The Hanley Family

Po Plume Christmas Party (Batey 41)

December 24th, 2011 | Author: John

We celebrated the end of the semester with a Christamas Party in Batey 41.Side note, after being here a year and a half I finally found out the name the Haitian community uses, and will try to start referring to it
as Po Plume, of course I am not sure how to spell it, but I think Pó
Plúm or something similar with crazy accented vowels. I’ll work on that,
and hopefully in another year, I can get the spelling right. But Po
Plume gets the sounds right, at least what my ears understand.The Christams Party included watching The Jesus Film, handing out
report cards, singing, gifts for the students and guests, a lunch of
chicken, goat, beans and rice, and piklis (spicy cabbage salad). We
had two visitors from the Haitian government, which is a huge step in
the right direction of getting the school recongized by the department
of education, and this coming year they are working with us to get
birth certificates for all the kids and national identification cards
for all the adults.

I think the pictures say a lot more than I can and I am going to try to
post some videos of the singing.

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Jak Jak and LMU-DCOM

December 22nd, 2011 | Author: John

It has been a busy few weeks in and around Jimaní. First of all an update on Jak Jak he was able to go home!!!! After being discharged from the hospital on December 10th he and his mom came to stay with us at the Jimaní Children’s Home for postoperative care. He had a follow up appointment in Santo Domingo this past Thursday. Dr. Sanchez was pleased with his progress. He came back to Jimaní for a few more days until his stitches could be removed. He had his stitches out on Monday December 19th, and he and his mom were able to return home Tuesday afternoon. It was a nice moment one afternoon when his Dad was able to come visit here on the Jimaní campus,while his Dad was holding him, Jak Jak reached up to touch his face. Jak Jak’sinteractions with people and objects has increased tremendously just in the few days since his surgery.

We had a medical mission team come from Lincoln Memorial DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. LMU-DCOM has been partnering with us here in Jimaní for several years, and typically come during Spring Break week. This year they were able to bring an additional group of students over their Winter Break. We had a group of 24 which included both physicians, students, and family members. We help several mobile medical outreaches both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We went to Batey 41 where Chadasha has our school and church ministry. We also partnered with a church in Fonds Parisean, Haiti for a medical clinic, and we went to El Mantial and Los Guineos, two rural communities in the mountains surrounding Jimaní.

A few highlights for me were Dr. Williamson telling a lady in Batey 41 she was having twins, and having this information will help Dr. Yirdana as she continues to provide prenatal care.

Dr. Ranz and Anastasia removed a particle from an elderly lady’s eye that was causing her pain, you should have seen her smile when it was removed.

A pastor receiving a pair of reading glasses, and sharing how much it would help him in his ministry.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

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Batey 41 – Land Access

October 6th, 2011 | Author: John

I wanted to take a moment and share a wonderful answer to prayer. Living on the border provides us an opportunity to serve both Dominican and Haitian communities. One of the communities where we support a church and school is technically in Haiti. I say technically, because it borders a lake, that previously was located completely within the Haitian border; however, as the lake has flooded over the years, the lake now extends into the Dominican Republic and has effectively cut a section of land off from the rest of Haiti. The only way to access this area by land from Haiti is by first crossing into the Dominican Republic; otherwise, the only access to this community is by rowboats. For a long time we have had no problem by following a dirt road out of Jimaní into this are of Haiti; however, in January the Dominican Border Guards established a checkpoint limiting access along this road. Since January we have been working to cross easily into this community once again. I have been knocking on doors and making phone calls to resolve this issue non-stop since January both locally and in Santo Domingo.

After speaking with Immigration officials, Customs officials, Border Patrol officials, and even Dominican Department of State officials, I was getting no where. I remembered meeting the US embassy’s military attache a few months back, but I knew that he had left the Dominican Republic. I decided to go ahead and e-mail him to see if he still had any connections with in the Dominican Republic. He replied within a matter of minutes that he was in Columbia, but he forwarded my e-mail to his replacement who had taken up the position only a few weeks ago. And, just a few hours later, I got an e-mail from his replacement saying that he was in route to Jimaní and asked if we could meet the next day. WOW! So, the next day I was able to meet the US Embassy’s new Military Attache, he was very interested in helping resolve our issues, and made calls to both Border Patrol and Immigration. He toured the facility in Jimaní, and was excited about coming back and putting me in contact with medical missionary friends of his, oh did I mention he is a Christian, with a strong desire to serve in missions, but feels God led him to serve God’s Kingdom through his position in the US Army, making him one of the few missionaries I’ve seen carrying a gun!

Well, the next day I was headed to Santo Domingo to pick up paperwork on one of our vehicles at the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Haitian Relations, and I only needed to pick up paperwork from the secretary, but asked if I could step in and say hello to a Dominican State Department employee that had helped me with the paperwork. We said hello, and he asked how the border crossing issue was going (he was one of the countless people I had talked to) and I told him we still couldn’t access the community. He asked me to wait a minute and then invited me into an office. The office of the Dominican Ambassador in charge of Haitian Relations. I was able to explain our situation, and the Ambassador knew exactly the area I was talking about. He picked up the phone and tried to call the Dominican General in charge of Border Patrol, but couldn’t get through. He told me he would keep trying. Later that afternoon, I got a message from the US Military Attache and he said that he had talked with the Dominican General in charge of Border Patrol and that he had been told we would be getting permission to get across.

