Another rewarding day here at the Haiti Home of Hope. We woke up to Haitian eggs and Haitian coffee. Words can't describe how awesome that was! All the kids go to school during the day so Jennifer took us out on some home visits. We went to the home of a family that has 2 blind boys and one visually impaired daughter. They are taking the daughter next week for surgery to remove a cataract. They boys eyes are not operable. They keep them inside most of the time because they cant see so the younges boy looked about 2 or 3 but was about 7 and he has rickets and cant walk due to vitamin D deficiency. He was dirty and both of the boys looked pitiful. Then we went to a childs house that as pallegra which is a deficiency in niacin. He had a rash all over, and he couldnt open his eyes and he was very lethargic. Jennifer said she would give him some supplements on Wed. Then we went to the home of a baby that the Campbells have been trying to get for a while. He has been coming to the 'milk clinic' that Jennifer provides but Jennifer is sure that the family has been feeding the food to the other baby in the family. The baby's mother is crazy so the aunt had to take him in. Now she has a baby of her own and doesn't really want to care for this baby. Jennifer offered to take the baby with her and the whole family was in smiles and said 'bye bye' while laughing. No one kissed him bye or even touched him again. He was naked and so so tiny. He was weighed 10 days ago at the feeding clinic and he weighed 16 lbs, today he weighed 14.5 lbs. Do the math. The other baby they had at the house was 3 months old and clearly weighed more than this one. He is about 15 months old and wears 3-6 months clothes. Another missionary family that lives here from the states came and took him home with them and they will keep him for as long as necessary. He will hopefully be adopted by a neurologist from the states.
We did so many crafts with kids today. All the kids love doing any activities. It is quite the mob scene!! I am learning a lot of Creole. It is an easier language to learn. For lunch we had the best food. Rice, beans with a sauce to put on top, then fried bananas and some kind of fried chicken legs. Benji was so excited and squealing the whole time we ate because of the chicken. She saved it for last because it was her favorite. Jennifer said she had probably never had chicken, and if she had, she had certainly never had a whole piece to herself. I was so satisfied watching her eat that chicken!!! Then we had some for leftovers at supper and she was elated! She also blew out a candle for the first time tonight. She makes the cutest noises. I took a picture today of her standing next to a normal size child that is close to 3 yrs old and she was the same height as Benji. Benji is 6 or 7 yrs old. Fortunately for her, the malnourishment didn't cause her any developemental problems.
All these kids have such HORRIFIC stories. Each one is terrible and unfathomable. The Campbells are frequently forced to turn kids away. They are at the max amount of kids they can have. How hard would that be to have to turn kids away? They take the ones that there is no other option. Jennifer tries, through her clinics, to help the kids stay with their families and to teach them how to care for these kids. She only takes the ones that have dead mothers (with death certificate), the mother has AIDS and is going to die (and they have a form from the hospital that shows this), or there is a serious failure to thrive issue that isn't being corrected through the clinic. Otherwise they would have to take everybody in, because everybody is so poor.
I have learned a lot of cultural things that just blow me away. These are not a very compassionate people. I guess death and poverty are so rampant that they don't bother themselves with attachment. They will just cut off the weakest link. I also forgot what it feels like to truly be a minority. I am getting used to the staring. I know remember that feeling from my first trip out of the country to Brasil.
Wednesday will be milk clinic and Thursday (if it doesn't rain) we are going way out into the country for more home visits. That should be very interesting. Then Friday we head home. We will be laid over in Port au Prince for about 3 hours and Jennifer is going to try to find us a taxi and drive around the city. She is fluent in Creole so I hope we can do that.
Love, Leah
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