Haiti Mission Possible: Day 4

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 – Today was a hard work day; Sarah, Phyllis and I basically stayed in our work area glued to our laptops programming, space planning and planning the site. After meeting with the client for a brief planning update, I think it dawned on all of us just how much work needed to be done on this master plan before we leave. Despite the work, I did get to pull away for a few moments to observe the ministry’s work.
Currently, there are three pieces to the ministry’s work in Cazale; a medical clinic, short and long term medical rescue services for infants and children and community development activities. Our work space is right above the rescue center so we have to walk past the children every day. The rescue center is a place the Cazale and surrounding area residents can come and bring their children to receive medical care for various health issues that need to be medically addressed for longer periods of time. Most of their issues are related to malnutrition during the mother’s pregnancy or after they are delivered; some kids are there for just a few weeks and some are there for a year. Some parents are excited about picking up their children after they are well, while others abandon their children because they don’t know how to or don’t want to deal with more severe ailments.


Today, as I was walking downstairs, I witnessed a father picking up his daughter from the rescue center. He was grinning from ear to ear with pride because he could now say his daughter was healthy. She was about 4 years old and suffered from a form of malnutrition. Her body was retaining a lot of water, which is a sign that she lacked protein in her diet; the catch to her story is that she also has “Down’s Syndrome”. Here in Cazale (and most of Haiti) Down’s syndrome is not recognized as a disability; there is no wide recognition or information available about the disease. Licia (one of the Zachary’s and she runs the rescue center) told me they didn’t tell the father that his daughter had Down’s Syndrome because he would not recognize what to do to manage his daughter for the rest of life. They made this decision because unlike a lot of parents in the area, he truly wants to take care of his daughter and wants to push her to do well and succeed. If he knew she was disabled he might become discouraged and lose the joy he seems to hold on to so dearly.


I chatted with this father about his family learning that he had seven other children and proudly proclaims that all seven children are from the same mother (which is not always the case); he boosts about how he’s work extremely hard to make sure all his children go to school and get an education. He told me he wants to send his daughter to school, but he hasn’t done so because she won’t talk. He thinks his daughter is just a late bloomer, and one day she’ll start talking and he can then enroll her in school. Although my heart broke because he doesn’t understand the severity of his daughter’s disability, I was honored to be in the presence of a man who loved his children so much and wanted the best he could provide for them. He kept telling me how grateful he was for the rescue center and how there was no way he could have paid for the care they provided his daughter. He just continued to shower them with “Thank yous” and “God bless yous”. Once again, the work that Real Hope for Haiti does for this community is awe-inspiring and completely grace-filled because they have the ability to be a blessing to so many people.