Sad :(

Baby Bear didn't get his visa this morning. There was a mistake on his passport and the Embassy wouldn't even look at his paperwork. We've heard that the passport office is closed until January 8th so its going to be at least another week before we get this figured out. PLEASE pray that Bear stays strong and can hang on a little bit longer.

The good news is that Fedna did get her visa and is ready to go as soon as we get down there.

We'll keep the blog updated on their new travel plans. Thank you for your support and love for these precious children!

PRAY!

Please continue to pray for Baby Bear, Fedna, their families and their caregivers. As well as the hard workers who are bringing together all the paperwork on the Haiti side.

Please also PRAY specifically that the passports for both children are issued first thing tomorrow morning. They were supposed to be ready this morning and they were not- and now the passport office is closed for the day. We must have the passports first thing tomorrow morning in order for them to have a Visa appointment in time to be escorted out of Haiti this week. (All offices are closed on Thursday and Friday because of the Holiday.)

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who has donated towards Bear and Fedna's travel. We have more than met our goal and have raised a little over $1,700!

We have plans for Bear to arrive this coming week. We're still working out Fedna's travel plans but it will be soon as well. We are so very excited for these two to get the surgery they need. Please continue to pray for them. We will keep everyone updated.

Update and a CHALLENGE!

Prayers...
Please keep praying for Baby Bear. He is holding strong for now but his back is definitely leaking spinal fluid. Bear has run a fever on and off. He is receiving medication daily to help keep an infection away but is definitely on borrowed time and we need everyone to keep praying for him. The passports for both children are possibly going to be ready Monday and if so- then they might be able to have Visa appointments and leave Haiti next week. If not, it could be the following week- please pray for the passport and visa NEXT week. Please also pray for his caregivers as they work to make the best possible decisions and to give Bear the best possible care.

Fedna continues to do great- praise!!

Wow! Wow! Wow!
Because of your generosity and kindness- we have already raised an amazing $975 towards travel expenses for Bear and Fedna. We are getting really close to our goal of $1500 (for two plane tickets from Haiti to Texas).


And a challenge:
We have had an anonymous donor offer to match dollar for dollar your donations up to $250! (Thank you anonymous donor!) If we can just spread the word and even let people know about how far your $5- $10 will go (it becomes $10-$20 instantly)- what a blessing that would be. If we can match up to the $250- then we have the $500 and we will have basically met our goal!

Just use the paypal button on the right- no amount is too small- every $1 is a blessing!

We will post an update on Baby Bear and the Challenge as soon as we have news.
Thanks again for all of your support and kindness.

The Medical Advocacy Team

Can you help?

Typically we have time on our side.

We have time to plan ahead and secure a donated ticket for a child to travel, or time to raise funds to cover the costs of the travel and escort for a child...

However, this time- for these two children- time just isn't on our side.

This is a really tough time of year, and really bad year to be asking for more money. We saw miracles truly happen when we put the word out needing some help for covering the cost of the paperwork and passports for these two beautiful children. And now we are coming and asking for your help again.

We are hoping to be able to have both Bear and Fedna travel from Haiti sometime in the next 10 days. They truly need to leave as soon as they have their Visas. For Bear- you can see the changes in his myelomeningocele (spina bifida). Although he is gaining weight and is stable- he is in a lot of pain. When we first learned about Bear, he was able to move his legs and unfortunately, now he is not able to. (The Spina Bifida does cause paralysis and the longer he waits, the more damage that will be done to his little body.)

He is a fighter though and we are amazed at how he has already come so far- we just want him to have a chance at life. Bear is now 6lbs and 10 oz. The redness around his "bump" is from the "dressing" that covers his bump and keeps it clean. He has been sick to his stomach lately and having his bowels so close to his opening in his back is critically dangerous for his life. So his loving caregivers have to tape a dressing on him to keep the stool away from the "bump". The bump is actually an opening that is in his spine-and if stool gets on his bump- that would travel and infect his spine and brain and could take his life very fast. So his skin is breaking down (red and raw) and very painful from the tape on his fragile little body- but truly its saving his life at this moment.

We want to be really honest with you all who are praying for him that you understand the urgent need to get him here as soon as possible. We realize how upsetting and difficult this email is to read and how hard these pictures are to look at.

Because we are arranging for a special "medical" transport for both children, it would be best if they could come together since they need similar care and are going to the same awesome hospital with the same amazing doctor. If we can only raise money for one of the children, Bear will likely come first since he is more critical, but we would feel terrible leaving Fedna behind, who has waited nearly three years for surgery.

