Haiti 2013: Part 2

While I was in Haiti, I was reading through the gospels. On a daily basis the themes of the days readings were "the children are important" and "the last shall be first" and "humble yourself."

What happened each day cannot be summed up in any better ways.

Monday we returned to the school for another day of teaching, scrubbing, and painting. As soon as we arrived there was a man carrying a small child, Jaye sighed and said that he was here expecting money to buy a prothesis for his son. We all piled out of the van and our two Physical Therapists and one doctor began to take a look at him. His name is Winley, he is three years old, and had his leg amputated after the 2010 earthquake. Upon investigation it was found that he was strong and healthy, and his stump was clean and healed well. His leg was also amputated below the knee cap. Colin and Rhona swiftly got to work making a crutch for him out of a stick. They spent the better part of the day measuring, hacking, measuring, stick finding, and hacking. Until finally they finished a beautiful masterpiece that was adorned with blue and purple duct tape.

First Steps

Being myself, I wandered into the medical clinic and I visited with the patients who were waiting to see the doctor. As soon as I walked in they caught my eye. This little brown baby boy with huge eyes and a curly mess of hair grinning at me from ear to ear in his grandmother's arms. Immediately the grandmother handed him over to me, while I held him and asked questions to the grandmother. I found out he was three months old, and his mother died unexpectedly a month earlier. The grandmother was raising him. I laid him down on a table and checked him out briefly. He was strong, clear eyes, attentive. I told the grandmother that he was strong. She was thrilled.

Then I heard crying from the lab room. A girl was getting blood drawn, screaming. It's amazing how quickly a blanc can quiet a child. I took her hand and told her that it was okay, and to look at me and not at her arm. She stared into my eyes, squeezed my hand, and eventually calmed down. When she was finished I took her out into the yard, gave her a balloon, and blew her some bubbles. Bubbles fix all problems.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind. Blonde brought me a cake, some children from the school sang me "Happy Birthday" in Creole, and Rhona and Dr. Ricardo fished two sea urchin spines out of my foot.




That evening I spent time with KiKi and Esther. I showed them pictures of snow. You would have thought that my phone was magical by the way it kept KiKi still. They were amazed at all the white that they had maybe heard about from a book or in a movie.

Tuesday we were back at the school. Painting and scrubbing and holding babies and playing clapping games and taking pictures and showing them off right away.

In the classrooms Gae had the students decorate quilt squares to make a school quilt. They had so much fun decorating and being creative. I helped out with the First and Second grade while they worked which was a blast because KiKi and Esther were both there that day.

After we got back we went to the beach again. I did not swim this time, I was a bit traumatized from the first beach experience. But it was awesome lounging on the beach.

"Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Matthew 19:14