Christopher's Brain Injury 4

Friday, April 23, 2010, 12:37 am

The roller coaster goes up... the roller coaster goes down... So goes a day in the life of a child with a brain injury.  Christopher's intracranial pressure dropped to 16 earlier this afternoon but it had elevated to 46 by 9:30 pm. They decided to start him on level 2 medication called Manitol which works to relieve pressure in his brain. The pressure has now reduced and is fluctuating between 17 and 28.  This is a very good thing.

He developed fluid in his lungs today, which they suctioned out several hours ago.  This is very typical in a patient on a ventilator.  Because he is in a coma, he is not coughing or doing anything to keep things clear and moving.  Unfortunately, we need to prepare ourselves for the reality that Pneumonia is possibly on the horizon for Christopher.  

About an hour ago, things began hopping by his bed as his team watched his blood pressure drop.  They quickly assessed the situation and decided to re-start the medication they had discontinued earlier and reduce several other meds.  This is typical of what his attending physician described to me earlier as 'the dance' that they continually do in an attempt to keep everything functioning at it's most efficient.  He has stabilized now and appears to be resting peacefully.

I am with him for the night, watching a team of 7 attend to him. As frightening as this is, I feel an odd sense of peace at the moment.  I am smiling as I listen to Brenda, his nurse speak to him, by name, as though he can hear and understand every word.  She is explaining where he is, why he is here and what it is she is doing to him.  Her sympathy expressed to him is quite moving.  She is apologizing for all of the poking and prodding that has taken place over the past 78 hours.  Okay, now I am crying... I don't know if he can hear or understand Brenda, but I love the way he is being treated and loved in this hospital.  He is in good hands and I have no choice but to trust all who are caring for him.  Please continue to pray for Christopher...

With love, Laura

Christopher's Brain Injury 3

Thursday, April 22, 2010, 4:11 pm

Chris is still in critical condition and his nurse says that he’s consuming half the resources in the ICU-three nurses are doing nothing but attending to him and there are at least 2 doctors who wander by every couple of minutes. On rounds there are 10+ people around the bed. 

We are literally thanking God that he is here.  Some of our friends who are in the medical field say that Children's Hospital provides some of the best care in the nation. That’s good because he needs it. What they’re working on constantly is balancing his blood pressure, his intracranial pressure, his cerebral profusion and his respiration. These things now are being balanced on the “head of a pin” and require constant adjustments. This morning they needed to reverse his bed so his head was facing the center of the room to facilitate a mobile CT scan.  It took an hour to move him with all of the equipment. Then the simple effect of having him flat on his back during the CT caused his pressure to rise, and it took 90 minutes for them to get things back to where they wanted it. When we go in and visit, they really don’t even want us touching him or talking to him because they don’t want any stimulation(even though he’s in a drug-induced coma). 

The doctor told us that things are progressing about how they expect them to. The new CT scan showed a slight increase in swelling but not unexpectedly so. So far, they don’t believe there is anything happening that will require neurosurgery. Its just trying to keep the swelling down. The rest of his medical condition is good. His lungs are clear and his kidneys are working well. We

Paul, Emily and I are well cared for. The generosity of people is amazing. So many people have shown up unbidden at the hospital that the front desk is warning people that they may have to go the cafeteria. Even the EMT’s who were first on the scene called the ICU to check up on him and then the head of our local fire department offered take care of the house, do anything we needed. 

So now we wait.  Paul and I are taking shifts - I stayed all night and and am now home, attempting to sleep, which has, for the most part eluded me. It seems as though when I stop long enough, I find myself thinking about all that is transpiring, I can't seem to stop seeing Christopher as I saw him yesterday... laying on the street, unconscious.  

It looks like this will last for 5-7 days. Thank you all so much for your notes, texts, phone calls and visits regarding Christopher. We are moved beyond words. Please keep up your prayers.  

Laura -- 

Vinegar Bombs

Christopher's Brain Injury 2

Thursday, April 22, 2010, 7:22 am

Good Morning Everyone,

Christopher's surgery went as expected last night.  They drilled a hole in his skull and inserted the pressure monitor and the tube for drainage.  The cranial pressure was 46 during surgery, which is high compared to the 10-15 that is considered normal.  His neurosurgeon, Dr. Sun told us that there is no spinal cord damage as far as they can tell and that the only real concern they have at this point is the swelling in his brain.  He will remain in a medically-induced coma until the swelling in his brain goes down and stays at a normal level consistently.  This will likely be 3-7 days.  

