A word from the front lines... 12 (Jared Stump)

This is the girl when she came in...

       This past week has been a real stretch for me in many ways. For one, it's a stretch because I am still adjusting to the odd hrs of having to work at all times of the day throughout 3 days. It takes a lot of discipline to go to bed when people are still up having a good time or when it's still daylight out. I never thought that I would be able to work "3'rd shift" at a job until I came down here. I had to work from 12 am to 8 am this morning again and I'm actually starting to enjoy it now. Another one of the little things that stretched me a bit was just plain down changing diapers. I never did like the idea and I really didn't plan on doing it anytime soon. Well....that changed this past week. The girls on my shift kept putting a little pressure on and telling me that I am gonna have to learn sometime so I gave in. I have changed lots of diapers now in the past two days and I can honestly say from experience now...I still don't like it ;) Anyhow besides that, I am still really enjoying the work in the CTC even though I never did have an interest in the medical field. It has definitely helped me to see just how important it is to have some medical experience in a third world country.

Here's Virginia giving the baby ORS

         One of the blessings for me with being at the CTC is seeing that although man can do a lot to help a person's health, it is ultimately up to God to heal a person. Man can only do so much, but we can rely in the fact that even when man is incapable of restoring health to a person that we can go to the Great Physician who healed the sick, made the lame walk, caused the blind to see, made the dead rise, and we can ask him to heal whoever needs healing. One example of this happened yesterday. We got a little girl in the CTC who is about 9 months old. She was very dehydrated and her eyes were sunk in. It seemed that her strength was leaving her by the minute and she was getting a little unresponsive. The three of us on staff as well as the baby's father decided to have a little time of prayer before we tried to put an IV into her. She was so dehydrated and her veins were so small that you could barely find a vein anywhere. After a few failed attempts to put an IV in, we decided to give her a break and just keep trying to put liquids in her mouth with a syringe. Last evening one of the leaders from church came and we all gathered around the baby's bed and prayed and read the Bible.  As the night went on, we made her drink about three syringes worth of fluid every hour. After awhile she started to nurse which was a really good sign and as time went on you could see improvements. She is still not back to total health yet but she is definitely getting better which is an answer to prayer! It's times like these that really help to build our faith. We have been getting quite a few more children under 15 which can make things much more difficult so please continue to lift us up in prayer for wisdom and healing for the patients!

~Jared Stump

Life today... (Virginia Rudolph)

Today was quite the day!  This morning I was on the 12 to 8 am shift, but so many patients came in that I spent most of the day out in the CTC.  There were good things and not so good things that happened.  First of all, there was a little girl who came in lethargic and very weak.  Lisa started an IV, and in 30 min she was sitting up in bed by herself!  It is so wonderful to see that happen!  

Later on, a  Dad and Mom walked in with their little girl.  The bad part was that we had just discharged her yesterday (Sunday afternoon).  Either she was not as well as we thought, or she got reinfected.  The worst part is that we can't get an IV started in her.   She is 9 months old, dehydrated, and has just enough of a layer of fat to hide all her veins.  We tried so hard to start one, and finally decided to just hold her and give her pedialyte constantly.  That's what I did for several hours.  She is basically the same right now, neither worse or better.  Please pray that she would be healed  quickly.  Her dad is terribly worried about her.  Quite a few other patients came in today, and we are at maximum capacity in the building again.  If we get anymore, we will have to put some people in the tent outside.

While all this was going on, part of our team left.  Lisa, Karen, and Lyndon, had to leave today and Steve and Shana took them out to Port.  It is really hard to see them go.  God really blessed us with each person here these first few weeks, and I know those of us left will miss them a lot!  Please pray for us as we have much to do and fewer people to share the load.

For His Glory,

~Virginia

More than a frowning face... (Anita Hege)

 Trying to coax a little 2 year-old to drink 

Did you ever feel like you were on a tread mill--just running and running and seeming to get nowhere? 

