Children of the Promise, HAITI



Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Meet Guerlande

Guerlande was admitted on Thursday the 22nd of July. She is 10 months old and weighs 12lbs 13oz. Guerlande came here with her mother and a neighbour. Guerlande's mother's house burned down two moths ago and since then Guerlande, her older brother and mother were staying with a family friend. Unfortunately this friend is about to move to another area so Guerlande's mother needs to find a new home where she can stay with her children. The lady who was providing accommodation for Guerlande's family was also helping the family with food which was a huge help to Guerlande's mother as Guerlande's father had passed away 8 months ago. Guerlande's mother had been breast feeding Guerlande but didn't produce enough milk because she sometimes didn't eat enough. She is a very sweet and active little girl; she crawls all over and loves to laugh with the nannies and volunteers. Guerlande will stay with us for 3 months while her mother looks for a new place for the family to live. Please pray for her adjustment away from her mother and for her mother to find a new place to live.

Guerlande with mother

Guerlande day one at COTP

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Meet Aska, Frandley, and Sammy

Ashka is a 2 year old little girl who has Cerebral Palsy. She was brought to us by her mother who was referred by a friend who is familiar with COTP. Ashka's father died the begining of July and had been sick for a long time. The mother has had 4 children, all of whom died before reaching the age of one. Ashka had a twin who died at 9 months. We will take care of Ashka and hope this mother does not have to go through losing another child.

Ashka at AdmissionAshka this past weekend

Frandley, was born in April 09. He is very skinny and tall. His dad brought him after the mom left Frandley with him in June. Before his mother left, his father was working in Port au Prince. He cannot care for Frandley and work to support him at the same time. We hope to care for him for 2 months until his father is able to find some help and workFrandley at admission

Samuel (his mother calls him Sammy) is 11 months old. We believe he has a syndrome, possibly Down Syndrome. His mom is living in a village sponsored by Food for the Poor in Cap Haitien. His father died in the eartquake and she has 2 other children living with her. We have agreed to take Sammy for 3 months so his mother can get back on her feet and figure out the best way to care for them all. She really wants to take Sammy back home, but wants us to help figure out what his needs are going to be and how best to keep him healthy.


Sammy at admission

Monday, July 19, 2010

Sweet Andre

Andre came to us on June 10th, 2010 at almost 3 months old. He weighed 5lbs and was very sick with a heart condition. He spent most of his time at Milot hospital hooked up to oxygen and IVs. Last week we took him back "home" (COTP) to try and get him to PAP for an echo (so we could attempt a medical visa). However, he was too unstable and we decided to take him back to Milot. We suspected that he was maybe also developing pneumonia. The doctor on duty on Saturday said they they did not think he would make it through the night. Not long later, sweet Andre passed away. We knew that there was a chance that his heart could failure at any moment. His uncle and aunt were able to come see him and be apart of his burial. Please pray for his family and all who loved and cared for him the short time he was with us. We know he is now whole and free from pain.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

More babies coming and going

We are happy to say that our sweet Jina has been reunited with her father. Her father has been a wonderful father and visited Jina often (more than most) and clearly loves her dearly. We are always so thrilled when another little one can turn from being so sickly and malnourished to a happy and healthy little girl. We wish Jina and her father all the best.

In addition to Jina going home, we have had two new admits. The first little boy, Frandley, in April 2009. His father brought him to us looking for help. Frandley is very skinny and will be staying with us for roughly 2 months. His mom left in June and his father had previously been working in PAP, but can no longer do that. Please pray that Frandley does well in our care, that he gains weight, and that his father can find work and help to raise little Frandley.

The other little boy came to us with his mother. His name is Samuel, but his mother calls him Sammy. He is 11 months old and we believe he has some sort of syndrome. Hopefully we can better determine what to help his mom know what to expect when she takes him back home. His father died in the earthquake and his mother has two other children living with her. We have agreed to help care for Sammy for 3 months and his mother would really love to take him back home when she can get back on her feet. She would also really like any help or insight we could give on what Sammy might have and how to best care for him and keep him healthy when he goes home. Please pray for Sammy's mother during this time as she looks for help to get back on her feet, for Sammy to do well, and our staff to have the insight into how to best help Sammy and his mother.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Preemie Chelie

Again, we are just so amazed at how God is turning our preemies into true miracles. Not only has Daniella gained over 1lb since her arrival, Chelie has also gained over 1lb since her arrival on June 15th. Thats nearly double her weight!! She is being fed via NG tube right now, but you can see how filled out her face is getting. Please keep praying for Chelie to gain weight appropriatly and have no set-backs. She is another one of our many many miracles.

Chelie at admission (only 1lb 13oz)

Chelie today. Look at those cheeks!

We have our license!

Children of the Promise is thrilled to announce we have received our creche license!! This creche license has been valid since 2009.
I am sure many of you are going to have a lot of questions about our adoption program and we will do our best to answer them in a timely manner when you email our adoption coordinator.
Right now, the requirements to adopt a child from Haiti (COTP) will be fairly strict. Each family will be approved on a case-by-case basis using the same criteria for each. If you wish to receive an application to adopt from our facility or have any specific questions, please email our adoption coordinator, Robin Knight.
We also have only a few children/babies for adoption so our waiting list could be rather long as many families desire to adopt from our facility. We really pray about each family and child available for adoption to make the best fit we possibly could.
Thank you for your prayers in getting our license. This is a HUGE step for COTP and we thank God for allowing us this opportunity.

Preemie Daniella

Daniella came to us just two days after her birth. Her family tells us she was born 2 months premature and only weighed 2lbs 11oz. We are so pleased with her progress as she has gained over 1lb since her arrival a few short weeks ago. Here is Daniella when we admitted her, roughly a week later and now. (she has now been with us just over 5 weeks)
Daniella at admission

Daniella a few weeks after admission

Daniella now


Children coming and children going

Ashka is a 2 years old little girl and has Cerebral Palsy. She was brought to us by her
mother, who was referred by someone who knows us and is a family friend of theirs. Her father died earlier this week, but has been sick for a long time. The mother has had 4 children and all of them have died before reaching the age of one. Ashka had a twin who
died at 9 months. We hope to care for her for 3 months. We do not want to see this mother lose her last family member.

Landsie has been with us exactly 6 months. Her grandma came to pick her up this past Thursday. She has done amazingly well in our care and gained lots of good weight. We are glad to see her return to her grandma who clearly adores her and now is in a better spot to care for her.
Landsie
Judeline has also gone home to be with her father. He is thrilled that she is healthy enough to live with him again. He has also talked to his extended family to help raise her and give the support he needs. Judeline was happy with her father and we are so excited they have been reunited.

Judeline with her father