My Neighbors Children

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

What I Did For Thanksgiving or Can One Person Really Make a Difference?

I spent Thanksgiving week in Haiti, with a group of orphans and Haitian employees, and, again, will be changed forever. 

First of all, this was my eighth trip in just over a year to Haiti.  These trips have been filled with working with orphans, visiting the "temporary tent cities" that continue to house nearly 900,000 people 22 months after the earthquake and are barely still standing, visiting clinics and schools, distributing products, and falling in love with so many children.........children that need everything, love, food, medicine, education, underwear, shoes, supplies, and hope.

Each time I return to Haiti, I hope to see improved conditions, homes being rebuilt, a stronger economy, less sickness, less fear in the peoples eyes, and more confidence in the future.  For now, less than two years after the earthquake, there  is still too much focus on survival and not enough on other things.  It seems to be all about "how and what can we eat today", "do we have enough rice", day after day after day.

I started the trip with the following plans, share Thanksgiving with a group of children that I love and provide them some diversity from their daily lives, let them know they are special and that there are a lot of people that care for them.  Also, visit another orphanage to "adopt" on behalf of MNC in 2012, and develop a plan to support them.  Spend a solid half day "shopping" with some of the Haitian staff to gather enough special foods to have a feast and show the children how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving.  Deliver a supply of donated items to the children in need, shoes/underwear/medicine, etc.  And lastly, spend as much time as possible with my two special children, Jackie and Noah.  This was a reasonably easy plan............  Also, I had specific marching orders from a friend, who informed me that there are six new children at New Life, brought down from the mountains suffering from starvation and malnutrition.  One child, Alex, a three year old boy, was not recovering very quickly, might need a blood transfusion, so needed lots and lots of love and holding and toys and nutritional supplements.  The order was to "spend lots of time holding and rocking Alex".

I arrived in Haiti, and went straight to the orphanage where I would stay.  I was greeted with over 100 children, all ages, all happy to see me, and there was so much "catching up" to do, kisses to exchange, hugs that never stopped, noses to blow, swings to push,  and kids to pick up and hold.  Within a couple of short hours, my heart was full, my mind racing trying to take it all in, and my shoulders and back already starting to ache a little bit from lifting and holding so many children.  I distributed some of the goods that I brought down immediately, the important stuff first,  which to the kids included cookies and cakes and cereal bars, and other snacks packed into a suitcase.  Like children everywhere, they are bottomless pits!  While they are well cared for at the orphanage, I know that many of them remember hunger too well.

In addition to Alex, there is a ten month old boy who appears to be a newborn baby, a little girl with tiny pigtails, a little boy that is the sweetest child I have ever met named "Jenny" who broke my heart when he asked "you my mommy?"  (I said yes), the tiny baby's older brother who is mature beyond his years, and another small/shy little boy.  All of the children are at different stages of adjusting to their new home.  It is so different from the remote mountainous region where they came from, far away from any family, and far away from the conditions of daily hunger.

I went to bed my first night, tired and happy and thinking there was no where else that I would rather be.

The following morning brought the blackest of clouds...............an intense sadness that I have not been able to shake.  You see, Alex died that morning.  A three year old boy, died of starvation and malnutrition which was so severe that he could not recover.  This happened a short one and half hour flight from Florida.  There is so much that could be told about his hard life.  He was not without love, but without food, clean water, electricity, new toys, new clothes........the many things that we believe all children deserve.  There are other victims here, a mother that died of cholera this year, three other siblings still trying to stay alive, a father that loves his family but doesn't have the means to keep them alive.

This should not happen.  Alex did not die of a disease, or an accident......he died due to lack of food.   Yes, his suffering ceased, but it was a suffering that should have never happened.  I am sad and angry and emotional and furious...............I am more determined than ever to be an advocate for these children.  These children exist, and they are human beings, and they deserve to live and to dream of the future.  They deserve a full tummy, and clean water, and to have a world that cares about how they feel today!  They deserve to be picked up when they fall and are crying, they deserve to have someone kiss them and say "I love you so much".  AND, the moms and dads deserve to be able to provide for their families and to keep their children healthy.

So, I am often asked about my efforts in Haiti "do you really think that you or one person can make a difference?" 

I will tell you tonight..............yes, one person can make a difference, because Alex has made a difference............he has made me recommit and become more determined than ever to stand up for these kids, to kiss and hug as many of them as I can, to fill as many of their bellies as often as I can,  and to help them reach their potential.  I will give to them, I will ask others to give to them, I will work harder for them, and I will tell their story...............until someday, I hope they will be able to tell their own story! 

