US to
help fund the ministry. The surgeon, named Olga Koop, speaks quite decent
English, certainly better than a Haitian donkey speaks German, but her two
teacher friends that came along to work at the women’s center speak even
less English than I speak German. All three (one of the two teachers is
ALSO named Olga) come from Kazbekestan but are of German descent and have
moved back to Germany and we met in Miami and all rode in the truck to the
hospital. I did take 2 years of German in college, but that was a long
time ago, I fear, and, with the exception of Baalam’s speaking donkey, we
don’t have the greatest trans species communication skills. At least it
was not  hard to remember first names, as 3 of the 4 had the same name.
Customs gave us some grief, but we were able to slide less offensive
suitcases to them for their perusal and satisfy them that we were not
bringing in contraband materials. This is always a struggle and we
appreciate all who pray that God would help us get the pain meds we have
donated from patients so that we can give our big surgeries something more
than an Ibuprofen to help with the pain.

Olga Koop is an abdominal surgeon, so has had no experience in the number
of gynecological procedures we do, nor the urology we exposed her to on
her first day here, but she has fit in nicely and seems to adjust well to
our ever changing surgical landscape. This has allowed me some time to
slide out of the OR and do a fairly busy surgical clinic today, including
some trauma to the bones, one lady in particular having had an altercation
with her neighbor up in the mountains and she was on the receiving end of
a healthy beating with a big stick that did the number on her ankle, which
is already swollen to twice normal size and is draining pus at 6 days post
injury. She hobbled out from the mountains between the hospital and
Jeremie and the fractured ankle is considerably worse for the wear. A 7
yr old boy also was attacked by a fellow student at school today and has a
both bone forearm fracture that he presented with only a few hours after
the incident.

We are extremely thankful that, thanks to the efforts of other important
members of the Haiti team, we were able to bring back both ultrasound
machines and both are working well and getting considerable use already.
This not only helps me with diagnosis of the complex medical situations
that often show up to be sorted out, but also helps many of the patients
who come scared that each lump they feel in their bellies is a terrible
cancer. Of course, unfortunately, more than I would like to see are, but
a lot can be assured that, to the best of our diagnostic skills, the scary
lump is not, but that we will remove it if it still troubles them.

Tom and Nick have found several new projects to add to their list already
and we have a busy day scheduled for them tomorrow. The water system
seems to require pretty much monthly attention and I greatly appreciate
all the help my colleagues give us in that regard. Jeff had everything up
and running when he left with me last time but it only took 2 days for a
pump to malfunction and require limping along until we returned. I don’t
know if that is resolved yet, but keeping an inventory of replacement parts
is a huge job for the team to keep in order. We obtained a couple new
tires from the dealership in Port au Prince for the Kia, as tires don’t
last long here and we hoped they might have better quality tires. After
maybe 300 miles, the entire wall blew out, we are assuming it likely took
years to sell and in the Haitian heat, was well worn out before it ever
was placed on the truck. Everything seems to struggle to remain functional
in this country, from the political scene to transportation, both public
and private, and certainly the health of the populace. We stood for the
better part of an hour as the police searched vehicles on our way out,
rather frustrating when all you can see is standing traffic for miles
ahead (well maybe with the nature of the roads, you only can see 1/2 mile
or so, as bends, trees, etc make vision less than wonderful. Dr. William
hypothesized that the government is trying to raise funds for the
elections scheduled for later this year? They also are building a huge
overpass in Port au Prince over top of the slums to connect a couple of
well traveled roads? I just think of how much food and other basic
supplies that could contribute to the hordes of hungry Haitians who go to
bed with growling stomachs night after night?

Will send out this update and let you know we are doing well and thankful
to the Lord for His protection and enablement for our service for Him thus
far this week.

In His Service,

Bill, Tom and Nick