Fedline & Michlanda

Fedline and her daughter moved into the Harbor House last Friday.

Fedline is 16 years old and was in the prenatal program. One Thursday in March she came in with alarmingly high blood-pressure and protein in her urine. The midwives immediately decided that she needed help for severe preeclampsia.

We brought her to a local free hospital and they accepted her for a c-section.

On March 17th Michlanda was born premature at 35 to 36 weeks of age. She is still very small but finally gaining steadily.

At the time of the earthquake Fedline was 15 and was living with her aunt, Lovelia. They were living in a rented house and it fell down.  They were not injured badly but they were left homeless. They knew a person that worked for a family that lived in Miami.  The person kept the house safe and clean while the family was in Miami.

The caretaker of the house allowed Lovelia and Fedline to sleep there for over a year.  Nine days ago the family came back from Miami.  Fedline and her aunt and daughter had to scramble to get out of the house before they got their friend in trouble.

Fedline's aunt Lovelia is her only family in Port au Prince.  The rest of her family live to the very far Northwest corner of the island.   Fedline fit all of the criteria for entrance into the Harbor House and we're excited to have her.  Her aunt is trying to find a friend to live with while she figures out what to do next.   Fedline has completed her education up to the 6th grade.  At Harbor House she will be getting tutoring at the 7th grade level as well as be involved in Monday, Wednesday, Friday Bible Study and English classes and Tuesday and Thursday bead-making classes.  Starting next week we will also be having a weekly support group meeting to deal with trauma, loss, and grief. Fedline has the support of her housemates that have been mothers for many more months and will hopefully encourage her and share their knowledge. 

Amanda getting ready to tour Fedline

Each week at the Harbor House has proven to be a learning experience. The challenges are daunting. We're learning as we go and often realizing how little we truly understood about how difficult this would actually be.  Our goal is to create community and safety and a place for teen moms to learn and grow.  I'd be lying to you if I said we've achieved all of that.  It is a battle. It always will be a battle.  There is resistance to some of the new things we're trying. Creating community sounds easy enough, but in practice it is incredibly difficult and takes time. We're praying that we are able to persevere through the yuck and confusion and keep trusting that God is in the business of restoration and that Harbor House will be a place where restoration happens for many.

Moving Fedline into Harbor House (Tara, Fedilne, Aunt Lovelia)