News from Lee Warren

Folks,

  I’ve gotten a lot of press in the local papers over the past months. I mean, a lot. My trip to Haiti right after the quake created several weeks of press across the entire county and farther. I go to Food Lion and a cashier says, “Aren’t you the lady who went to Haiti?”  Two little girls knocked on my door one night and had made construction paper thank you cards for helping Haiti.  My presentation at the 135-member Chamber of Commerce inspired a local music store to have a fund raiser for us. Locals have donated to SHN b/c there is a reliable face connected with the place of need. And there’s more, but today was special.  

I went out to Hardee Ford to pick up a $200 check from Dwight, an African-American mechanic who works there. He encouraged his little country church to raise money for SHN. (Remember the days my office was at Hardee Ford?  I shot the breeze with Dwight and always waved and bowed in gratitude as he cut the grass around my office.) Denny Hardee said Dwight has been so excited about raising money for us and it was Denny who sent word today that I was to come pick up the funds.  Dwight told me every church his pastor visited he talked about Lee Warren and what her organization was doing for Haiti.   I can honestly tell you that the $200 check and bear hug I got from Dwight meant as much to me as the $35,000+ checks we received last week for container events.  Dwight said the church wanted to continue to support us.  I know we need the big bucks, the large events, but my job is especially meaningful when rural, small-minded Southside Virginians wake up to the fact that there is a hurting world beyond themselves and their own. When my African-American brothers and sisters honor me by supporting SHN I am even the more humbled. 

Here endeth this testimony.

Today’s a good day and I had to share.

sent in by Lee Warren   

Thursday in Haiti with Lee Warren

Dear Family Friends,

It's 8:30PM and the day is still full of eventful God-incidences. Let's start at the beginning and only with a few stories. I'll try to add a picture or two, but the Internet is slow.

The mother with the little baby who we fed yesterday with a syringe returned. It was my job to teach her about bottles and formula, feeding and burping. I could not imagine this baby getting enough milk through the night with a syringe so when the mother placed this tiny infant in my arms I was quite alarmed that he may be too weak to eat. I had to show her how important it was to wake him up and I held my breath that I would not be able to do it. When that little baby began sucking for all he was worth, I lost it. I fed the baby and someone else wiped my tears. That's what being tired and a new grandmother does to you.

Later in the day I went through this same drill with a baby whose mother was killed in the earthquake. A relative brought the baby in with wounds that now had Staph infection. This young girl was not a mother so once again I had to teach how to make formula, 1 scoop "let" to 2 scoops "dlo." I'm learning a little Creole by now, you see. Several patients later I got promoted from taking vitals to taking care of wounds, the first being those of a little girl hit by a motorcycle.

What is important to know is that we are seeing too many children who are suffering from malnutrition, especially kwashiokor and marasmus. (you can Google that yourselves) The latter is caused by lack of protein. These children are swollen in their legs, faces, limbs. (see picture) The first day the doctors were calling me for Stop Hunger Meal bags because they are protein packed, but I have no more. What the the doctors have seen, however, is that our meals offer a vital nutrient rice alone does not.

We saw well over 300 patients today, including many dental patients. The Haiti Mission needs dentists!!

I thought my day was over when I finally opened my laptop but then 3 men arrived from Port-au-Prince who are here to organize the reception, storage and distribution of a shipment Royal Caribbean is sending down here. I SKYPED Rod Brooks our CEO and it turns out Allen Renquist, our Dir. Of Distribution is in FL working to get SHN goods on this ship!!! We all agreed we had once again spotted God at work. :) I gave these guys some Haitian phone numbers they were lacking. Bon di Bon. God is good.

One more day and frankly if there's not enough fuel to get us out of here, I'm okay with that, for just awhile longer, but not much longer.

Love,

Lee

PS. Glenn and Linda, thanks for feeding Charles!!!

Tuesday in Haiti with Lee Warren

Dear Family and Friends,

 

   Today was exhausting, especially for the dental team and physicians, but we are all rather weary.  Once again, the day starts and ends with a rough 1.5 hr. Drive. The clinic was overwhelmed with emergency patients that had arrived from Port-au-Prince.

We saw such severe wounds as well as severe malnutrition. Today I took my suitcase of Stop Hunger Now meals that the members of South Hill Presbyterian Church had packaged and the doctors were so happy to give it out to the most severe cases. I'll be so happy to share the pictures with those who get up once a month and package food at the church.  

   Love to all.  As we say in the south, this body is "road hard and hung up wet."  But it's a very, very good kind of tired.  

Lee

Monday in Haiti with Lee Warren

Here's today's report to just a few of you. Getting things out is very challenging tonight. Only Facebook really works.

Good evening. Let's see, it's Monday, I believe. 

You lose track of time here very quickly.

  The first day at the clinic is over and the sun is setting. We are tired, more from the very rough drive to and from the clinic than from seeing all the many patients. Fortunately we passed road graders coming back in but to hope that the road would be leveled before we leave is just that - hope. Everything takes time in Haiti.

We saw a few patients who had been brought in from PAP, but mostly we were seeing the members of the community, some with severe malnutrition, but mostly urgent care cases. The clinic has a clever system to help those patients who are undernourished. The ministry provided 4 women with micro-credits loan so they could become food vendors at the clinic. Patients are given tongue depressors when they leave which they exchange for a meal from the vendor of their choice. Throughout the day someone goes out and gives each vendor a dollar and buys back their tongue depressor. By doing so the clinic is funding cooks to provide meals for those in most need of a meal. Some patients receive several depressors. Many patients receive full fat milk powder and a type of meal they can prepare at home.

