The summer months have so far been busy with additional outreaches in Haiti with needs of a vehicle.  We have been using a rented vehicle, and also need to buy thousands of medicines for Haiti and Bolivia.  We have lots of teams on the road along with administrative work for the whole mission that keeps us on the go.

Additional needs:

July 27, 2010 – We suffered a bad accident when our Chaco team came back from attending the sick in the Guarani region in Southern Bolivia near Paraguay. When the Landcruiser ambulance was heading in the night to conduct a Christian service, one of the huge bridge planks flipped under the jeep and perforated one of the back wheels, the gas tank and the chassis. The bridge was very old, narrow and without any side protection. The jeep almost tumbled 15 meter deep in the river but eventually came back on his back wheels. No wounded but lots of material damage…. The use of this jeep has saved and healed thousands of children and elder people.

July 29, 2010 –

We still have no pictures from the jeep, only from the broken parts… Different story:  below is the jeep from our dear brother friend Dr. Juan-Jose working with us for many years. His brother and sister in law (Eliot and Eva) died by crossing a river without bridge as many many do every year. Also we have done this for many years. This accident happened in February in Bolivia. Due to our work in Haiti, we couldn’t bring it up. Please pray for this family (Martinez-Ancalle)

Broken parts from jeep

Back to Haiti… Almost there to help out. Teams are doing wonderful but we will not know where to go first. Probably to “le lieu le plus miserable du pays oublier pour toutes instantes meme le gouvernement de Haiti”. That’s how our Haitian Doctor Oscar Louige describes it if we have a vehicle… Dr. Oscar knows… He was there.

Additional updates: Time back in Haiti to do the work. We – Doctors on Mission – need all your help possible in Word and Deed (1John.3:16-18). God worked something miraculous out and Doctors on Mission Haiti was born out of local Christian Doctors and nurses who are now constantly reaching out to all villages, starting with Carrefour, PaP, Leogane but going out to Artibonite, Mirebalais, Lafond, Cayes, etc.. 100 Christian nurses who lost their job are waiting to join the team… We are working with 2.000$ a month.  Most goes to medicines and transport. A team of 15 receives 800$ alltogether for one month of 800/15 = 77$/month. Help us to bless them and check us out at www.DoctorsOnMission.org Dr. Rik

Doctors on Mission Haiti

August 2, 2010 - The 4th. mission in Haiti… Will it be different? Will we have a vehicle to continue the many outreaches already done? Will we receive the property promised to Doctors On Mission Haiti? Will we be able to build a medical mission base with hospital and logistical center for continuous reachings out? Will we find “believers”, man and women of God who believe we can make a difference if we join together to bring healing and the Message of Hope.

Additional news: We got very fruitful meetings to bring more extensive help and start building health care center in the orphanages New Life Children’s Home in PaP and Camp David in Carrefour. May God allow us to be blessed to bless all these precious children.  Tomorrow, we leave on outreach to Cayes in the extreme West of Haiti.  We hope to be able to get all medicines needed.

Outreach in extreme west point of Haiti

August 5, 2010 – We came back late night from amazing outreach in extreme West point of Haiti. People welcomed me as first white doctor and missionary. I never saw so much joy. They shouted and jumped from joy when we came to them with two vehicles packed with 20 nurses, doctors and pastors and stocked with medicines. Many people were healed and lifes saved… transformed. No internet today but blackberry still does it.

August 8, 2010 –

Back from what WAS called “le lieu le plus miserable du Haiti”. We could bring a lot of food, medicines, sing together and clap hands, bring joy and hope to so many little hearts who were in despair. Toute la gloire a Dieu!

August 9, 2010 -

Dear friends, the work in Haiti have left a deep impression in our spirit since we went there.  There is so much need to help our brothers there.  There is absolutely no health care system in place where we go.  The work in inland Bolivia wasn’t/isn’t much better… The pleads to go help our African (Tanzania) and Indian friends don’t leave me. We ought to do something to it.  Don’t you agree?  Rik & Sabine

Haitian Doctors On Mission team

We now have a team here in Haiti, still needing a clinic.  Currently this is a mobile clinic, going to the inlands and mountain villages.  Here are the following updates to keep you posted:

A first independent outreach has been done by our Haitian Indigenous team. Hundreds of sick and wounded people has been touched in body, soul and spirit! Pray for them and support them through our websites as plenty of work is waiting with 300.000 plus wounded and sick people only in the PaP region…

March 18th. This week, a lot of medicines arrived in Port au Prince for Doctors on Mission Haiti through Mission of Hope. We are thankful that our medical outreaches can continue this way. R&S

R Andes medical team came back from the Poroma region (Inca tribes) in Chuquisaca & is preparing an expedition 2 Sorochi, Tomoya & Ravelo, a vry poor rural area. In the meantime, R Southern Bolivian team came back from the Salinas region & is preparing an outreach 2 the Chaco region (Guaranies). Also R Haitian team went on a medical expedition on horse. We try 2 keep track of all of them & ask yr fervent prayers.