 

Work at CTC; sleep; do a few necessary things at home; go to CTC for another shift of dumping buckets, charting, putting in yet another IV; go home for more sleep and so on. . .  Yes it can feel that way at times especially if you don't keep the end goal in mind as you do the many endless, wearying tasks.  On the other hand as I look ahead and see the difference we are making in many lives now and the differences for eternity as we touch not only physical bodies but souls, it's not just an endless task with no purpose. 

 

"The fish tank" 
People sitting in the observation tent to see if they need
admitted or can just be treated and sent home

The last while our numbers at the CTC have been rising.  When I was working the 8am-4pm shift on Friday, it felt like about all I did was admit new patients, give them meds, check on people in the observation area (the fish tank, as we call it) to see if any more needed admitted, etc.  We had the CTC pretty much filled to capacity without putting so many beds in that we couldn't even move!  We moved in a tent right next to the CTC building so that in the case that we'd need it, we could put more beds in there.  So far we've not had to use it.

 

There are so many aspects to our work at the CTC.  There are, of course, the endless tasks that are always present, but then there are also all those faces--some hurting, some sad, some so dehydrated that they're pretty much out of it, some happy.  As I go around giving drinks it's a blessing just to share a smile with a scared 12 year old who appears to have possibly been mistreated and try to reassure him or to gently approach a little 2 year old who wants to cry if the white nurse gets too close. 

Just a few of our patients. 
Notice the sad look on the ladies face. 
The little 11 year-old girl with her was very low, but
after a little work we had the life-saving IV fluid flowing into her.

 

As you think of us, do continue to pray.  Just as Moses needed his hands held up so that the battle was victorious so we need those standing beside us in prayer and holding up our hands.   

 

Thank you all so much for your support for us and love for the people here.  We certainly can't do this alone.  Something like this surely shows me my limitations, but I'm SO thankful for a faithful Heavenly Father! 

 

Just an earthen vessel for the Lord, 

 

~Anita

A word from the front lines... 12 (Thea Hamann)

   Greetings once again from the CTC in Allegre,

   A bright spot for me in the past few days has been a little 3 1/2 year old girl. She came in Tuesday afternoon, dehydrated and rather lethargic. An IV was put in and she slowly began the turn around to recovery. Everyone thought she was rather stubborn and uncooperative as she would not drink well for anyone, and was quite the little grump. Then one time after having removed her IV and cleaned her after several accidents I decided to just hold her for a while. I went about doing things with her in my arms until she fell asleep. That was the turning point. She was all mine after that. 

   I would come out of the office door or turn from a bedside and find her out of her bed and over at my side waiting for me to pick her up. She would laugh and smile for me and was totally heartbroken when I would leave her to do something else. When I would offer her a drink she would often turn her head away with a little grin and act like she would not drink and then she would turn back, grab the bottle and drink away.

   It was so special to see her responding and see her response to love. She would often put her hands on my face, look me in the eyes and give a happy smile, then she would hug me and lay her head down on my shoulder. 

   This morning after dressing her and giving her to her mother so they could go home, I said good-bye and told her that I was going. She let out a whimper, slid off her mother's lap and came running back to me again. Thankfully she didn't put up a big fuss and settled with the idea of going back to her mommy, for which I was rather glad as I didn't want a big scene to deal with. All in all she was a very special blessing to me the few days that she was here, and I pray that she could be shown the true love of Christ as she goes on through life.

   Please pray for her family and especially her 12 year old sister, Marie Catherine. She was here most of the time as caretaker for her little sister and became my fast friend. The moment she arrived she was watching my every move and smiling every time I would look her way. Other people and patients were commenting and saying; "She really likes you." "She wants to be your friend." "You should talk to her." etc. etc. We had sort of a forced meeting, with both of us standing there not quite sure what to say to each other, but, after it was over we were just friends. She was given one of the little Bible story books. "101 Favorite Stories From the Bible." She seemed to cherish it very dearly and often I would see her sitting and looking at the picture of Jesus on the cross. When her mother came this morning she took the book to her, showing her the same picture and asking her some questions. Please, Please... Pray that the seeds that were planted in the few short days that they were here could take root and bring forth fruit. There is nothing that I desire more or that would make me happier than to one day know that they are walking with the Lord and serving Him with all their hearts. Dedicated and committed to His call and work.