  As one of the non-medical team members, I took vitals or counted meds all day. I am also the group photographer.

  There was no ice at the hotel when we returned, but the shower always feel amazing! As does helping these precious people.

  I'm now sitting in the lobby of the hotel with all the other folks trying to use the WI-FI and watching a couple from Warrenton, VA try to push up the last steps to adopting an 18-MO old from Port-au-Prince. They've been working on the adoption since last January. Their trip here this time was scheduled only to work with the same mission group I'm with, but with the earthquake they are trying to get their child out while they are here. The Dept. Of Homeland Security has issued an immediate policy allowing adoptions that are in process to go through. For those interested see: http://www.uscis.gov/. Oh, I hope to be here to see this happen!! Prayers are welcomed.

Until tomorrow, Lee

Pictured:  the road to the clinic, a Haitian dental "clinic", vendors who sell food

Sunday in Haiti with Lee Warren

Bonsoir everyone.

What I thought would be a rather relaxed day before the heavy work week at the clinic switched gears. I first went to another orphanage with some of the doctors to examine those children. 
Almost all were in excellent shape and while examinations were going on I was chief hugger and photographer. 
Several of the little girls simply crawled into my arms and stayed there. All children in Haiti like to have their picture taken and then see it on the digital camera. We checked out another site that some would like to purchase for a retreat center, then back to the hotel to package vitamins and meds for tomorrow's work in the clinic.

I was in the middle of counting children's vitamins and looked up to see Caleb Lucien, a very powerful Rotarian I met in Port-Au-Prince in Haiti. For those of you who know my practice of God-spotting, this was one of those moments.  Caleb is frantically organizing aid for the victims of the earthquake.  We will be talking business again later this week. Our hotel is being used as a collection spot for many to bring supplies which Caleb is having transported to different clinics. From Caleb we learned that many injured are coming in from PAP and the hospital here is very busy. He was concerned about the staff there who had no food. He asked us to take food to the hospital for the staff. We immediately got the hotel to make many ham and cheese sandwiches and we stopped on the way to get drinks. Only a few of the doctors were going over, but I asked to go along.  Just call me Diane Sawyer - wanna be.

   We saw there what we expected to see, a Third World hospital with lots of injured, several with traumatic amputations waiting for treatment, compound fractures (all this a week after the injury!), an infant covered in gauze over her face and all limbs, and no food for the patients. We handed out sandwiches and drinks to both staff and some patients. We didn't have enough, to say the least and in Haiti patients do not receive food unless family bring it. Now imagine the families who have used all the money they may have to taxi (200 MI) from PAP here and now they are here with no money for food. Our group is planning to send more food but it's so overwhelming.  What our doctors pointed out when we left was how quiet the hospital was. The strongest pain medication is Tylenol.  People are bearing extreme suffering in silence.

   We leave here tomorrow at 7:30AM for our drive into the country for our work at the clinic. I am now officially trained and authorized to take vitals.  I am an official team member.  By tomorrow I will even have my own scrub hand made by Haitian women as one of the team members is trying to help some women build a cottage industry of making scrubs. I also got to walk downtown to meet the women who are making these.

Bedtime comes early because days are so full.

I'll touch base again as soon as I can.

Lee

News from Lee Warren with Stop Hunger Now

Thank goodness there is no difficulty getting on-line.  Here are this morning’s updates:
• Arrived safely after pit stopping in a tiny island in the Bahamas to refuel.
• Cap Haitian seems like a calm, small version of PAP – less congested, less everything, but still typical Haiti – smelly, dirty, people and garbage in the streets. The view from my hotel is of the ocean and port. Lovely.
• Yesterday I traveled 1.5 hr into the country to visit The Haiti Mission (a small clinic) and The Robert Ford Orphanage. The Orphanage is where our food will be shipped. I took pictures of a huge, secure warehouse and another building where they can secure the food. It is acceptable. The children are precious – as always.
• Haiti has had 25 days of rain so the road to this area was rough and through huge pot holes and pools in the road.  It’s long and hard.  An early bedtime and Haitian coffee is essential to survive the week.

• The group I came down with is not working at the clinic today, but preparing for that. I’m not needed so. . .
• Today I travel back into the country with another group who is here, which includes the pastor of Lynnhaven UMC who is down here trying to arrange secure distribution for the container of food that churches in his area intend to package for SHN.  It’s quite coincidental that I’m here the same time. They have the request forms for our food with this and together we’ll review that form.  I’d say you can’t ask for a better assessment than having a SHN staffer on site.  How the heck did that manage that?  Your theology will determine the answer.
• My group will head back up the 1.5 hour bumpy road tomorrow to begin work in a tee-tiny clinic. I believe that’s when I’ll get my workout.
• Some of the people here with the Lynnhaven pastor will build 3 playgrounds before we leave, one at the Robert Ford orphanage, one at the bottom of the hill from our hotel, and then another. I can’t wait to see that happen.
• It’s not raining today and not too warm – yet. A nice Sunday.
• Buses are beginning to bring people in from PAP. Cap Haitian will get busier and fuller and more stressful in the weeks ahead. Right now I’m removed from that. One of our group even went jogging this morning. In other words, it’s safe-ER here than PAP.
• Many folks want to use my computer, so I’ll touch base later.

Love and blessings for all.  And once again, I’m sooooo grateful to work for a fabulous organization that has permitted my life to be serving in this place in this time.
Lee

Lee Warren works with Stop Hunger Now

and helped organize the Holy Communion

food packaging event. She is now working

at a clinic inside Haiti.