April 6th.

EMM Chuquisaca (is Bolivian Andes team) Médicos: Betzabé M. de Etcheverry, Patricia Monzón y Huáscar Veizaga. Odontólogo: Javier Revollo. Responsable de Farmacia y Enfermería: Javier Téllez y David Etcheverry. Pastores: Hortensia Vaca. Conductor de la ambulancia: Javier Téllez.MEDIO DE TRANSPORTE: Ambulancia antigua de F.T.C-M.C.MCOMUNIDADES A VISITAR: Chilchista, Chijmuri y Poroma. Outreach was successful!

April 10th.

PRAY FOR OUR SOUTHERN TEAM THAT’S ABOUT TO LEAVE…. A partir de mañana se realiza un viaje móvil y de apoyo al municipio el puente comunidades: CORRAL GRANDE,HORNOS Y CONDOR HUASI.Gracias a Dios tenemos el compromiso de apoyo del municipio con la gasolina asi los gastos son menores para el equipo.muchos saludos. DR. Ino.

April 14th.

R BOLIVIA medical team came back from the Poroma region (Inca tribes) in Chuquisaca & is preparing an expedition 2 Sorochi, Tomoya & Ravelo, a vry poor rural area. In the meantime, R Southern Bolivian team came back from the Salinas region & is preparing an outreach 2 the Chaco region (Guaranies). Also R Haitian team went on a medical expedition on horse. We try 2 keep track of all of them & ask yr fervent prayers.

We have great news but not the means to do all what need to be done in HAITI as Doctors on Mission wants to hire 12 Haitian nurses (remember 100′s have been found death in the PAP nursing school), several general local Doctors, Haitian surgeons, orthopedists, a gynecologue and 3 laborants. Who helps with monthly support? www.doctorsonmission.org, www.doctorsonmission.be

April 23th.

Yes! What’s so difficult and taking years in Bolivia just for a renewal of 20 year medical mission work happened overnight in Haiti. We received a note from the “Ministere des Affaires Sociales” stating that the Governmental Department of Social and Work Affairs have certified that Doctors on Mission Haiti (DMH) has been legally registered. Rik & Sabine

April 27th.

BOLIVIAN MEDICAL MISSION WORK:  Did you know that… 1/ Our team travel between 35.000 and 40.000km within Bolivia to reach the Bolivian inlands. 2/ We do all of this on foot, on horse back, by motorbike, in the Jeep, in the hospital van or by boat or canoo. 3/ We drive about 1000 hrs/yr (Bol. always express distances in hours) or at about 20 miles/hr 4/ We heal the wounded & Jesus renews soul and give new spirit.

April 30th.

BOLIVIAN MEDICAL MISSION WORK DO YOU KNOW 5-9 5/ This is an average of about 20 miles/hour on foot or on horse back. 6/ That for this reason we choose to go to those regions where humanitarian or Christian organisations do not go. 7/ That we reach about 50 isolated villages each year. 8/ That we are able to give 15.000 patients a year medical care. 9/ That Gods word has been preached this way to thousands of people.

BOLIVIAN MEDICAL MISSION WORK “DO YOU KNOW” 10-11 10/ That we have many ‘casos especiales’ every year. These ‘special cases’ are special because they need surgery or complicated (and expensive) treatments (f.ex. chemotherapy). 11/ That an ‘acute abdomen’ (cause of painful death without immediate intervention) is a lot more common in Bolivia. Many people have parasites in their abdomen for years or the Chagas disease.

May 3th.

Back to Haiti… Will continue with the “Do you knows” – Bolivia later.. Situation is still bad in the PaP-Carrefour-Leogane region here in Haiti. Less then 1% buildings have been cleaned up, no new structures. 80-90% of people live still in tents (despite a terrible T-storm yesterday). There are a lot more mobile restrooms.. Hungry faces still everywhere… Wondering what government plans are & where all aid is?