I have been in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) with Christopher since early this morning around 12:30, when I was finally allowed to be with him.  I am not able to be right next to him because of his serious condition, which has been very difficult.  There are simply too many machines and monitors surrounding him and there is no room for a chair, so I am sitting about 15 feet away from him with a birds-eye view of both Christopher and the ever-changing numbers on the monitors.  I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing!  He has been attended to constantly throughout the night, as they are trying to stay on top of the swelling in his brain by adjusting everything from his medication, his temperature, his blood pressure and ventilator.  I feel confident that Christopher is in the right place.  The doctors and nurses are first-class. 

I took these photos of Christopher around 3:00 this morning.  It's not pretty, but I assume that at some point, he will want to know what his time in the PICU looked like! My next post is going to be the link to a video I posted on youtube from last Sunday when he was Christopher being, well, Christopher.  He was doing what boys love to do...blowing things up!  I look forward to watching him make vinegar bombs again in the near future!

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes for Christopher.  I will keep you all updated on his progress.

With love, Laura

Christopher's Brain Injury 1

Wednesday, April 21, 2010, 9:52 pm

Christopher was airlifted to children's hospital with a head injury this afternoon...he fell out of a tree...he was unresponsive.  Just spoke with neurosurgeon...brain is swollen...multiple skull fractures...taking him into surgery now to insert pressure monitor (for swelling) and tube for drainage if necessary. It will be several days before we know much. Thank you for your prayers.

Laura

Sent from my iPhone

Women of Vision National Conference - Lobby Day

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I spent this past week in Washington DC at the National Women of Vision conference.  The theme for the week was "Every Woman Has A Story: Change Her Story . . . Change History".  The bonus of this time for me was that my dear friend and angel, Angela Mason was going to be there.  She was the MC for the conference and opened our time on Sunday night with an event called, "Bedtime Stories with Angela Mason" where she told her story.  Having moved to the United States from Great Britain in the '80's to learn to speak "American", Angela soon found herself doing corporate headhunting.  Then in 1989 when 60 Minutes aired their special on children who were dying in orphanages in Romania simply because they weren't being held, she found her calling as an advocate for suffering children.  She began a non-profit organization called "Touch Romania" and once it was up and running successfully, was asked by World Vision to come to work for them, raising money and advocating for children and women worldwide.

  

That was 20 years ago and today she continues her work with World Vision.  I traveled with Angela to Bosnia in September, and that trip was the impetus for all the change that has transpired in my life during the past 6 months. The added bonus of this week was that four out of the six of us women who traveled to Bosnia were there together.  It was wonderful spending time with Angela, Jeanie and Mary!  We enjoyed reminiscing about our trip and shared many laughs and fond memories. (photo above: Me, Angela, Jeanie, Mary)

The highlight of the conference for me was on Tuesday, when I, along with 250 women converged on Capitol Hill for a total of 100 meetings with our Senators and Representatives.  Now then, for any of you who know me, you know that lobbying is not something for which I have ever been passionate.  You might even say that it is one of the last things I ever wanted or expected to do.  But as you also know, I am not the same person that I was six months ago.  I have fully embraced my newfound desire to try new things, especially if they have anything to do with advocating for women and children. 

So there I found myself on Tuesday, sitting around a table in Barbara Boxer’s conference room, lobbying for two bills to be passed. (photo from Barbara Boxer's conference room)  The first bill was the Child Protection Compact Act (H.R. 2737), which aims to end the trafficking of children.  Typically, poor girls from rural areas are sold or stolen away from their families to serve as sex slaves in brothels.  This problem is compounded in times of economic hardship, as children are often viewed as either a financial burden or a source of income. Human trafficking is essentially a modern slave trade and women and children make up 80 percent of all trafficking cases.  With Senator Boxer, we were urging her to quickly introduce the bill.  She fully supports it and has agreed to sponsor it, along with Senator Cardin and she is working to get Senator Brownback to agree to sponsor it with them.  This particular bill will provide targeted resources to countries that have shown the political desire to combat trafficking but lack the resources to do so.