After returning to Jimaní and speaking with the Colonel in charge of the Jimaní Border Patrol he had not heard from the General, but would stay in contact. After a week, of no word I called the Ambassador back, and he said that he would be in Jimaní for a meeting that the General would be attending, and that they would work it out, and that the Ambassador would meet me in Jimaní. I got a call in the afternoon of the meeting that the Ambassador had to return to Santo Domingo, but we would be in touch on Monday.

Later that evening I got a call from the Border Patrol Colonel, and he asked me if I could meet the General in one hour. Yes Sir I can.

So, I met the General where he was staying in Jimaní, and after a short discussion he said that he would grant permission for us to access that community and continue our work there! Praise the Lord. Then I spent the next three hours having dinner at the General’s invitation at a table, where I think, I was the only unarmed person and definitely the only one not in camouflage.

So, last week I was able to deliver 60 gallons of drinking water to the school and three suitcases of shoes we have been trying to get over there since June.

We are so thankful to God’s answered prayers, and continue to pray that we will find favor with the officials we have to be in contact with in all the various facets of our ministry here.

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Rwanda, Cousins, and Computers

October 4th, 2011 | Author: John

October 8th I have an amazing opportunity to visit Kigali, Rwanda. We are implementing an electronic medical record system for the clinic in Jimaní to support and enhance our medical outreach and help us effectively target needs as well as collect health information for our community and specifically maintaining health information on all the kids in our school programs. This program will support our collaboration with International Children’s Heart Foundation as we work with an informal network of clinics throughout Haiti and the Dominican Republic to identify and treat pediatric cardiology cases. I am very excited about this program. After a lot of research I identified OpenMRS as the medical records program that will meet our needs. OpenMRS is an open-source project supported by a community of implementers and developers from all over the world working in some of the leading areas of prevention and treatment. The potential this program has to support our mission and vision for the health care aspect of our ministry is huge.

I have been working bit by bit at implementing the program, and a few weeks ago received an e-mail that this years Implementers Conference is being held in Kigali, Rwanda. The government of Rwanda started using OpenMRS as a national health records system to be implemented in all public hospitals and clinics. So, in addition to seeing how OpenMRS is implemented in other settings, I will be able to attend training classes and learn from key programmers and developers in the OpenMRS community.

Rwanda has a personal interest as well. For close to two years, my cousin Isaac and his wife Serena and their son Henry have been serving as the administrators of an orphanage just 30 minutes outside of Kigali. So, I am going to be able to spend a few days with them on either end of the conference and see the orphanage they have been a part of just as they come to the end of their two-year commitment to this ministry.

Please pray for:

Safe Travel

Melissa, Mom, and Dad as they hold down the fort

That my brain can take-in and retain everything I need to learn

This is longest I’ve been away, so please pray for separation anxiety on both sides of the world

Also, health and safety for my family while I’m gone, well always, but we have a history of health issues while I’m away (Maicol had his appendix out when I was on a two-day camping trip, and we thought Kate was having galbladder issues when I was on a three-day trip to Santiago)

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El Puede (He Can)

September 14th, 2011 | Author: Melissa

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We have two new daily additions to our home–Cloisi (age 7) and her sister Evelyn (age 4). Their mom left them right after Evelyn was born, but their dad is still around…kind of… According to people who knew him before, he’s a good man who dearly loves his kids and took great care of them. But after being left alone with two young children in a place where it’s very difficult to find work, the stress has taken it’s toll. He is often absent from their home which leaves them wandering the streets looking for anyone who might show them some attention and share a meal with them. Cloisi and Evelyn came to our attention, because when he’s not home, they sleep in a small tin shack with a family who’s kind enough to share their home that’s smaller than most bathrooms! At this point, we can’t have them move in but we can offer them a safe place with hot meals and an education. In addition to helping the girls, we’re hoping that this assistance will be just the support this single dad needs–that he’ll have a renewed hope for a better future for his family.

They usually come around 9 in the morning to eat breakfast and play. They love to take a shower and get their hair done. Since most people in our immediate area bathe in the canal that runs beside the street, a shower is a luxury! After lunch, Evelyn attends our pre-school, and I work with Cloisi because she’s never attended school regularly and doesn’t know how to read. Around 6:30 I give them something to eat as they walk home. Their first day with us I heard Evelyn’s sweet little voice singing. It brought tears to my eyes as she sang, “El puede, El puede, yo se que Cristo puede, yo se que Cristo puede cuidarme a mi.” He can, He can, I know that Jesus can, I know that Jesus can take care of me.” Oh, the faith of a child! How easy would it be for this little girl to be bitter, hurt, angry, mal-adjusted? But no, she’s sweet, loving, full of joy, and LOVES to sing songs from church. I believe that she exudes this attitude because she knows that no matter what her mom and dad do or fail to do, Jesus will take care of her! Do you realize that? He can take care of you no matter what situation you find yourself in, no matter who has wronged or disappointed you, no matter what walls you’ve built up around yourself. Will you let go of your hurt and bitterness, your fear and worries, and let him care for you? I think we can learn a lot from little Evelyn.

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