If each person who reads this blog daily were able to give $20 we would have enough funds to cover the cost of travel for both children TODAY. Or if each person would pass along this need to five of their friends and each of you gave $5, we would have enough TODAY to cover the cost of travel for BOTH children.

Please just use the paypal button on the right (for secure credit card or cash donations).... or email us and let us know you are going to mail a donation: medicaladvocacyteam@live.com

Thank you for your consideration and most of all thank you for your continued prayers for both children, their caregivers, and families.

Remembering Nallie...

Sometimes things are really hard with doing work with the Medical Advocacy Team. Important documents don't get delivered on time because of inclement weather... and paperwork doesn't get processed as fast as we hope because the Holiday's are next week... or people are on vacation from work... or perhaps emails go lost, unanswered, overlooked... and at times children wait far too long because just the sheer coordinating appropriate medical care for them from gazillions of miles away becomes overwhelming...

One of the hardest parts is that the people we work to help are people who are moving mountains in other countries, these folks are always over worked, unpaid or seriously under paid, sometimes under appreciated, almost always relied upon by MANY others and just plain BUSY people. For them to go one step further and help a child with disabilities that are far out of the scope of their resources- and sometimes their experience- is amazing. It's like carrying a ton of bricks and burdens and then asking for more to be put upon the pile already on their backs.

When things are tough...

we know we need to just keep forging ahead, living hope filled seconds where we spend a lot of time in prayer. What we are called to do for each child that crosses our path- is the best possible loving care that we can give them- the most commitment from the time we have- our very personal BEST- this doesn't mean that it always goes the way that it should/could or how we hoped it would. The visions in our minds often times remain naive and wishful for each and every child's happy ending.

Some of you might remember adorable Ruth-Nallie above, the tiny Haitian Princess. She passed away a few weeks ago, but while she was here on earth, she touched MANY lives. I was able to meet Ruth Nallie during a trip to Haiti and she was perhaps- the smallest and more adorable baby I had ever seen. When we first started to try to help "Nallie" and we posted her picture here on this blog, we created quite a following and people emailed to ask about her frequently.

Nallie was just that kind of sweet spirit whose life was a miracle. She did make it to the US and went through weeks upon weeks of hospital care... and was able to be with her family, and she continued to feel ongoing, supportive love as she had received for most of her life.

Sometimes it isn't the amount of time that a child has here that matters the most- its the quality of time they had while they were here. Its the level of love that they are shown, its the teamwork and commitment that everyone involved gives to that child and it screams to the world that this child was so worth it all... and perhaps- its the gift that we all recieve by being a part of their lives... however short sometimes they may be.

Blessings,
Sarah
MAT Co-Director

Thank you and hosting information

Thank you all so much for your donations to help with "Bear" and Fedna's paperwork. The entire $1000 needed was raised in just a few short days. Both of these children are greatly blessed by your generosity!

We have also had an amazing response for host families for both children. A host family for Fedna has already been arranged, and we are asking those people who have contacted us, or are still wanting to help host Bear (read the criteria below) and then if you "fit"-please contact our host family coordinator and fill out applications:

Kim our host family coordinator can be reached at:

smithjklc@hotmail.com

We are always looking for host families and respite care providers. Right now, our current need is for a host family and respite care helpers in the immediate Austin area.

If you live outside of the Austin area- please note that we CAN NOT and WILL NOT change the medical care that has been arranged for any child to accomidate your location. Please don't email and ask us this as much as you want to help. Instead- consider filling out an application for when a child might be coming to the area in which you live. :)

We need host parents who are:

1. Flexible (we typically don't know when children are going to arrive until the time is really close, and we don't often know how long they will be in the hospital, we also have times when children's needs change, or thier health situation deteriorates and requires extra trips to the doctor, or time in the hospital)

2. Ability to stay in the hospital with the host child- this is a REQUIREMENT- not an OPTION

3. For serious medically intensive cases we appreciate folks who have experience in the medical field or working with children who have special medical needs

4. Willing and able to love a child like thier own, and then let them go knowing that it will be very emotionally difficult and that updates on the child might be infrequent at best.

5. Host families need to have a strong, consistent local support system.

If you can't meet theses needs, please only apply to be a respite care provider or consider helping us in another way. We also often need people local to the host family to help provide donations of items for the child, formula, diapers, cost of medicine etc. or ongoing donations for their biological families so that they are set up in the best possible situation for when the child goes home.