   Their mother said that she was going to be coming to church on Sunday. "May the Word of God reach into her life while her heart is soft."

   Thanks to each and everyone of you for your prayers on our behalf, you support is very much appreciated and because of you we are able to make a difference here!!! May the Lord richly bless you all. 

Serving my King, 

~Thea Hamann

The night of the 24th...

Here are some photos from June 24th's patients.

A word from the front lines... 11 (Lisa Zook)

Maryna Jalies

     "Hello, I am called Maryna Jalies*. I am 33 years old. I, my husband and our three children are from Kapierre. We had four children, but our 10 year old died on the 12th of January, 2010. I have been following Jesus for a long time, thirteen years or more.

Since cholera came, I always treat all my family's water with clorox. I never use untreated water for making food, bathing or washing our clothes. 

     One day I bought juice, but I didn't have any limes to treat it with so I just drank it as it was. (Note: limes are a proven preventative for cholera!) The next morning around four o'clock my stomach began to feel tight and then rumble and boil painfully inside. Soon I began having diarrhea and then vomiting. I became very weak and shook uncontrollably. My husband went to find men to carry me to the cholera treatment center, but before they came I collapsed and went unconscious. 

     He found only two men, but they carried me all the way to the center. (It is about an hour's walk under normal circumstances.) We arrived before 8 o'clock that same morning. I do not remember anything about that trip, or about being bathed when I arrived. The first thing I felt was the nurse searching for my veins when she was putting an IV in me. 

After that my legs and feet hurt very much, and my head ached. 

     My stomach kept hurting too. I still have diarrhea, and my legs still hurt now, but not as badly as before. I feel that I am getting better, but God knows if I will get well. He is helping me heal!

     I came to this center because it was close. I was so sick that I would have died if I could not have come here for help. If there was no center here to treat cholera, a lot of people would die."

*Pronounced: mah-REE-na jal-EES

     This is the story of our 61st patient, and she is still in the CTC. She is doing well, and should be able to go home in a day or so. It is only one of many stories that could be told by the patients that have come through our gate. Right now, our CTC is filled to over flowing and the sick keep coming. 

     The total patient count to date is 75, with more possible patients being observed for signs of cholera. Each one has a story, but more importantly, each one has a soul. 

     It is our prayer that as we give the physical help they so desperately need, they would be drawn to Jesus, and allow Him, the Great Physician, to heal their souls. 

     Please continue to pray with us for this, and that we could be "living, loving channels, bearing forth the Christ!"

~ Lisa Zook

A word from the front lines... 10 (Kayla Kauffman)

My little friends going home healthy from the CTC!

       Day to day life still continues here in Aleg, with many Cholera patients passing through our gates. Twelve people was the count in the CTC last night. We can't hold much more than that, in our facilities. :-) I continue to be blessed as I work as a nurse helping others. It can be a lesson in humility, when your patients leave healthy and thank you for all you've done, yet you wonder if you could have done more. If you think about the clean, neat, fancy hospitals we have in the States, things could look pretty crude here. Yet the Haitian people are very blessed to be taken care of here.
Yesterday, many of us had the opportunity to take a hike to a beautiful water fall. It was a trek to get there and then back home but it was worth it. It was a blessing to have some time of recreation, and see some of God's handiwork in the mountains of Haiti. In our adventures coming and going we climbed some pretty steep trails, and crawled up some rocky places. Our mothers and grandmothers may have had something to say about the places we were climbing. But hey, your only young once, and we all came back safe and sound. :-) 


Thank you so much for keeping us supported in prayer, and taking an interest in what is happening down here. We are all very appreciative!! Praise the Lord that none of us have fallen ill.

A tool in His hands 
~Kayla

A word from the front lines... 09 (Michael Rudolph)

. . . . and the heartbeat of the Allegre CTC (Cholera Treatment Center) goes on.

