We recently enjoyed a short visit to Oriani by one of our board members, Keith Toews and his wife Candace. They flew into the Dominican Republic and I went to the border town of Malpasse to pick them up. They spent a few days here, visiting with many different ones and seeking counsel on the future of the clinic from our local clinic advisory committee, the national Mission Mennonite committee, and the local magistrate. We feel very good about the advice we received.
The situation in Haiti continues to be challenging. While we rejoice together with Christian Aid Ministries that all their hostages were able to escape safely and return to their families, the security situation here in Haiti remains volatile. There are many Haitians still being held hostage, and there is no sign that kidnappings are on the decline overall. For that reason, we are still avoiding traveling through the gang-controlled area of Croix-des-Bouquets. Our last trip into Port-au-Prince was October 12. There has been some question about the feasibility of us staying in Haiti, but the counsel we received while Keith’s were here has helped us to come to a more settled position on this. We feel that the Oriani area continues to be safe for the time being, and we are comfortable staying here, trusting our future into the hands of the almighty God and our local brethren and friends. We have faith that the locals will be honest with us and let us know if they feel our area is no longer safe.
We have found several workarounds to enable us to keep our clinic open and functioning, even if we are unable to travel into Port-au-Prince to buy supplies. We have several contacts from our area that make regular trips into Port with trucks and are able to bring items up for us. We also have resources in the Port area that are able to go from place to place on our behalf, purchasing items and bringing them to a drop-off point for the local trucks to pick up. We are very thankful these routes continue to stay open for us, and we are happy to see how the clinic is still able to function even in these uncertain times.
We continue to be quite busy here in the clinic, seeing anywhere from 50 to 80 patients per day. We seem to be seeing a lot of wound care lately. Several large, infected wounds have come in during the past several weeks, some of which have been treated previously with traditional methods, leading to them becoming very foul-smelling and challenging to deal with.
Our cleft palate baby, Jhonky, was able to go to the hospital last week for his initial assessment by the plastic surgeon that will do the operation. He continues to develop well, growing each time he comes in.
His consulation with the plastic surgeon at Hospital Bernard Mevs went well, and they scheduled a return visit for December 23 to go over lab results and hopefully put him on the schedule for operation. We are all ready to see his cleft palate repaired!
And so, the year draws to a close. We were unable to receive family or other company for Christmas due to the insecurity in the country, so we plan to spend a few days visiting friends in the Dominican Republic while the clinic is closed for the holidays. We hope to stock up on household supplies while we’re there also. We are looking at some staffing changes at the clinic in the new year, so we will need come back from Christmas ready to hit the ground running! It will be challenging to work through these changes while balancing the other needs of the clinic and household, but God will provide a way.
Continue to keep us in your prayers. We feel safe and secure here, and some of the anxiety and questions of the past few months are fading away as we trust the future into God’s hands. We feel like this is the place for us to be at the moment, but at the same time our hearts and minds are open to all possibilities, if the door should close for us to stay and we would need to return to the States. One day at a time!
As always, we thank each one of you who has donated money, supplies, and time to our clinic this past year. Our operation depends on people like you, and we are very grateful for each one. We are still needing to find a couple who would be willing to come serve as administrators of the clinic when our time here is finished later this year. We are looking for a married couple who is able to give several years to the cause, helping run the clinic and household. It would be very beneficial if either the husband or wife has medical training, but not absolutely necessary. Children are welcome. We have a safe and comfortable place to live, and all daily living is provided by the clinic. Oriani is home to a healthy church family, and there is plenty of spiritual food to be found every Sunday. There is not space enough here to list the blessings and benefits of your time here! If anyone is interested in this position, or know of someone who is, contact us via email at admin@confidencehealthcenter.com or via WhatsApp or Telegram at +509-3837-0605. Thanks!