Yesterday – yes 2nd. of May, the earth started again to move…

I am proud of the team we set up. We are doing what we can with the means we have… We have confirmation from the mayor to recieve peace of land but not enough at all to start seting up a logistic and clinic center. For now all money we have go to support minimally our doctors & nurses and buy the needed medicines. Who backs us up? Dr. Rik www.DoctorsOnMission.org www.DoctorsOnMission.be

May 4th.

Dear friends, we need urgently a Landcruiser-ambulance to continue our outreaches to isolated affected regions here in Haiti. Who helps us? We will buy second hand and paint the car. If you want to be part of the blessing, please don’t hesitate to support. For Belgium and Holland –> www.doctorsonmission.be // for US —> www.doctorsonmission.org

May 12th.

We came back last Friday to P.au.P from a mayor outreach in the mountains… where we worked with an amazing team of Doctors on Mission Haiti. All doctors and nurses are Haitians. We got no electricity, no running water, no own vehicle which means 100F. and drinking hot water against thirst. All patients needed to be seen outside. Dr. Rik www.DoctorsOnMission.org www.DoctorsOnMission.be

Life is just horrible here as we see no advances whatsoever with still more then 1 million people living in what’s worse then a primitive restroom. Where are these millions given by the people??? Nevertheless, again people received healing in body, soul and spirit. Rik

People didn’t believe me but yes it’s true, we got two mayor after schocks a week ago in Carrefour (40 min. West of P.au.P. The second one was scary… After having been with Sabine in the 6.3 (January), and feeling still all the after schocks, it’s feels like you are never safe in Haiti.  Reason why people prefer to sleep still (after 4 months) outside.

May 15th.

Dear friends, we still need urgently some contributions to have a second hand ambulance for poorest regions in Haiti. Who helps us out? Donations can be given through www.DoctorsOnmission.Org (US) or through www.DoctorsOnMission.be (Belgium) with mentioning Haiti – ambulance!!!

May 17th.

We have been asking in Haiti where the millions are? Do you know? Certainly, not here…but we press on doing the good work. Medicines need to be bought again. We need a second hand ambulance-jeep to keep going. We count on you! Dr. Rik

Dear Friends, I arrived safe and well in Port-au-Prince last night. I am right now more in the centre of Port au Prince and am leaving to Carrefour right now. Carrefour is a 400.000 plus city. Many homes and also a orphanage is destroyed there.

Day two…Feb. 22, 2010

This morning around 4:30 Am, we were suddenly awaked by a new quake. The ground shook for about 20-25 seconds. The magnitude appeared to be 4.7.

Today, we will set up a clinic there. I will work with a young local Christian Doctor “Docteur Oscar”. When we were “chasing” the supplies we crossed so many quarters where all buildings are still down. The smells from the death (temperatures are neear 95F/35C) under the tons of rubble was intolerable… In some places you see they are cleaning up but this is like a city hit by a 10.000 bombs..

Our team stayed at the New Life Children home in centre PaP where I run into Dr. Sandra Luka who is doing a great job in a church completely converted in a hospital. We went with the team further South to Carrefour and were shocked to find the orphanage “Camp of David”, still without medicines, medical supplies, bandages, etc… Under God’s guidance, we found more then 20.000$ worth in medicines and supplies.

Day three…Feb. 23, 2010

This is very important because we are all sure that government will shut down all these clinics when crisis is over. They will be accused of illegal actions because of not being officially registered in health care department.

We will work on this today and officially create  Doctors on Mission-Haiti to have an umbrella for all these Christian medical local works that have been set up during the crisis with the help of outside.  Talking with my collegues, all Haitien Doctors and nurses from the local churches, I started to realize yesterday that many of the crisis medical centers in the orphanages (almost all) and other clinics are working illegal because none of them have an organization officially registered in healthcare department.

This night, we got for the second night in a row a tremendous trembling of the earth at 1:35 in the morning (4.8) and one other half an hour later… Not only the dogs but also the ,  the babies and trauma patients in the hospital (converted church started screaming). They needed to be brought out of the buildings.  Thank God, I changed building for a tent last night.

Day five…Feb. 25, 2010

I am currently working with several orphanages at same time. We also created a board for Doctors on Mission Haiti with Christian Doctors, Laywers and Pastors, wrote bylaws and are now heading to health care department to get fast a temporary permission in order to provide legal protection to a lot of local medical activities that are going on and to give them access to the WHO.

