Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Children of Haiti


Wednesday

When I had an opportunity to serve the people of Haiti, I had heard many stories about the children of Haiti.  I have been in awe that people can survive on so little in the aspect of food, water, medical care and the basics of life.  So if the adults struggle, how do the children survive?
 
Today was a chance to spend the day working with children.
We spent the morning with babies at the Home for Sick and Dying Babies which is run by a group of Nuns.  They accept and care for the sickest babies that would be left to die without their help. 
We all had a lot of apprehension, and this is the one place that made me nervous.  I love spending time with kids and babies, but how sick are the kids and how could I help.  I have worked with many children, but never with the severely ill - even the name is concerning.

When we arrived at the Children's Home there was a lot of the infants parents spending their allotted 1 hour per day visiting with their ill baby.  We were their to hold and comfort the many that didn't have a parent visiting.  When you walk into the rooms we were split between Room 1 - which is the sickest babies which were not alowed to leave the crib room and Room 2 - which has the healthier babies and you could walk around their playground. I ended up in Room 2 and picked up a little boy name Jean[French for John] - I was meant to hold him.
Jean and I did several walk-abouts and looked at the trees, fences, flowers and anything to explore and talk about.  I felt pretty comfortable with Jean and before long he was making noises and looking at me and starting to smile - I haven't lost my touch from my babies :)
Jean was about 20 lbs and around 22" long.  Janell (My daughter) came over and asked - Dad do you know how old he is, but I didn't know - she checked for me - Jean was 4 yrs old but looked like a 12 - 18 month old.  he couldn't sit up, or crawl, let alone walk.
Next I went over to Room 1 and held many babies who were much smaller and more frail - I had a chance to hold God's precious gifts - but I thought what is their future in a resource challenged country?

After lunch we stopped by an amazing place called the Apparent Project - they take local artisans and make jewelry and crafts from recycled products that are donated such as cans, bottles, and cereal boxes.  Besides making really beautiful crafts they have employed over 200 people.  One craft was heart jewelry necklaces that was being made for a sorority in the USA.  They said that their workers are paid $15/ day which is 3 times the average Haitian salary.  They found a way to support many of the locals by being creative.

We finished up our afternoon by stopping by Gertrude's, which is another special children's home.  They take in children with a variety of disabilities.  The majority of the kids are 8 - 15 years old and they have learned to live as a family. 
The high point was when we first walked in the center where the kids were and a boy ran and jumped into my son Zack's arms - he had remembered Zack from last year when they played together. It was fun playing with the children and to see another person who stepped up in God's plan to fill a great need.

My final thought is to ask -
What have I learned from today's experiences? 
What can other's do to help these precious children of Haiti?

God Bless

Jon Lorton


Dusty, Christian, and Me with our new friends



Zack with his friend with Gabby and Aubrey to the sides

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