This bill would require $50 million over three years.  A unique feature of the bill is that the focus countries would be required to enter into a “Child Protection Compact” with the United States that identifies strategies for protecting children and deterring the crime, and benchmarks for measuring progress towards meeting specific goals. The biggest obstacle with this bill is the need for ‘new money’.  We were encouraged to hear that Senator Boxer is fully behind the bill and wants to introduce it as quickly as possible. (photo from Dianne Feinstein's conference room)

The second bill that we lobbied for was the Newborn, Child and Mother Survival Act (H.R. 1410 in the House of Representatives) and the Global Child Survival Act (S. 1966 in the Senate).  This bill will prevent the needless death of mothers and children.  Nearly 9 million children die each year, or 24,000 a day from preventable causes such as diarrhea, measles, malaria, pneumonia and neonatal complications with nearly one-third of them linked to malnutrition.  This is considered a “silent emergency” and the overwhelming contributing factor to these deaths is poverty, with 99% of them occurring in developing countries where access to safe water, essential health services and nutrition is limited or unaffordable. 

Using low-cost solutions can prevent most of these deaths.  Approximately two-thirds of these children could be saved each year if they would be provided with simple solutions such as malaria bed nets, oral rehydration, exclusive breast-feeding, immunizations and proper medical care at birth.  This is a budget-neutral bill, as funds only need to be reappropriated.  Senator Boxer is fully on board with this particular bill and they are in discussions about it. 

We came away from our day on Capitol Hill feeling like suffragettes.  A friend of mine, Diane asked me if it was an intimidating or an empowering experience and I was pleased and proud to tell her that it was not at all intimidating and was most certainly empowering.  As we were being prepared for our Lobby Day on Monday, we were reminded that our Senators and Representatives work for us.  It is their job to listen to us and they exist in their roles to be our voices.  Sitting in those offices, speaking passionately about what tugs at our hearts, what we so vehemently believe in was an amazing experience.  We were warmly welcomed in every office, intently listened to, and were asked intelligent questions so that they could fully understand where we were coming from.  We were respected, encouraged and educated as to how we can continue our pursuit of advocating for women and children in our government.  We were told that every letter and e-mail is read and answered, every phone call is listened to and noted and that there is power in numbers.  In Senator Feinstein’s office, we were told that if they receive 15 or 20 letters in a given week regarding a particular bill, they would sit up and take notice, recognizing that it is important enough for us to write about. (photo: the California constituency...40 women strong!)

 Lobbying on behalf of children and women around the world in hopes of getting bills passed was a wonderful experience and we ended our day feeling that perhaps we CAN make a difference if we are willing to speak up for those who have no voice.  You should try it!  Hey, if Laura Ackerman can do it, anyone can!  (Photos from Lobby Day: Angela Mason, Mary Gleason, Jeanie Ralphs, Shari Lucas....and me :)

I Had No Idea...

Saturday, February 20, 2010

About a month ago I received an e-mail from a woman in my World Vision/Women Of Vision chapter inviting me (at Angela Mason’s prompting, of course) to consider joining her in a new venture.  Fremont, California has the largest Afghan population in the United States and the Afghan Elderly Association was in need of women to partner with them in teaching English to the women in the group. 

Now, the interesting thing is that a year ago, no make that 6 months ago, had someone suggested to me that I engage myself in the teaching of English to women from Afghanistan, I would have wrinkled my brow, tilted my head and said, “you’re asking me to do what?  And you’re asking ME because…..?”  You see, I was still living my safe little life in my tiny little world and I wasn’t likely to venture out of my comfort zone and try something new.  Especially not something like teaching, or working with women who didn’t speak English.  But that day, when I read that e-mail from Carol, I found myself, much like the day that Angela Mason asked me to travel with her to Bosnia, intrigued.  I actually thought to myself….”well now, that’s something I’ve never done before.  It sounds like fun!” 

As I drove down to Fremont for my first time three weeks ago, I really didn’t know what I was doing.  I knew that there was a woman who spoke both English and Farsi who would be walking with us through this process, but as I walked into that room, I had no idea how very quickly these women, who come from a world that could not be much more foreign to me, would steal my heart. 