As regularly as life can be here in rural Haiti, the shifts continue to come and go, the John Deere Gator (our waste disposal vehicle) breaks down, and "By Grace We Clean."


"Vibrio cholerae" in varying serotypes, is the bacteria responsible for the Cholera epidemic here in Haiti. This bacteria can live on almost any surface, and multiplies rapidly in a moist environment. This along with the fact that any person can be reinfected countless times, even after receiving treatment, makes cleaning and disinfection paramount.

About eighty percent of the work involved with operating a CTC is cleaning. Once a patient is admitted, has an IV started, and their medications given, the only thing left to do besides wait the 2-3 days for the cholera bacteria to be killed, and the troublesome enterotoxin it produces to be flushed from the body, is to clean up lots and lots of diarrhea. The average patient will usually produce several gallons of diarrhea in three days and some of the worst cases as much as a liter per hour. Sadly because of the nature of diarrhea, far too often our patients do not make it off their bed to the bucket in time. So ...we wash them, ...the bed, ...the floor (and sometimes ourselves) and disinfect everything with clorox. 

I was once asked by a Haitian, "What makes you come help the sick people, and why aren't you afraid of dying from Cholera?" I replied that it was the grace that God put in my heart and His love for me that made me come and overcomes any fear. Aside from God's work and presence in our lives, I do not think there is anything that would motivate us to voluntarily, joyfully, and lovingly clean up after our patients over and over again each time they mess up their bed.

It is such a blessing to be able to quietly share Christ's love with our patients, even though we have the barrier of different languages, and to see the gratitude on each of these special peoples faces when, after you are finished helping them they smile and whisper mesí (thank-you).

Please pray for continued strength and health for everyone working here, and also that God would continue to give us sunny weather, as rain has a direct effect on the number of people infected with Cholera.
 
Michael Rudolph
Haiti Field Director
Aid For Haiti, Inc.
Working with GTH on the CTC project.

A word from the front lines... 08 (Karen Wolf)

   It is too bad when something as unique and exciting as a Cholera Clinic can become routine! Not that it is ever boring, but sometimes I look around and wonder what else there is to write about dumping buckets, giving drinks, and mopping floors. But even the most routine and ordinary of days can suddenly transform when a stretcher shows up at the gate!
    This happened on one of our recent day shifts. Our team had done most of what needed done, no IV's were in danger of running dry, the buckets were recently dumped and we were standing on the porch chatting when someone yelled, "Look out! Here they come." The place immediately looked like a war zone. One of the guards grabbed his spray bottle and ran for the gate, the other one grabbed his spray bottle and ran to refill it, the "partially sick" people in the observatory tent came running to the door, and all available caretakers were instantly out on the porch. An assorted group of about a dozen people walked in, surrounding the four men carrying a stretcher on their shoulders. This they lowered to the ground, untying the lady on it and helping her to sit up as they chattering excitedly, each one giving his version of her illness. By this time I had an anti-vomiting pill ready and a bottle of ORS.  Thea took the pill and tried to give it to the lady as she started groaning.  The more Thea tried forcing the pill in her mouth the more the lady increased her groaning. The men around her began making worried noises, sure she was dying. Instead she spewed - vomiting all over Thea's hand, drenching the pill, her own clothes and the stretcher. We gave up the pill idea till later and took her directly to the little black tent where Virginia and I sprayed her down and dressed her in a hospital gown. Of course she could barely stand on her own and a grown lady is no light weight - especially when slippery wet! But we successfully got her onto a cot and an IV started.
   The end of that story is that she went home today - bright, lively and happy!
   Of course no two days are ever the same, sometimes we get a couple people only moderately sick and sometimes we get several on stretchers and sometimes no one comes at all. But no matter what, it is rewarding, challenging, faith stretching and mostly fun!

 

    -Karen Wolf

A word from the front lines... 07 (Jared Stump)

        First of all I want to say just how thankful I am to be able to be here at this time. I can't think of another place I'd rather be. It has been quite stretching at times at the CTC the past two days with all of the various things that need to be done. I have been really stretched in some ways like dumping buckets of diarrhea and vomit or just the daily cleaning duty's.

