Hurricane Irma: Helping Children in Haiti

We recently sent a team to Haiti, and they were able to bring along many supplies, including appropriately sized cloth diapers for older children. While at Real Hope for Haiti, one of our Diaper Drops, they met a smiley little 5 year old named Blandine. Blandine is thankful for the diapers you provided for her! 

Two years ago, at the age of 3, Blandine weighed just 22 pounds. She was brought to the Rescue Center by her aunt, and they traveled 5 hours by both car and moto to get to the Rescue Center. Her mother died from cholera when she was an infant, and her father hadn't been seen in years. She lived in a 1 bedroom house, made of rocks and tin, with 6 other people. They do have an outhouse, however it's a ten minute walk to get water. On the day she arrived, she hadn't eaten anything and the day before she had only rice and sauce. When she was admitted, she had been suffering from diarrhea and had been vomiting for days. Her body was swollen from kwashiorkor's disease. 

She was admitted to the Rescue Center, and early notes from her stay indicate that she was "one of the saddest kids we've had in a long time." In these early days, she refused to make eye contact or even raise her head up to look at others. 

Slowly, she began healing at the Rescue Center. She's been there for almost two years, and today she is cheerful and her smile is a true joy to behold. Blandine has special needs, and is unable to walk. She gets around by scooting and crawling.  She's also started speaking and her mobility is slowly improving through physical therapy and loving care.  It is such a joy to see her today, smiley, full of life and hope. Such a vast difference from her arrival.

Thanks for helping Blandine and others just like her! 

~ Stephanie

Links:

• The Story of Jake's Diapers

Huge, heartfelt thanks to you for helping babies in Haiti. Yesterday was a day of great joy. After months of collecting, sorting, organizing and packing diapers into banana boxes... 4,908 cloth diapers have officially begun their journey to Haiti! 

Some of these cloth diapers will be distributed to new Moms when they come in for a well-Mom/well-baby checkup in the Maternal Healthcare Clinic. By having Moms come in to the clinic after they give birth at home, infections can be caught sooner (thus reducing maternal mortality) and the nurses can make sure breastfeeding is going well (thus preventing malnutrition). 

Some of these cloth diapers are Tiny Blue, Little Green, & Not-So-Little Yellow diapers headed for the Rescue Center. With around 50 babies in diapers, having them color coded by size will help keep the best size on each baby. That's not all. By having an ample supply of cloth diapers, these babies will have 24 hour diaper coverage! This means better sanitation, cleaner living environment, and happy nannies. 

3,900 disposable diapers also left. These will be used in the Intensive Care Unit, and incinerated after use. This means less communicable disease! 

That's not all. 1,291 adult personal care products also left. These will be used at the Cholera Treatment Center, to aid in the reduction of the spread of cholera and recovery of those with cholera. 

Last, but not least, 552 miscellaneous items also joined the journey. These items include handmade pillowcase dresses, shorts, t-shirts, and blankets. 

This is the biggest shipment we've ever sent, and thank YOU for making this possible! I encourage you to reach me at stephanie@jakesdiapers.org, I'd love to hear from you!