In October 2009, the Vitamin Angels team visited Haiti and I sent back this story in an email to our supporters about my first meeting with Baby Jenny:

I kept looking down at Jenny who was born only 4 days ago, incredulous that she could be so small. The nurse later told me that she weighed 2 1/2 pounds at birth but I would have sworn she was closer to a pound and a half. My hand when placed on the pillow beside her was twice as big as her head. Her feet and legs were no wider than my thumb. Marie, her mom was happy and Jenny actually looked stable. In any regular hospital she would have been in an incubator. Here at the Little Sisters of St. Therese clinic in Baraderes, run by Sister Denise Desil, 2 1/2 hours from Les Cayes, down one of the bumpiest roads I have ever been on, she was wrapped in a couple of blankets with a knit cap on her head. (Read the full story here >>).

What I'm grateful for today is the opportunity to send you this update:

When we first met Baby Jenny on October 20, 2009, her tiny size and young age left an impression on our team. We were just beginning our prenatal program in Baraderes, and left ensuring Marie would receive prenatal vitamins for as long as she was breastfeeding Jenny. Since then, when the subject of our projects in Haiti came up around the office, we would often wonder about the tiny baby we had met.

Last week I was fortunate to see Baby Jenny again. At just over 2 years old, she's no longer a baby. And I'm happy to say, she's no longer so tiny anymore either. Last week we returned to Baraderes during a distribution visit with our implementation partners, Hope for Haiti, and I asked about baby Jenny and Marie. We learned from Marie's husband that she and Jenny were visiting Marie's sister in Port Au Prince. I made a call when we got back to the city on Friday, and on Sunday morning Marie and Jenny arrived to see us.

They both looked wonderful, healthy and vibrant. We asked the nurses working at the Partners in Development clinic (many of whom work with premature babies in the U.S.) to do a well baby assessment. The good news is that Jenny is doing great. She had a little impetigo (an easily remedied bacterial infection) on her arms, but that was it. Her temperature was normal, her lungs were strong, and her steady heartbeat confirmed Jenny is a healthy young girl.

We sent Marie and Jenny off with a year's supply of children's chewable multivitamins for Jenny, a year's supply of multivitamins for Marie, a prescription and money for skin cream for the impetigo, and lots of love; grateful to know that our work had played an important part in the well being of the smiling mother and daughter.

Take a minute this Thanksgiving to thank yourselves and realize how fortunate we are to do this work together. We send you our sincerest thanks for joining us in our mission and playing a part in helping mothers and children like Marie and Jenny live healthier lives.

Upwards!

Howard B. Schiffer