        It has been my job during our day shift (8am-4pm) to dump about 8-9 full buckets of waste. I have to load it into our gator and haul it off down the very bumpy trail to the original cholera treatment center where there is a hole about 8 foot deep that we dump it into. I've had a few nasty experiences that have been very disgusting like a lid coming off because of bouncing around so much which leaves a terribly disgusting mess all over the other buckets. That means an extra long time of cleaning and spraying down with bleach.

        One of the highlights with the CTC for me has been the evenings spent with some of the other staff on top of the depot/CTC roof. We will often gather up there to sing and talk for awhile. Some of us also had a little prayer meeting up there the other night which was a special time to lift up the CTC and the staff involved.

        Another one of the highlights for me has been seeing people come in, some of which look deathly ill, and then watching them walk out a few days later...healthy. When we have children come in, it can really brighten your day to watch them overcome their cholera; some of them will start singing to themselves or just smile at you as you walk by.

        The other evening there were several of us on duty at the CTC just sitting in the nurse's station/supply room talking about what it would be like to get an IV. After a lot of contemplation we decided to give each other an IV to see what it felt like and to know what to do different when we give them to our patients. It was quite the experience because I had never had one before. 

        It went good because Anita was able to get it into the vein the first time without too much pain. After my IV ran dry I decided to put an IV into one of our Haitian guards who really wanted to get one. I was also able to get it the first try which wasn't too surprising because he had really big veins. It helped all of us to get a better idea on how to stick an IV into somebody.

         I am very thankful that I have this privilege to be here and help the Haitians with this cholera epidemic. It has helped me to see just how blessed and how easy of a life I have in the states, which gives me more of a heart for the Haitian people!!!

 

  -Jared Stump

Cholera and Salvation?!

Today marks the 54th patient that has been hospitalized and treated at the GTH Allegre CTC.
It seems as though time has flown by, I find it very difficult to believe that I have been back in Haiti for over 3 weeks. The cholera epidemic has gone up and down in intensity, but the work load has really been fairly steady. Anytime things lighten up at the CTC, all the work that has backed up at the mission needs attention; and it seems there is always plenty to go around! :-)

But God has been good, faithful as always, and has been supplying our needs. And not only our needs, but He has been working through the cholera epidemic to bring men and women to himself! I believe 6 people have repented from their sins and turned to Jesus- right here in our little CTC!!! So join us in praising the Lord for this, and THANK YOU again and again for your prayers! They really do make a difference! All your involvement, is what keeps us going here.

God bless you all, Steve

A word from the front lines... 06 (Virginia Rudolph)

I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be here in Ailegue and work in the CTC.  It is a joy to work along with each one of the staff, and everyone has their own way of brightening a day.  I want you all to know though, that if we didn't have Steve and Shana and Katie Jo those of us who work at the CTC would be pretty badly off!  So a big THANKS to them!

Have you ever prayed in an IV?  I hadn't 'till I came to work at the CTC.  In fact, though trained for it, I had never started an IV.  Now I have learned that the most important part of starting an IV is prayer.  Some of the people who come in are so dehydrated that it is a miracle if we get an IV going in them.  Cholera is a bad thing to get, but with the right treatment you can see improvement very quickly.  It amazes me every time to see a person who was carried in, walking out- in just a few days!

Some of the highlights of my time here so far have been the evenings we are able to sit on the roof of the CTC and sing and pray.  The patients are resting and listening to the Proclaimer (the Bible in Creole), and we gather on the roof and watch the moon come up and sing!  One evening storm clouds slowly rolled across the mountains toward us.  What made it so unique, was the lightening in the clouds.  It lit them up from inside!  Those evenings are very refreshing for me both physically and spiritually, it has a way of clearing the fogginess brought on by the stress of work.  Another great stress reliever is laughter!  The happenings of the day can take on a very funny aspect at two AM!  A sense of humor is a definite advantage here, and makes scrubbing buckets and laundry quite enjoyable.

Please keep each of us in your prayers that we would be able to give good health care, but more importantly that the patients would see Christ's love in us. 