There are sometimes children who come who don't need host parents to have medical training ahead of time- but they have to be willing to learn. :)

Thanks so much for your time, understanding and consideration. We appreciate all of you and the amazing folks we have gotten to "meet" in the past few days of searching and planning.

Baby Bear remains in stable condition yet he has been running fevers on and off as well as having other medical concerns despite being on strong antibiotics already. Please PRAY, its essential, his life is very fragile and his caretakers are doing all that they can under not the best of circumstances. Please pray for them as well- they truly need it and need to feel all our love and support.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!

The Medical Advocacy Team

P.S. For safety and privacy reasons we are not at liberty to disclose the hospital any children are going to, or the doctor's who are treating them. Thanks for your understanding.

Urgent - Help for Berlange and Fedna

Dear friends,

We need your help. Berlange and Fedna were referred to us by our friends at RHFH. These precious children were born with Spina Bifida and they both need to come to the United States for surgery.

Fedna is a bit older and has done remarkably well so far- Berlange on the other hand is very tiny and very fragile. He truly needs to come for surgery as soon as possible. He may not survive very long if he doesn't get surgery soon. We have a wonderful hospital and doctor in Texas that is willing to provide medical care for both of these darling children. It takes about $500 per child to get the necessary paperwork together in Haiti that will allow them to come here on a medical visa. That is $1,000 that RHFH just doesn't have right now.

Will you consider helping with this need? If you feel led to donate you can click on the link below - it will direct you to Lori's blog where you can click the DONATE button. She will be processing the paperwork. Just put a note on there that it is for Berlange and Fedna.

PLEASE - spread the word about this need. Post it on your blogs, email your friends, and share with your family. Thank you for all your support as we help these children. PLEASE ALSO SPECIFY THAT THE DONATION IS FOR THE MEDICAL VISA'S FOR THE TWO CHILDREN WITH SPINA BIFIDA!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

T-Shirts on Sale!

Update: The adult large is gone. We currently only have adult mediums and smalls.

We have some MAT t-shirts left! We will be putting these on sale in hopes of getting them all sold. (Please note that there is a typo in the above graphic - everything on the shirt is spelled correctly.)

The shirts are awesome - I love mine and get lots of compliments on it. It is definitely a great conversation starter. :)

The shirts are brown with white writing. They say in Haitian Kreyol "Men Anpil Chay Pa Lou" and under that it translates the phrase into English "Many Hands Make the Load Lighter".



We don't have a lot of each size left but right now we have:

Adult Shirts - $17/shirt - This price includes shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S.!

1 size Large
4 size Medium
4 size Small



(Please indicate what size you would like in the checkout)

Kids Shirts - $12/shirt - This price includes shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S.!

2 size Large (14-16)
3 size Medium (10-12)
3 size Small (6-8)
4 size XSmall (2-4)




(Please indicate what size you would like in the checkout)

I'll try to keep this page updated with what we have left. THANK YOU for your help and support!!!

NOTE:

I can't get the Buy Now buttons to work on this post. For now - if you would like to buy a t-shirt just go to the donate button and donate the correct amound. Send us your address and what you purchased - we will get the shirts mailed out asap. You can email us at medicaladvocacyteam@live.com - Thanks so much!!!

Prayer for Britnie and Fedlene

Britnie is in surgery right now and Fedlene will be going in for surgery tomorrow. Please pray for these sweet girls, their Haitian families and their host family. Their host family is going to be exhausted by the end of this weekend and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for their momma's to not be here with them right now. We're praying both girls recover very quickly and everything is as pain-free as possible.

If you would like to follow their journey you can visit their blog HERE.

We need.... your help...

We need:

1. People traveling to Haiti in the next few weeks to carry down some donated medication. (Antibiotics Erthyromycin or EES or Emycin) Please email Sarah at: sisters3designs@aol.com if you are traveling soon! We will have the meds mailed to you and then arrange for pick up in PAP.

2. This newborn is named Berlange. Please keep him and his caregivers and family in your prayers. Berlange is from Haiti and is a week old. There is a chance that he may be able to get surgery in Haiti for his Spina Bifida. As you may know from the past children we have helped with SB, it can be very touch and go. Please pray that he is able to get the help he needs and that he stays strong and healthy, growing each day while he waits.