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MAY 2000 |
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PASSED AWAY ON MAY 4TH, 1999 AT THE AGE OF 16. SHE IS BURIED IN THE CEMETARY OF THE ROANOKE APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH. HER DEATH WAS A GRIM REMINDER THAT
MANY HAITIAN CHILDREN DO NOT GET ADEQUATE MEDICAL TREATMENT IN TIME. ONE YEAR LATER, DR. CARROLL ASKED MO TO ACCOMPANY HIM TO HAITI ON ONE OF HIS MANY TRIPS. THIS JOURNAL IS THE SORRY OF THAT TRIP. THE STORY
IS QUITE LONG AND CONTAINS A LOT OF PHOTOS. IT MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO LOAD. -RICH BERTSCHI |
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JANUARY 2001 |
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On December 30 of 2000, my parents gave me an additional Christmas present: a plane ticket to
Haiti. Ever since my family kept a Haitian (Lynda Menard) from November 1998 to her death in May 1999, it has been my dream to go see the country she came from. The mission of this trip was to
return six children who had had heart surgery in the US and were now healthy to Haiti. Dr. John Carroll, Anne Wagenbach, Janet Knepp, my dad (Rich Bertschi), and I(Lydia Bertschi) be flying Edline,
Fastina, Rosemyca, Pierre, Esai, and Iveline(Ellie) home on January 16. I was excited about the trip ahead of me, yet sad that we were returning our own Haitian, four-year-old Rosemyca Bain, at the
same time. I spent two weeks preparing, but I may as well have spent a year. Nothing could have prepared me for the experiences that Haiti gave me in five short (yet very long) days.
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CLICK HERE TO BEGIN |
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On March a work group of 10 people set out for Haiti. They were Ed Sauder, John Hodel, Jeremy Knepp, Phil Isabell, Chuck Lehman, Scott Yordy, Staci Jo Getz,
Heather Knoblach, Stephen Bertschi and myself (Rich Bertschi). |
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September 7, 2001
We met early in the morning at the airport in Peoria. Dr John Carroll and I (Rich Bertschi) were traveling to Haiti, taking Daniel Descardes and Lonnie Phillipe back
to their families. During their brief stay in Peoria (they had arrived 5/24/01), both had successful heart repairs performed at the Children's Hospital of Illinois. |
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Nahnah with Staci Getz on the plane on the way to Haiti. |
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Dr. John Carroll with Lonnie and Daniel en route to Haiti. |
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Our group also took Dorvilme (Nahnah) Lemdealina back to her parents as her medical treatment through Haitian Hearts and the Chlidren's Hospital of Illinois
was completed. The purpose of the work team was to install roofs on several MEBSH schools under construction in Haiti. This log and the accompanying photos tell the story of our interesting and successful trip. |
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JANUARY 2002 |
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Wednesday, January 9, 2002
Our group gathered between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. at the airport in Peoria for our departure. The group consisted of Dr. John Carroll, Kathy Bradle, Carol Holmes, Ann Wagenbach and myself (Rich Bertschi). Just
before boarding, John had one last TV interview with Channel 25. As he informed them, the purpose of our trip to Haiti was to spend most of the time working at Hospital Lumiere and hopefully make contact with some
of the 43 potential patients currently being tracked by Haitian Hearts. If candidates were ready to come, had passports, and could obtain Visa's, they would be able to travel back to the U.S. as the group returned
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NOV-DEC 2001 |
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Friday, November 30
Our
flight left Peoria at 6:00 a.m. The group assembled at the airport and checked in for our trip to Haiti. The group consisted of Augusnette |
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Jackson and Adonis |
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Adonis and her host mother Janet Knepp, Jackson-Jean Baptiste, my wife Bev Bertschi and myself Rich Bertschi.
Adonis and Jackson were returning to their homes in Haiti after having successful heart repair procedures performed through Haitian Hearts at the Children's Hospital of Illinois. |
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FEBRUARY 2003 |
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This is the story of the Apostolic Christian Church team that left for Haiti on February
13, 2003. The group went to Haiti to work with the M.E.B.S.H. organization. The job consisted of putting tin roofs on 2 schools in villages in the Les Cayes area. Although we did not shuttle any of the Haitian
Hearts kids on this trip, we did manage to see and visit six previous patients plus visit the Lynda Menard family. The six previous patients were Daniel, Rose Myca, Nahnah, Phanuel, Willie, and Brunette |
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MARCH 2002 |
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Thursday, March 14, 2002
The day of departure had arrived for our Apostolic Christian
World Relief Work Team. The team consisted of Ed Sauder, Dennis Leman, Rob Luginbuhl, Scott Yordy, Dan Leman, Bob Knepp, Jeremy (Dewey) Knepp, Samuel Bertschi, Stephen Bertschi, and myself (Rich Bertschi). Our group was
traveling to the Les Cayes area in Southern Haiti to put roofs on two schools in Haitian villages. We also hoped to see several Haitian Hearts patients and their families as we traveled in Haiti. |
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MARCH 2003 |
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Monday April 7, 2003
We left Peoria early in the morning during the last winter storm of the season. Since our flight to Chicago on American
Airlines was cancelled due to the weather, we were re-routed through Atlanta on Delta. Dr. John Carroll, Janet Knepp and I (Rich Bertschi) were going to Haiti to return Katherline Phillipe to her parents. Katherline's
heart was healthy now, having been repaired at OSF St. Francis. While in Haiti, we also hoped to visit previous Haitian Hearts patients and continue to check and monitor future candidates for the Haitian Hearts Program
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OCTOBER 2003 |
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October 10, 2003
We left Peoria at 6:15am. Accompianed by Bros. Kevin Sauder, Bob Pflederer and Ron Messner. I (Rich Bertschi) flew to Chicago where we were joined by Bro. Stan Vircker. We
continued to Miami where we met Bro. Roger and Sis. Judy Sauder. I was traveling to Haiti to join Dr. Carroll who was in Port-Au-Prince rounding up children and visas. He hoped to bring a new group of
Haitian Hearts paients back to the U.S. for life saving surgeries. The others in the group were going to Haiti as part of an Apostolic Christian World Relief Evaluation Team. |
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Rich and Katherline in Peoria |
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