There were only a handful of women present at the start of the meeting and we all smiled and waved ‘hello’ to each other.  They were dressed neatly, most of them wearing scarves on their heads.  We met Mahin, our leader and discovered that she is a local realtor who came to America from Iran.  She quickly commanded order in the room and got us started on our first task. I began testing the women, one at a time to determine their level of English proficiency.  After introducing myself, I then proceeded with the oral exam.  The questions were very basic, “What is your name?  Where are you from?  Are you American?  How old are you?  Are you married?  Do you have any children?”  If she could answer those basic questions in English, then I would proceed to show her photos of various items, asking her to name them.  Mahin wanted to know whether or not they could read English, and that became clear when I got to the picture of a Coke bottle.  If she called it “Sprite” then I knew that she couldn’t read, but if she called it a ‘”soft drink” (which were the English words below the photo) then I knew I had a reader! 

We were a little concerned about the fact that the women weren’t all present and ready to begin when we arrived.  No, they trickled in for a full 2 hours!  We were told by one of our translators that a lack of punctuality is a cultural thing for these ladies.  We weren’t sure how that would play out as we continued with our classes. After testing all 40 women, we then divided them into groups.  There were the women who not only knew no English, but, it turns out, were also illiterate in their native language, Farsi.  In the months to come, we would work with these women during our first session of the day and then the second session would be working with the women who knew and could read and write some English.  I felt such kindness from these women and couldn’t wait to return the next week.  Something that Mahin told us is that the women suffer from low self-esteem and depression.  Many of them are widowed and live alone.  As I have been trying to find ‘my place’ in the world these past months since returning from Bosnia, I had the sense that working with women was somehow one of the things that I was meant to do.  After meeting with them the second week, I knew that I was meant to do this. 

The first thing that I noticed upon entering the room for our second meeting was that it was full.  I was actually surprised to see so many of the ladies already there….anxiously waiting to begin their English classes.  We were working with the lower group for the first session, so we were each given 3 – 4 women along with an interpreter and I quickly fell in love with Maliha.  She had a wonderful sense of humor and really seemed to enjoy assisting me with the women.  They are all friends, so there was lots of laughter in the room.  We began with the absolute basics….. “My first name is _______.”

It was during the teaching of this very simple phrase that I got my first indication of what these women would really need.  Their self-esteem was so low that if they couldn’t get it after the first 5 or 10 tries, they would just shake their heads, cover their faces and give some excuse about their bad memory.  I could see the frustration and embarrassment in their eyes.  I’ll never forget taking Jamilla’s hands in mine, looking her in the eyes and telling her that it was okay.  I told her that the fact that she was sitting there, across from me and simply trying was something to be proud of.  The look on her face as she listened to Maliha interpret for me, in Farsi was quite moving.  With tears in her eyes, she smiled, nodded her head and said, “tashakkor”….thank you.  That was when it began to click for Jamilla.  She just needed to be cared about….to be believed in.  Isn’t that what we all need?  It was at that moment that I gave my heart to these beautiful Afghani women.  I knew that I would be there….week after week, month after month, just believing in them and loving them. 

I spent the second half of my morning working with a more advanced group of 6 women.  We went over the correct writing of addresses, telephone numbers and discussed families.  I think the biggest laugh I had all morning was when I asked Maliha, who was now my student rather than my interpreter if she was married.  She looked at me with a huge smile on her face and said, “Yes, I am married…..to a wonnn…derful man!” and then she laughed and laughed.  She told me that all American women say that they are married “to a wonnn…derful man,” whether they are or not and that she just thinks that is so funny.  Yes, we Americans are predictable and we provide a healthy dose of entertainment for those from other cultures! 

As I was preparing to leave, Jamilla walked up to me with a group of women and gestured for me to ask her what her first name was.  When I asked her, she beamed as she said, in beautiful English, “My first name is Jamilla!”  She flew into my arms and gave me the biggest hug I’ve ever had.  I just cried.  She then grabbed an interpreter and asked me how to say, “My teacher’s name is Laura.”  I told them and they all asked me to write the phrase down in their notebooks.  It wasn’t until I was home later that day that it clicked for me.  This particular group of women have never attended school…..are illiterate even in their native language, so I am the first teacher they have ever had.  They are so proud of themselves and they want to be able to tell their friends that they now have a teacher.  Wow.  It took me awhile to wrap my arms around that one. Talk about a humbling experience.  I will certainly get more out of these encounters than they will and I am honored and privileged to be called “teacher.” 

