katie loves haiti: Tiny Miracles

Working here, I've been able to see so many miracles of all shapes and sizes. God is just so incredible, and I love being able to watch Him work. Being with the children each and everyday sometimes makes it easy to forget just how far they have come. I've been here since September. So, I've been able to see HUGE progress in many of our children.

For Rose Mitchel, her progress has been physical. When she came to us in the beginning of November. She was nine and a half months old, and she only weighed nine and a half pounds. She had been in the hospital for a long time struggling to survive AIDS. Since she came to live with us, she has gained weight, her scabies are gone, her health has improved, and she is SO MUCH stronger. She is over a year old now. She still has some catching up to do, but she has come a long way.

THEN....

On her first night here, Rose Mitchel could not even drink from a bottle.

She was so tiny that it was hard to believe she was over 9 months old. In this picture, she was wearing a NEWBORN outfit!

9 month old Rose Mitchel in her newborn outfit.

She had scabies and her skin was dry and cracked.

NOW....

This week, Rose Mitchel crawled for the first time!

There will be no stoppping this girl now!

Tamara came to us the same day as Rose Mitchel. She was 18 months old and weighed 12 pounds. Her parents asked us to take her on a temporary basis. We agreed to keep her for one week just to see if better nutrition would help her get stronger. Unfortunately, her parents abandoned her here. We were unsure of what exactly her problems were. She could not sit up or even hold her head up. Her arms and legs appeared shorter than average. Her soft spot was not fused. Her spine curved incorrectly. She had a bad infection, and she was very weak. We are unsure if her problems are genetic or if it is just because she was so malnourished all her life.

Since then, she has gotten stronger and bigger. She can now hold her head up and roll over. She loves to babble, sing, and laugh. She has seen an American orthopedic doctor, and he put casts on both legs for several weeks. The doctor said that he thinks the casts helped and, she might have the ability to sit up on her own. She is still struggling with pain in her legs, but she has come SO FAR!

THEN...

We had so many children at the time, that Tamara had to sleep in a laundry basket for her first few nights with us.

NOW....

Many of you already know the story of our twin girls, Frances and Francesca. They came to us via missionary friends in the Northern city of Gonaives. Their mother had died while giving birth so their aunt was caring for them. She was doing a very poor job, and the twins were losing weight. When we got them, they were three weeks old. Francesca was 4 pounds and hypothermic. Frances was a little better and weighed 5 pounds. It was a struggle for us to even get them to drink formula. I still remember praising God each time that we could get them to drink and ounce of milk. In fact, we used a feeding tube with Francesca for almost a week. Now, they are over three months old and perfectly healthy! Soon, they will both be able to roll over on their own. They are as cute as can be!

THEN...