I had a "fantasy" before this trip to Haiti to come back and tell a happy story of Alex's recovery and how well he is doing.  Now I have to tell the sad and painful story of a child that did not make it.  However, it is a story that needs to be told...............and yes, one person can make a difference .
Even if we make a difference for one day, for one person, it is worth it.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Jackie Jupiter

In July 2010, I was at New Life Orphanage & Rescue Center in Haiti, and traveled with a team of doctors and other volunteers, to the mountainous area of Pestel. At night, some locals would gather around us at base camp, including a 10-year old boy named Jackie Jupiter. He was absolutely filthy...both his clothes and his body. He was covered with dirt, bruises & what appeared to be untreated burns. We noticed that he seized abut every 45-minutes, and that his right arm and leg were lame. I went over and tickled him and planted a big smooch on his cheek, which in turn, produced the biggest squeal of delight I have ever heard.  On the 2nd or 3rd day, we proposed to Chris Coburn of New Life that we take Jackie back to the orphanage, and Chris talked to his aunt, who consented.

So, we cleaned Jackie up, dressed his wounds, and traveled by cattle car for a few hours, with Jackie sitting on my lap. The boat trip was next, and then a tap-tap and a wheelbarrow. It was an arduous 2 days, but Jackie smiled the whole way, exposing his broken and discolored teeth.

When he got to the orphanage, Jackie saw, and used, his first toilet! It was hilarious. He kept stroking the porcelain and squealed when we flushed!  He was given clean clothes, shoes (which to this day he refuses to wear), a baseball cap, and a matchbox car he adored.

Since last year, he has put on weight and is on anti-seizure meds. He has become quite the favorite of the staff and visiting volunteers, and he entertains them with his stories of taking a helicopter to New York, being Sheriff of the New Life campus, and bringing food to his hometown in the mountains. Jackie’s laughter and pure joy lit up the compound, but he started complaining about tooth pain, and this is a child who never complains, never whines…why cry when nobody hears?

There are fewer dentists in Haiti per capita than anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, and dental care is provided primarily by volunteers, a handful of Haitians lucky enough to have attended dental school, and numerous Americans doing their best to reach, and treat, the nearly 10,000,000 Haitians in need. Haitians visit the dentist’s clinic like they visit the Emergency Room of a hospital. It may take a day or more to get there, and then they wait on line for hours, usually in pain, hoping they will even be seen that day.  Cavities are rarely filled, because by the time they get to the dentist, extraction is the only answer. There is no X-ray equipment or hovering assistant, just a spare room, a tray of equipment, a sink, a chair, and a plastic pail for teeth.

Even at a Haitian clinic, the cost of a days visit can equal a sizeable portion of the patient’s yearly rent! It is understandable that food comes first.

MY NEIGHBOR’S CHILDREN arranged for Dr. Herman Luma, Jr., a kind and dedicated Haitian professional in Port-au-Prince, to see Jackie, and I can’t even imagine what he thought of the dentist’s office and equipment! Tammi Runzler and William Lowry from My Neighbor’s Children took Jackie for his first visit, and it turned out that Jackie had 14 cavities and a badly infected tooth. For his very first appointment, Dr. Luma extracted the tooth, and Jackie was a trooper...not a whine, not a whimper, not a single complaint.

All the way back to the orphanage, Jackie thanked Tammi over-and-over again for his visit to the dentist…can you imagine an American child being grateful for his/her turn in the chair?  Jackie understood that, perhaps for the first time in his young life, someone listened to him, cared enough to show up for him, and to take action.

It was a very long walk that day from the orphanage gate to Jackie’s dorm room, because he stopped every child he passed to show off his teeth. Visually, he didn’t look any different, but he was so proud and insisted every child peer into his gaping mouth. Jackie had been taken to the dentist in the “machine”, and it was an event to celebrate.

For Jackie’s second appointment, Dr. Luma filled 3 cavities, and whitened Jackie’s front teeth, a rare indulgence in Haiti.  It was assumed that the curvature and discoloration in his front teeth came from a combination of malnutrition and years of sucking on sugar cane that could not be repaired, but only one whitening gave Jackie a new smile, and hope for a better life.

But Jackie’s joy was short-lived. Just a few days later, he started complaining about tooth and ear pain, so it was back to Dr. Luma for us. Yet another infected tooth was removed, and Jackie was once again a star patient, while I have to say, several of the local adults put up quite a fight!

We Need Your Help to Establish a Dental Clinic. Your donations can help us fund...

THE JACKIE JUPITER CHILDREN’S DENTAL CLINIC! 

This and his spirit, his sense of wonder, hope and joy are his legacy. Every child deserves to have a chance at life, to live with dignity and without pain. Every child should be cared for and listened to…are you listening?

If you are interested in making The JJ DENTAL CLINIC a reality, please contact us at tammi@myneighborschildren.org or gidion@myneighbor’schildren.org or call Tammi Runzler at 407-234-7381.

You can also go to the MY NEIGHBOR’S CHILDREN website (www.myneighborschildren.org) to make your donation, and NOTE that it is specifically for The JJ Dental Clinic. Any amount is most welcome, and 100% of your tax deductible contribution will go directly to the clinic. MY NEIGHBOR’S CHILDREN will send you photos of some of the happy, hopeful smiles you made possible.

Submitted by Gidion Phillips

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