For His Glory,

Virginia Rudolph

A word from the front lines... 05 (Lyndon Reinford)

Last night the midnight to 8 was a quiet shift. We had 10 patients overnight. It can seem like there’s not a whole lot that happens on the night shifts outside of the ordinary; getting everyone to drink their ORS, emptying and cleaning the pails, and changing diapers… One night Vickson (one of the guards) wanted us to teach him English songs, and we were happy to do so.

One of our patients is one of deacon Dodo’s sons. During my shift last night, one of his younger brothers came in with a broken wrist! The nurses splinted it for him, and sent him to TG to have a cast put on.

A scene of the night shift at the CTC...

When I left my afternoon shift yesterday to spend the evening with my sister in Terre Rouge, one of the guards asked me if I would be returning for my next shift after the dark. When I replied that I would, he wondered if I wasn’t afraid of the devil (Haitians do not like to be out after dark). I told him that I wasn’t afraid because I have Jesus with me. There was a man, a patient in the CTC, standing there listening, nodding his head and agreeing with what I was saying. When I got back for my shift later that evening, some of the CTC staff were sitting up on the roof singing, and later they told me that that they found out that this man was a witchdoctor! We had a special time of prayer for him, and we would appreciate if you would also join us in prayer for him. Pray that God would reach him through this experience.

The work is not often very pleasant, but it is so rewarding to see the cholera patients come in barely even able to hold their own heads, and a few days later walk out of there perfectly fine.

Thank you for your interest and prayers!

                  -Lyndon Reinford

A word from the front lines... 04 (Anita Hege)

Our team (Right to left)
Anita Hege, Kayla Kauffman, Jared Stump

CTC Schedule

 

   First of all I'll introduce my team to you;  There are 3 of us in each of 3 teams.  My team is Jared Stump, Kayla Kauffman, and myself.  We take turns working 8 hour shifts.  We change around so that we don't always have the same shift each day; this makes for some shorter breaks and some longer.  It works well.  In our off time we then help with responsibilities around the compound such as maintenance, cooking, cleaning, and laundry. 

 

   My team and I (and I think I can speak for all of us!) enjoy working together.  I'll give you a little run down of what a shifts consist of.  

   In all of the shifts we need to do our rounds, getting people to drink, changing IVs, and fixing them if we let them run out, dumping pails of diarrhea and vomit, charting intake and output, cleaning up after accidents, and doing laundry.  

Putting in an IV

   Of course when anyone new comes in we first see what their condition is.  If they are critical, we admit them right away.  If they aren't, we have them sit in a little tent next to the CTC for observation.  From there we decide whether they need to be admitted, or just sent home with some ORS (oral rehydration solution). 

 

   Now for a little detail on each shift.  On the 8am-4pm shift we try to get everyone up and out a little.  There are several reasons for this.  For one thing, it's  good for them to get up and out.  Another very important reason is because they can acquire pneumonia from a combination of having all so many fluids, and just laying down all the time.  While we have them out, we do a more thorough cleaning inside--spray down beds and walls with bleach solution, clean the floor, and change bedding as needed.  This of course give us some extra laundry so it's a good time of day to get that washed and on the line.  We do all the laundry by hand, first soaking it in bleach water, and then scrubbing it a bit, rinsing it, wringing it out, and up to the roof to hang it up. 

Charting...

 

   In the 4pm-12am shift the garbage is to be hauled to the disposal area.  The trash gets burned, and the liquid waste gets dumped in a pit.  It has already been treated with bleach so it's no longer "contaminated".  

   On the 12am-8am shift we give the buckets and dishpans an extra scrub as needed so they don't get cruddy. 

 

   The cleaning all gets done with varying percentages of bleach solution.  Yes, we get tired of smelling bleach.  If you were to come to our houses, you'd likely smell bleach on some of us.  

   At least we know that's better than getting- or spreading- cholera.