I met yesterday Soeur Marie-Veronique, 83 years old. She has 50 orphans and buildings destroyed, was depressed but a sprankle of hope came back as she heard that a Belgium organization will help her setting things up again.

Day six…Feb. 26, 2010

Today we got all bylaws written and signed by a tremendous dynamic board of 12 Haitien people. We have the promise to receive the land. Hundreds of acres…just 1 Mile North of the 90% destroyed 250.000 people Leogane and 15 Miles South of the 500.000 85% destroyed city Carrefour. We received today a whole truck of hospital supplies. If God is giving this, He will certainly provide the Hospital also!

Please keep praying and supporting us through www.DoctorsOnMission.org and www.DoctorsonMission.be

God called us to start and complete a specific task in Haiti… We knew, we needed to fill in a gap just a few days after the first big quake. It was a moment when there was no care for the deep wounds in body and soul of the children and people living in and around the orphanage project “Heart for Haiti” in Port-au-Prince. 

After 2 1/2 weeks intense work, a Dutch emergency team arrived. Together, we made extremely great advances in the past 72 hours by contacting them with B-fast and surgical teams of Puerto Rico, Holland and the US.

We could help establishing a connection in the worst part of the country (epicenter) – the town of Leogane – where we could witnesss an extra-ordinary job from Doctors without boarders, Switzerland who had set up an amazing field hospital in the gardens of a destroyed hospital (Hospital La Croix).

It is probably no secret that Sabine and I became very tired.  We heard and experienced now that the work of Medical Doctors in such a situations is indeed extremely demanding, stressful and exhausting; especially during the first 3 weeks after such a disaster. Most of the medical teams have a turnover of 5 (f.ex. Puerto Rico)) till 10 days (f.ex. Belgium).

We are but two of us and not part of a great team with nurses, assistants, logistics, coordinators, etc.. God knew that it became time to leave. Problem was that we could not establish contact with the mission (MFI) that flew us in. We waited for His intervention…

It was for us - although not expected that fast – quite an answer to our prayers that we suddenly got contact with a man of God we knew not.   He was an AA pilot living less then 10 miles away where we have our home-office in FL.  This man flew promptly in Port-au-Prince with just a small Cessna plane from Kings Wings to get only the two of us in PaP (and 3 people more from Cap Haitian). He was for us like an angel coming out of the sky telling us:”You need a break.”  He told us how all doctors he had flown out were exhausted of the work done.

Pilot Bruce was also excited about our work in Bolivia as he had found our website. It appeared that he had flown for many years the big AA-planes from US to Bolivia!

Some people on the ground didn’t agree with our sudden leave. Probably, they were focusing too much on us and didn’t see the team that had come down to take over…God gave us peace in the midst of all turmoil and confirmed that our mission in Haiti was completed…at least for now.. The wounded had been taken care for, a primary health structure had been set up and logistics had been worked out with the Dutch medical team.  Follow-up was assured. Of course, an extremely huge task in primary health care and reconstruction of this destroyed land remains. We have yet to see if God wants us to be part of this too…

We started to truly love this people and will miss them very much.  We ask your fervent prayers especially for the Haitian people but also for us.. May God give them and us His Divine peace. May He help us to put things together again after so many sudden changes and fast decisions we needed to make during the last weeks. 

Thank you for all your support we received through your donations and prayers.  We appreciate this greatly.  For now, we want to leave it completely open to God if He wants us to return or not to Haiti.

Rik & Sabine

Dear friends,

Here are some updates… 

1 Last Sunday, we were invited to bring a word of hope and life to the children of the orphanage (1 Pe 1: 3-9). It was the first time for me in French although on the end – to speed up – I just started to speak Flemish and a Dutch missionary translated in “Creools”
2 The B-fast (B = Belgium) team brought in for 700Kg or 1,543 Pounds of medical supplies and medicines we could purchase in Belgium thanks to your generous donations.  This included 12 packs of Douwe Egberts Coffee (to keep us on speed); Insect repellents (thank God for it), Mosquito nets and a cheese of 12 Kg (26,45 Pounds) for the 2 Dutch families. I believe they will be eternally thankful to the Belgians for it…

3 B-fast team had found (somewhere) an orphan and were very thankful that we took Christel (the orphan) with us in the jeep to the orphanage. Communications with B-fast (official Belgium representation) went so good that they will come tomorrow early in the morning with a medical team to help us out!  A pediatrician, emergency Doctor and – if there is need –

 even a surgical team will be available.

