A few days ago we brought you the story of Edmond, a sponsored child who became "the face of cholera" for Jack Eans, our Vice President of International Child Ministries who evaluated Edmond after he was released from the hospital. After 5 days of treatment, Edmond was sent home to make room for more critical patients.

Mission of Mercy staff, having learned that Edmond's mother and sister had died of cholera that week, went to check on Edmond. They walked deep into countryside to his village, Somon. They saw the sticks and sheet hiding the shallow toilet right next to the river where they had just seen a child drink.

This is why the cholera bacteria found Haiti an all-too-inviting host. The danger is real, yet the prevention is simple. And so our project staff continues to train their communities to clean the water, to recognize the symptoms, how to treat it immediately instead of waiting for daybreak or a doctor.

Edmond's father came to be trained. He now knew the consequences, and he needed more oral rehydration packets to help Edmond recover. He faithfully came to the project and followed the training.

This helped him recognize when Edmond was getting worse, and he came straight to the project, carrying his listless son in his arms.

In God's great provision, Dr. Beyda was there. Our Medical Mercy director took one look at Edmond and knew the child might not last the day. They rushed him to a cholera treatment center, where he went to work with the staff there to make sure Edmond would get the care he needed -- IV rehydration, proper nutrition.

When faced with this sort of medical crisis, we think that once treatment is reached, the risk has passed. But in the third world, the crisis for the family may have just begun.

You can see the worried exhaustion in the eyes of Edmond's father. Hospitals in Haiti (and in many other countries) require that families stay and help with the care. Food isn't provided for the patient. There may not be a place to stay while your child is treated, so you shuttle back and forth from home if you can't find a place to sleep.

The cholera treatment center needed to keep Edmond for a week -- what would his father do? How would he feed both of them? How would he bring Edmond home? If he could not afford a moto-taxi, it could mean hours of walking back to Somon carrying his son.

Enter the Children's Crisis Fund. In addition to making sure Edmond got the care he needed, we could provide funds for transportation and the nutritious food Edmond and his father need to recover.

We know that in recent weeks we've written a lot about the Children's Crisis Fund and cholera in Haiti. It's simply because the CCF can be so effective at providing urgent care, especially in situations like Haiti.

For example, a single oral rehydration packet that can rehydrate a child costs eighty cents. If you're a sponsor who decides to round up your sponsorship amount to $40 and give the difference to to the Children's Crisis Fund, that $6 can provide 7 oral rehydration packets, enough for a week of illness or a few days of critical care. It's hard to believe that such a small amount of money cound save a life, but it does. It certainly saved Edmond's.

So please consider a gift to the CCF. If you sponsor a child, you may have received a letter about giving a small amount to the CCF each month. This week we'll focus on other ways we've used the CCF this year. In situations great and small, it is saving and changing lives.

But in the meantime, pray with us for Edmond's recovery, and that the peace of God will rest on his father as he cares for his little boy.