The Gandhi of Jubilee

Yonelson has an infection in his ankle bone. Bone infections do not heal easily, so upon advice of an infectious disease doctor in the US, we have started Yonelson on doxycycline and a daily shot of rocephin, a powerful antibiotic. Nobody loves getting shots, but poor Yonelson knows that for the next 6 weeks, he will have a needle stuck in his bottom every single day. Needless to say, he's not happy.

Yonelson has a terrific ability to sulk. So we tried bribing him with cookies. I've never seen a Haitian child refuse cookies but Yonelson sat for almost 15 minutes, ignoring the cookie in front of him. He's skinny as can be and we know that he rarely eats at home, surviving entirely on the breakfast piece of bread and small portion of rice and beans that he receives at school. But stubbornness beat hunger and he would not touch that cookie.


Fortunately, we discovered the secret that afternoon: Coke. A cold Coke won the heart of Yonelson and got him laughing and goofing around with us. So now we have a happy pre-teen, an infection hopefully on its way to healing, and a perfect leader for the next time we decide to hunger strike.