Last day in Haiti

The baby that is severely malnourished did make it into the clinic this morning. Her sister brought her in and Marie and one of the students accompanied them to the hospital. The hospital put her on a re-feeding program. They will be doing blood work on Monday, and the clinic staff will be following up closely and providing transportation to the hospital. This little girl is so precious and her life is in jeopardy. She is unwanted by her father and I'm sure she is a burden to her sister, who is trying to go to school and is a young woman. I think the sister cares but is overwhelmed. As I was holding this precious child yesterday and trying to feed her it was difficult to not want to protect her and provide for her and take her away from here. But this is not the answer in Haiti. There are so many who suffer and those of us who come here to give can only do so much.

I feel emotional today and wonder about the bigger picture of Haiti. I have seen things I could not have imagined before. I wonder about the impact of my visit to Haiti and all the other volunteers who care so much about the work they are doing here. The problem is large and I am small. I don't know the answer.

There is a Haitian proverb that says "Deye mon gen mon", Behind mountains there are more mountains. The meaning of this is Haiti is much more complex than meets the eyes.

But another Haitian proverb says " Men anpil, chay pa lou", With many hands, the load is not heavy."

People will continue to come to Haiti to try to help. These many hands will make a difference. But the real changes need to come from within. That is a much bigger and longer story to be told.