The new Welcome Center entrance to the Hopital Lumiere opened on September 1st.
The new entrance is part of the first phase of creating a more patient focused system of admittance to the clinic and hospital. The admissions staff has undergone some additional training in customer care and the new entrance creates a more inviting and stream-lined process to receiving health care. On August 29th, there was a dedication service and the new entrance was opened on the following Monday, September 1st.
To the east of the entrance, John 8:12 and to the west of the entrance the hospital mission statement.
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12
The mission of Hospital Lumiere is to provide excellent and effective medical care with compassion and Christian love.
The hospital staff during the dedication service and Rick giving a short speech in Kreyol. Other speakers included two pastors that serve as chaplains for the hospital and the pastor who is serving as the president of MEBSH, the Haitian mission organization that owns the hospital.
The following pictures were taken the next week and show the new Welcome Center in operation. It is has been operating smoothly and is a much better atmosphere than the old system. We are thankful for the funding and work teams that made this possible.
Patients checking in and waiting to be called by the nurse to see a doctor.
(Selah was not a patient, but was interacting with some of them and got into my pictures)
This is the pass-through window for dossiers or patient charts. Once a patient checks in, the admissions staff pulls their chart and places it in the appropriate cubby.
The move to the new space also provided an opportunity for the missionary team to work together to move and reorganize all of the archived patient files. It was a bit tedious, but with everyone working together (even the kids helped), we were able to complete the work in a few evenings. The kids thought it was great fun to be "working" in the hospital.
Shortly after the Welcome Center opened, demolition started for the next phase of the project. The clinic will be renovated and reorganized in several phases. I believe members of a work team from Rockville will work on the clinic at the end of October.
Here are a couple of pictures of demolition in the clinic.
The first weekend in September, the missionary team had another opportunity to work together by making sausage. Four of the missionary families purchased a whole hog and made it into sausage. We ended up with about 20 pounds for each family. I hadn't made sausage before so this was a fun and new experience. We are enjoying the sausage!
Mara, Grace & Leah making the marinade Mara and Komari mixing pork into the marinade
Some of the butchers, Daryl & Komari Grinding the Sausage
Another fun event for the kids in September was Safety Town. Miss Desma and her older children set-up a mock town on the basketball court and the children had to navigate through the town on their bicycles. They studied rules of the road earlier in the week and were required to observe traffic laws or receive a traffic ticket from Sheriff Desma. They were able to shop in several business such as a bakery for cookies, a library for books and they received medical care at the hospital. The event ended at Pizza Hut where they were served pizza crackers and a juice box. Here are a few pictures of other parts of Safety Town.
Overall view of Safety Town
Selah making a red light at the traffic light
Sheila at the camel crossing
(The camel was leftover from the Christmas play last December)
As you can see, we had many fun highlights in September; however, many of you read an earlier post that requested prayer. While we have much to be thankful for and several events that were uplifting, the overall atmosphere at the hospital for the missionaries was stressful. We continue to have challenges with power and running water. While these challenges are not uncommon, it seemed like the first part of September was filled with issues in both areas.
In addition, this is a very difficult time for the staff with a compression (reduction in staff) in process. The leadership team has been working with Haitian lawyers and officials to be sure the Code of Travay (Labor Laws) are followed and the staff is given adequate notice of the changes. New contracts will begin in January, but unfortunately not every current employee will have a new contract. The current staffing levels are not sustainable (and haven't been for a long time) and difficult decisions will be made in most departments. A great amount of fear and uncertainty exists and Rick has spent many stressful hours meeting with staff in groups and individually. Unfortunately, a few employees have behaved in a manner that does not exhibit Christian character and this has made the situation more difficult.
Please continue to pray for
- Godly wisdom and guidance for the leadership team.
- Peace and clear understanding for the hospital employees.
- God's glory to shine through these difficult situations.
- God's will to be made evident and to be done.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
II Timothy 1:7
