Here's a guy in a Tommy Maddox Steelers jersey on the streets of Port-au-Prince. I've been on the lookout for someone wearing Steelers gear and knew that I'd eventually spot something. People here wear anything appropriate and serviceable. (I've even seen a lacrosse jersey, Dan!) And always, always when they come to clinic, the children are dressed as if they are going to church, in their Sunday best.
The clinic was closed on Sunday (yesterday) so that the staff could have a well-deserved day of rest. We delivered supplies anyway, just to see what was happening in the neighborhood. I took Dr. Bindy with me on a whim; this was her first visit to Bolosse. While we were there, a gentleman asked us to look at a sick baby. The sight of this severely malnourished child is one that I will never forget.
We took the woman and four of her children to University Hospital, where Concern had just that very day opened a center for supplemental feeding. Here is Bindy, holding a 2-year-old girl who is not only malnourished, but has been blind from birth.
This is the last image for today, the one that burdens my heart more than anything else I have seen in Haiti. It is the 3-month-old boy who we brought from Bolosse to the Concern feeding center. He weighs about four pounds.
My heart is heavy, and I am tired, and it is almost time to come home. I have one more day here; I think we leave on Wednesday. But right now it is very cloudy and windy; it looks like a storm is brewing. And when it comes... and it will come... where will they all go, those who sleep in tents made of thin sheets, whose floor is the earth, or who sleep on the streets because they are afraid their houses will collapse upon them?
Please.
Pray for Haiti.
4 comments:
Oh, Cece! My heart aches for those poor people. They are blessed to have had you among them, if only for a little while. We await your homecoming ... I am anxious to find out what a water buffalo with faucets might be! Much love!
Good job Aunt Cece!! The photos are heartbreaking and I am grateful that you and others were able to set up a viable clinic. The poverty of pre-earthquake seems beyond fathom now. How does hurt pile upon hurt like this??
Safe journey home!! Love-Kathy
You are an inspiration to us all. Thank you for your courage and your service.
Cece, You and all of the other heroes in Haiti inspire me every day with your stories. I've mentioned your work at SEIU events over the last weeks, and, you should know, your union brothers and sisters are so very heartened by your courage and skill in the face of unthinkable pain and suffering. Thank you so much for showing us how beautiful humans can be.
Dan, SEIU
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