I called my dear, sweet Angela that afternoon and said to her, “Angela Mason….this is Laura Ackerman.  Do you make it a habit of turning upside down and inside out the life of every woman you meet?”  She, of course laughed and laughed and we proceeded to have a lovely conversation about why she had thought this would be something I should do and how we just never know where life’s path will lead us.  She feels as though she is simply a vehicle for God to work through, but I would argue that she is that and so much more.  She has depth of insight that is rare and she acts upon her instinct.  It is a privilege knowing Angela and I will continue on this new journey upon which I have found myself, with great anticipation, looking forward to what will be down the next road, all the while thoroughly enjoying where I am today.

How They See It

Friday, January 22, 2010

This morning I found myself in the company of a cab driver from Ethiopia. 

We were on our way from the Paris hotel in Las Vegas to the airport…my second attempt to get to San Diego.  Yesterday, I arrived at the airport and was standing in front of the Departures board when my flight was cancelled right before my eyes.  No kidding.  One second it was leaving out of gate C7 and the next, poof!  It was cancelled!  I headed through security and made my way to the gate of the next flight to San Diego.  While standing in line, that flight was cancelled….then the next flight…and the next….and so on, until I reached the gate agent who told me that all flights to San Diego had been cancelled.  She told me that the San Diego airport was closed, which I found rather odd.  I don’t believe that happens very often.  I later discovered that all flights initiating out of Las Vegas, San Francisco and Phoenix into San Diego had been cancelled and the airport was indeed closed. 

I actually didn’t have any complaints about having to head back to Paris.  My previous day had been so wonderful that I didn’t want it to end.  Once I was back at the Paris, I headed to the little café that serves wonderful Roasted Tomato soup and thoroughly enjoyed a cup of it.  I sipped my cappuccino as I watched people walk by and then headed to my room.  It was pouring rain outside and as I looked out my window at the Eiffel tower and the Bellagio fountains which were alive and dancing to the song Singing In The Rain by Frank Sinatra, I found myself once again relaxing….content to have a day ahead of me with nothing to do but read and write.  That doesn’t seem to happen often these days, which is what makes traveling to Vegas so very wonderful for me.  I love the escape from life.  The escape from schedules, from ongoing demands and expectations placed upon me.  Oh, I understand that in order for things to flow, there needs to be order, scheduling and expectations, but it is such a glorious feeling to be without…

But I digress.  As I was saying, this morning I found myself in the company of a cab driver from Ethiopia.  As we pulled away from the Paris, he asked me if I was ready to go.  I quickly said, “No”, but that at some point, one must return to reality.  He asked where home was for me to which I replied “San Francisco.”  I told him that I was headed to San Diego for the weekend and he asked if it was for work or pleasure.  There stood my gateway to telling yet another person about World Vision and the wonderful work it does.  “I’m attending a conference held by a non-profit, humanitarian organization called World Vision,” I said.  “Oh, I’m very familiar with World Vision,” said the driver.  He then began telling me about its’ presence in Ethiopia and throughout Africa.  I just listened as he told me of the wonderful people he had met over the years and how hard working and well respected the organization is. 

Then he dropped the bombshell.  “The problem is” he said, “The people of Ethiopia don’t ever see any of the money that comes into the country.  The government is horribly corrupt and they keep every dollar that comes in.  They tell all the humanitarian organizations that their money goes to the proper people, but that never happens.”  Then he said, “All we ever see is corn.  Just a tiny bit of corn for each person.  We are given it once a week.  Corn.  What are we to do with corn?  We cannot live on corn.  It is useless to us but they tell us that we should be grateful.”  He went on about the corn for the next 3 minutes.  It was very sad. 

I just listened as he spoke about his home country, which he loves so much.  He told me how beautiful it is and how he would love to still be living there but he couldn’t stand the corruption.  He feels fortunate to be living and working in the United States and doesn’t take his life of freedom for granted. 

It was then that I attempted to explain to him what I knew of World Vision and what makes it different from some other non-profit organizations.  I told him that I was relatively new to World Vision but I knew that of the money that is donated to the Child Sponsorship program, 89 percent of it goes directly to the community.  I could tell that he wanted so badly to believe me. 

