Heart Surgery Roundup

Yesterday afternoon there were a few families that 

showed up at the guesthouse to spend the night.  

The children are heart surgery candidates with their parents 

who have come here in order to travel as a group to 

Santiago, Dominican Republic in the morning.

We have had a little girl and her mom as guests in the house this week. 

The little girl, Kerozine, is traveling with a group of children and 

parents to Santiago, Dominican Republic.  

They left early this morning in the prison truck, er Chadasha tap tap.  

Not a very comfortable way to travel, but fortunately they only have to 

ride in it for about 1 1/2 hours until they get to the Jumani compound, 

just inside the Dominican Republic.  

Then they will switch vehicles and ride the 7 1/2 hours to Santiago in a bus.

These children have been identified by medical teams 

as children in need of heart surgery.  

The Chadasha organization has helped these families compile 

(and in many cases, create) the needed paperwork for the trip. 

Many children in Haiti don't have birth certificates.  

To get an identification number (like our Social Security number) 

one needs a birth certificate.  

To get a passport one needs the identification number.  

The process to have a birth certificate created is 

a rather complicated and expensive. 

Since these kids need passports to travel to the DR, 

they have needed help to get everything ready.  

There has been many phone calls made and many forms filled out 

and much money spent in getting these children ready to go.  

I am grateful that there are so many folks, like Chris Keylon, 

Wilna Nelson, and Michelle and Greg Roberts, 

who have been dedicated to getting these kids hearts fixed 

so that they can lead full, normal lives.

I am proud to know these amazing people who feel 

called to help these children.