4/ We got a 10 minutes meeting with Italian representatives of the European Community and 15 tents has been promised. We hope, they will arrive soon!

5/ I have been hunting for many baby medicines in syrups and found them Tuesday!

6/ Needless to say that Sabine did most of the heavy patient traffic in the clinic as I was involved in a lot of networking, medicine hunting and contacts. For me, she is THE doctor of the month!

7/ We had been searching for a week to find our friend Cardiologist Dr. Crandall. In a last attempt today we found him! You will never guess but he offered us French (we say Flemish) frites with mayonnaise and sausages! Yes, God is always good!  He also gave us a lot of donations (even the “boobies”

, coagulators on batteries for stopping heavy bleeding in deep wounds) and food and last but not least a huge tent!

8/ We also brought home tonight a lot of boxes with diapers, baby food, baby bottles, children clothes, etc.. from the American base camp.

 

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We directed to the port because entry of city is impossible. God really guided us to a Dutch ship coming from Aruba and Suriname with some good things for us. They could give us lots of medicines, medical supplies, food and water. There, we were also found by a CNN crew who followed us back to the children project and they started to interview Sabine. They would broadcast it somewhere between 4 and 5 PM Eastern Time (10-11 PM European time).

This morning, three after quakes came in (I felt several others in my back when trying to sleep in the open air last night). Children started screaming and we needed to move out as quick as possible being in the middle of putting local anesthesia injection, wound care, etc…. Our clinic with all supplies has now been moved out of the building and we are seeing patients on the play field just besides the school that already had collapsed…

Sleeping outside, extra searching for medicines, etc… made us tired but we have the feeling that within the children project things are pretty much under control. Much need to be still done in the surrounding communities where no help has arrived yet.

We do hope that we can set up a line to surgical teams in PaP for taking care of broken bones in arms, hands, legs and feet. Better would be to have a field clinic with surgeons just here in the suburban “Bon Repos”. Please, pray for this.

We also wait eagerly supplies that had been send through Doctors on Mission Belgium and others..

Dr. Rik Dr. Sabine

Note: You can help Haiti through donating via our websites www.DoctorsOnMission.org and www.DoctorsOnMission.be

With the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti…able and willing doctors and emergency workers were needed there.  Then came a request for help:

We R in non-stop trials & need a lot of yr prayers ths time…

 A friend missionary of us from Holland, Johan Smoorenburg, has a beautiful orphan & children project in Port au Prince, Haiti (cfr. http://bit.ly/5ZsmeB —> in english U kan also visit http://bit.ly/6T4E9E.

He alrdy wrote 2 times 2 us asking immediate help 2 take care 4 the wounded as we R doctors; also 2 bring in medicines, bandages, minor surgical materials, syringes, surgical gloves, etc…

R biggest problem is that we R looking 4 flights since ystrday but planes R not allowed anymore except from the military planes. We R now scheduled by MFI (Missionary Flights International – Fort Pierce) on their waiting list & probly they cn get us 2 Cap-Haitien (N) but it’s not sure if we altogether cn make it from thr 2 Port-au-Prince (SW).

So, please, pray w/ us that God intervenes supernaturally if He wants us 2 have their 2 help out on the children project “Heart 4 Haiti”. 1st that we get on a plane, second that thr is transportation 2 Port au Prince (we R waiting a reply now from Johan) & third that we might have the necessary medical means in no time once everything is approved.

With God’s leading, Rik & Sabine are now currently in Haiti…here’s an update from them:

Dear friends, we arrived after a tireful traveling with fuel and maintenance stop in the Bahamas safe and well in PORT-au-PRINCE. 

We could not connect by phone with the children project. God provided after two hours networking on the airport a safe transport because everybody wanted to help us but nobody knew who was who. The Dutch missionary Johan Smoorenburg was already waiting for hours somewhere on the other end of airport. 

Oh, 
Yes, the project leaders thanked the Lord and were full of joy as we brought in safely the cash the kids needed so barely to survive as electronic banking is paralyzed…

The Jeep was hit by a small truck and was hanging off the edge.  On the end, they worked their way out and came safely on our Southern Mission base 36 hours later.

The newsletter is out!  Wanne read it?

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If you want to read the letter in Dutch, please go to Dutch newsletter.

Rik