A Home For Orphans
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – This tiny girl is Betty; she is about two years old. To my untrained eye, Betty seems alert and aware, but Loune, from Partners in Health, says she is “a bit slow.” Loune wheeled Betty over to meet me while I sat in a white plastic chair under a mango tree watching Eric and his team build a wooden cover over the dry swimming pool. Eventually we will use the pool for therapy and fun for the kids, but as we sort out more pressing issues, the pool presented a hazard and had to be covered.
Nobody knows where Betty came from or who her parents are. She turned up at the General Hospital about a year ago. Before the quake, there were 40 special needs children, many of them orphans, languishing in one large room at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince. They were, in effect, abandoned children who had been left in the charge of the hospital. Conditions were abysmal, but the children were being fed and cared for.
After the quake, Betty was evacuated, along with her 39 disabled buddies, to St. Damien Hospital. They stayed there until yesterday, when Loune and Nancy moved them to Zanmi Beni.
Zanmi Beni is the name for our newest project—a joint effort between Operation Blessing and Partners in Health (in Haiti, called Zanmi Lasante). It is a home and school for special needs orphans and abandoned children who have a range of physical and mental disabilities. Zanmi Beni, words in Haitian Creole, reflects DNA from both partners, and means “Blessed Friend” or “Blessed Partner.” I am thrilled to be working together with Dr. Farmer’s organization. It is, hands down, the finest and most effective NGO in Haiti.
Loune asked me to watch Betty for a few minutes and left her in her stroller facing the plastic chair I was seated in. I wanted to make friends with her, but since I don’t speak Creole, I limited my communication to tongue clicks, soft goofy noises, and tickling the bottom of her tiny foot with the tip of my little finger. She seemed okay with all that until I started taking photos. She didn’t cry, but there were worry lines in her forehead and I sensed that she was about to protest, so I put the camera away. She resumed her curious stare, not quite smiling, but almost. Her beautiful eyes melted whatever hard shell I had left.
This morning, as I reflect on my new friend Betty and how precious and vulnerable she is, I am filled with an epiphany of responsibility. Since her father is nowhere to be found, I feel deeply compelled to stand in for him, and do all that I possibly can to protect her and her pals from all that is wrong with the world.
HOW YOU CAN HELP: Be a part of Operation Blessing's efforts to bring food, clean water, and medical care to Haiti's earthquake survivors. Your online contribution can help us continue to reach these families in need.