 

Ready to head to the roof
with some laundry

   It does seem to be creeping closer home.  Yesterday we had a man come in who lives just down the road from the clinic, and last night a young man came in who we know well.  His brother-in-law is one of our gardeners on the compound.  Numbers really vary at the CTC.  We were down to 3 the other day, but now it's back up to 9. 

  

   Thankfully most of our patients who come in are still conscious.  If they've progressed enough to be unconscious, finding a vein to get an IV is going to be much more challenging. 

 

Do keep us in your prayers.  We are doing well, but we need your support!!!!!  It does get wearying at moments...

 

 

~Anita Hege

A word from the front lines... (Lisa Zook) 03

Patient Peek....

Ikensia before treatment...

One of my favorite patients so far was a little one-year-old girl that came in around 5am on Sunday morning. Her mother had been admitted a few days earlier and was almost ready to go home when her baby came. The child was pretty dehydrated and limp, with sunken eyes that weren't closing properly anymore. She really pulled at all of our hearts! We quickly admitted her, postponing  some of our usual paperwork routine because of the urgency of the case. I undressed and washed her down a little, then put on a gown and we took her into the building. Inside, Virginia held her while Michael worked on getting an IV in her. Her skin was so delicate and soft....the veins were hard to find and we prayed hard! Before long he was able to get a good solid IV catheter set (in a vein that was almost invisible), and the life-saving fluid started flowing into her little body. There were quite a few exclamations of "Praise the Lord" heard in the CTC that morning!! 

Ikensia after treatment!

With the IV started we relaxed a little...but wait, this little girl has more than cholera. It's pneumonia too! Virginia could feel her lungs rattle all the way to the bottom as she held her, and a little check with a stethoscope confirmed the diagnosis. Thankfully, she took medicine well, and we had no problems getting the oral antibiotic into her. As we watched her carefully over the next few hours, we were so happy that she improved steadily and rapidly. In the first hour we could already see definite signs of recovery in her face. In a couple more hours she was alert and nursing! Within a day her cholera was over, but we kept her for a few more days to take care of her pneumonia. When we released her, she was hardly recognizable as the same baby that had come in just a few days before. Now her skin shone softly, and her eyes that had been so dull and sunken were bright and alert, the picture of health.

Seeing this recovery, as well as many others like it, makes the work here at the CTC so incredibly rewarding! The best part about this particular patient was that her mother was born again while she was here! That is the most rewarding of all :-)

Life! ...instead of death, and all because of the Great Physician!!

~Lisa Zook

A word from the front lines... (Thea Hamann) 02

"Take another drink, Please..." A shake of the head.
"Yes! You really need to drink again."
"But I don't feel like drinking now."
"I know, but you must drink some more."
"I just had to drink a few minutes ago."
"I'm sorry." "But you are going to drink once again." "You must.!"
Holding the bottle to their lips they reluctantly take a swallow. (At least you hope they do so.) As you plead with them to PLEASE take at least one more sip. ~So can be the life of a nurse here at the CTC.
Whether it is changing diapers, putting in IV's, removing the air when you have let them run dry "again," dumping pails, cleaning up the accidents, (including on yourself at times) forcing someone to drink, scrubbing out soiled laundry or whatever. It is all very much rewarded when you are given a warm smile from the patient as he is feeling better and you watch them walk out healthy and strong with a smile and "Thanks!" after being carried in on stretchers and such. It is so encouraging to see that your labors have paid off.
My greatest joy has been in seeing several patients get saved during their time here. Knowing we have touched the life of another person and one more soul has come to the master and been added to the heavenly kingdom is an unspeakable joy and the highlight of my days.