He asked if I had ever traveled to Ethiopia and I told him that I hadn’t.  “When you travel to Ethiopia and throughout Africa, they (the government) fool you.  On the day that you are there, the health clinics are full, the schools are filled with children and everyone appears to be happy and well-tended.  This is all a lie, though, just to make you feel good and to try to convince you that your money really is going through the proper channels.  The government knows that if you see suffering, empty schools and clinics, you will stop sending your money, and then our country will suffer.  So they perpetuate the lie.  For their own gain.  And nobody ever knows.  Except the people of Ethiopia who are so impoverished.” 

I was so saddened by all that he had to say.  I do believe that the government in Ethiopia and in so many other countries is corrupt.  I believe that there are many instances where monies donated never make it to their intended destination.  I found this information on the World Vision website:

“At World Vision, stewardship is an integral part of everything we do — because we recognize that every resource entrusted to us can transform real children's lives.

As part of our stewardship, we optimize resources and distribute them where they are needed most.

We carefully monitor and review programs and costs, use donations and grants for their intended purposes, and look for ways to leverage funds for maximum impact.

In addition, we continually strive to keep our overhead rate low. In 2009, 89 percent of our total operating expenses were used for programs that benefit children, families, and communities in need.

Our effectiveness has earned the trust and support of nearly a million donors, thousands of churches, and hundreds of corporations, institutions, and government agencies around the globe.”

I believe that the money that is donated to World Vision truly does make it to the people who need it most.  The more I learn about this organization, the more impressed I am with it and I am proud to be connected to it.  I am glad to have been able to tell my cab driver today what I knew of World Vision’s work and I hope that he will think about my words and perhaps at some point, believe what I had to say.  

Earthquake In Haiti

Saturday, January 16, 2010     

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 hit Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti.  I learned of the earthquake when I turned on my laptop that evening.  There were three things that came to mind.  First of all, I thought about how close Nick would have been had he still been in the Dominican Republic as he had planned and I am thankful that he is in Guatemala.  Next, I thought of my friend John because he was in Port-au-Prince in November of 2009 working with Rotary and Word Vision to bring clean water to the country.  I wondered how many of his friends had lost their lives in the previous few hours.  Then the reality of this tragedy began to sink in as I thought of the devastation that had just occurred and the people whose lives were affected by it. 

The depth of sadness I felt for people who I have never met surprised me.  I’ve always thought of myself as a compassionate person, but since returning from Bosnia, well, I find my feelings rising to the surface much more easily.  The intensity of what I feel is so powerful and at times, rather distressing.  I was hard-pressed to focus on much other than the tragedy in Haiti all week long. 

I’m not really interested in watching TV, so most of my information has come from the internet.  I was impressed by the outpouring of money from people on social networking sites such as facebook.  On Wednesday morning, I joined a group formed by World Vision called “Fundraising Project:  URGENT Haiti Earthquake Relief.”  By posting it on my “wall” all of my friends are able to learn about it and have the option to join the group as well as give money to relief efforts.  I heard that it was possible to donate $10 simply by texting “HAITI” to 90999.  No longer do we need to get out the checkbook, write a check, place it in an envelope, try to find the proper address, add and stamp and drive it to a post office to donate money. 

As of last night, the Red Cross estimated the death toll to be around 45,000 – 50,000 and it will surely rise.  Government workers began burying thousands of dead bodies in mass graves.  There was no time to identify, document or photograph the bodies as removing them quickly has become paramount. 

Because most homes are either destroyed or severely damaged, hundreds of thousands of Haitians are sleeping on the street.  It is believed that there are still survivors who are trapped under rubble, thought their time is running out.

Paul, Emily and I were saddened to learn of an orphanage in Haiti that is full of children whose paperwork had been completed and were ready to go to their new families in America when the earthquake hit.  Now all the paperwork is under tons of rubble, never to be seen again and the poor children are stuck in Haiti.  Their future is bleak.  It is so sad that because of beaurocracy, hope for the future is lost.

It will be very difficult for Haiti to recover from this natural disaster.  The country was so impoverished before.  They had no natural resources and just struggled to survive, but now, things are so much worse.  During dinner last night, we had an interesting discussion with our friend Roby, Emily, Chris and 5 of his friends.  One of them, Alex pointed out that it is during times of tragedy that countries tend to unite and I was so impressed by the maturity of these kids’ viewpoints.  My hope in the coming days, weeks, months and years is for unity among our world.  I wish that it wouldn’t take tragedy to bring people together, but I am thankful to see people from all around the world working together to help the people of Haiti today.