~Thea Hamann

A word from the front lines... (Kayla Kauffman 01)

Kayla Kauffman, CTC nurse

      I sit here, trying to stay somewhat cool and relax. With bugs crawling across my computer screen, I begin my writing, as I have been told it is my turn to tell you all my insights of working in the Cholera Treatment Center.
      We have our stretching moments, and humorous moments.  Having a dear Down's Syndrome boy steal his neighbor's re-hydration bottle, or remove his clothes, or bath in his Oral re-hydration solution, surely makes us laugh. :-)  I think he's still sweet though. When we have someone soil their bed instead of getting on 'the bucket', it makes us breath deep and smile, suppressing our temptation to be irritated. We all enjoy our duties (at least most of them) knowing we are helping people. Even if we don't know their language we can still show them the love of Christ through our actions.
     Night Duty can get a little boring at times, when all the patients are sleeping, and their caretakers are trying not to. :-) Even though we don't have much to do, we sometimes get lost in our own little worlds and forget about IVs. That just means some of us are pros are getting them started again.
     Some of my favorite patients have been a couple little girlies of 1 and 2 yrs of age. I kind of took a special interest in them. It doesn't bother me if I have to change a dozen diapers; those innocent brown eyes looking up at me, and the preciousness of a sweet smile are plenty rewarding in themselves!

   -Kayla Kauffman


Below are some pictures from last night's watch...

Around the Center...

Inside the nurses station... Note the 5 gallon Igloo container, we mix up
bulk ORS in that. Also all the gallons of bleach under the table, bed pads
and boxes of Pedialyte on the shelves, boxed IV fluids in the back, and
lots of misc. stuff. And yes, that is cement in the corner. No, cement is
not used to treat cholera. (This was a storage depot before it was a CTC,
remember??? :)

Jackson, a neighbor and currently hired as one of our night guards...
It is there job to apprehend all would-be approachers to the CTC,
determine what their mission might be, and mist everyone entering
or exiting the area with bleach spray.

Bathroom... For the healthy....

Lots of cleaning and scrubbing to do, the girls are pretty much washing
things day and night. Laundry, buckets, floors- it's a full-time job....

Hanging laundry on top of the depot...

After it is determined that someone needs to be admitted, they are
taken into this building, their clothing taken off, misted with bleach
spray, and have a gown put on. Then they're transferred to the center...

Feeling a Little TOO Good...

I went out last night armed with my camera, to capture a few pictures
on-site in the CTC. I found that most of the patients had improved so
much that they were being quite hilarious, and I could tell right away
that most of them should be packed straight off to their homes in the
morning!!!! :-)

This youngster was quite rebellious at the thought of being photographed,
and became determined to keep his head under cover...

He thought he was successful!!!

But we weren't through with him yet!!! With me on the camera and
several volunteers to run the bed covers, we finally got a good shot...

And this young man was born again during his stay here, and he's been
all smiles ever since. Pastor Sejut testified about the love of Christ to him,
and he accepted Him as Saviour!!! I think he knows that God had a
plan for him in getting cholera.....

During our rompings, this sweet Grandma just smiled and smiled.
It does everyone good to take their minds off of the troubles
around them occasionally...

A Glimpse of Some Cholera Patients...

Here's a few pictures from the CTC as originally set up in the tent city.

We set it up a half-mile or so from the mission compound in a field,

thinking that the more isolated area would be ideal. But after one solid

week of rain, we decided that maybe it WASN'T such a great idea-

you talk about incredible mud!! So last weekend we moved the CTC

back to our depot, just outside the main compound here.

These are pics from the original site, inside the main tent...

This gentleman is 80, making the cholera attack more

serious since his condition is already weakened.

He was at the CTC for a week, but has been released

in good shape now, thankfully!!!

The story behind this 30 year old man is sad; he was our first patient.

After several days of IV's- he was in pretty tough shape, had to be carried

in- we learned that he had lost his wife to the epidemic a few days before.

He was released after 4 or 5 days...

A sweet older lady; we enjoyed having her around. She was always

happy and grateful, and drank her ORS (oral rehydration solution)

very willingly. Which is more than we can say for everyone...

For the record, I drank a bottle myself and it's NOT that horrible

tasting... So there, all you patients who don't want to drink it... :-)

We nicknamed this little girl "Angel", and she really was!! I would pat her

shoulder at 2 or 3 A.M. and encourage her to drink a little ORS, and she

 would pop right up and drink down half a bottle!!! We were all sad to see

her go; although of course we were glad that her condition had improved.

Sometimes patients brighten up OUR lives!!!!