The family that runs the clinic also runs a rescue center for starving, malnourished and severely ill children. When I wasn't working at the clinic, I was playing with those children. At the time that I was there, they didn't have any children who were critically ill, but there were many, like this little boy, who still have a ways to go.
Leoni is one the healthier kids. She is strong and active now, so she is always running around the courtyard. She ran into the parked pick-up truck on Tuesday and came into the clinic crying and bleeding from her two front teeth. For the rest of the week, she told everyone very proudly that she had run into the truck!
Luc is 18 years old. He had a severe bone infection that required surgery to remove the infected bone and to place a muscle flap over the infected area. The surgery was done in Port-au-Prince while I was here in December and since then, he had been wearing a full leg bandage and splint. Every week, Zach took him into PAP to have his bandages done and every week, Luc would go terrified that the leg would be reinfected. On Thursday, Zach took him in again. That afternoon, they pulled into the driveway and I ran to meet them. The back door of the pick-up opened and a leg poked out. A leg that only had a small bandage on one part of it. Then Luc stuck his head out and yelled, "Praise God!" His leg was almost completely healed, with only a small section that still needs work. He was so happy!
At the end of each clinic day, the janitors Franck and Yves would carry the bags of trash out to the fire pit and burn them. I helped Franck carry them out on Thursday and watched the local kids dig through the trash for anything useful that we might have discarded.
This is the view from the fire pit: the river, the palm trees, the mango tree, and the pigs. I love how green and clean everything in Cazale is compared to Port-au-Prince.
Rosna is 13 years old, but she looks like an 8 year old. She has been malnourished near death 3 times in her life. The staff at the Rescue Center have nursed her back to health and she is currently one of the healthier and more active kids.
Sonyel has clubbed feet that will soon be corrected by surgery. He gets around really well on his clubbed feet and he is a sweet little boy.
On the right is Loudmie. She was one of the Rescue Center children but is now in full health. She is living with Licia's family while she awaits the completion of her adoption. She's only 7 years old, but she works around the house like an adult, taking care of infant Magdala (Story), helping with the cooking, and watching Licia's younger kids. Every night, I would go to bed and about 45 minutes later, Loudmie would come in and tuck me in completely. It was so precious that I didn't tell her that I actually prefer to sleep with my feet out of the sheet.
I forget this little guy's name. He has hydrocephalus, hence the huge head.
Daphna latched onto me and wanted me to hold her all the time. I got a lot of rice and bean and pee stains in my scrubs thanks to her.
Cobra (Bladimi) came to the Rescue Center so malnourished that everyone thought he would die. He looks marvelous now and he has the most handsome smile.
The boys at the clinic play a game where they flatten a metal soda bottle top, punch 2 holes in the middle of it, and then put a fiber from a discarded rice sack through the hole. If you pull the string hard enough and fast enough, the bottle cap begins to spin. Then you attack someone else's contraption and try to cut their string with your bottle cap. Carmelo and Luc were both really good at it.
I had been watching them, thinking that this would be a fun game to teach the HFC kids. But then Ronell sliced his finger open on one of the bottle caps and had to get stitches. Guess we won't be introducing this game to Bolosse.
Leoni is one the healthier kids. She is strong and active now, so she is always running around the courtyard. She ran into the parked pick-up truck on Tuesday and came into the clinic crying and bleeding from her two front teeth. For the rest of the week, she told everyone very proudly that she had run into the truck!
Luc is 18 years old. He had a severe bone infection that required surgery to remove the infected bone and to place a muscle flap over the infected area. The surgery was done in Port-au-Prince while I was here in December and since then, he had been wearing a full leg bandage and splint. Every week, Zach took him into PAP to have his bandages done and every week, Luc would go terrified that the leg would be reinfected. On Thursday, Zach took him in again. That afternoon, they pulled into the driveway and I ran to meet them. The back door of the pick-up opened and a leg poked out. A leg that only had a small bandage on one part of it. Then Luc stuck his head out and yelled, "Praise God!" His leg was almost completely healed, with only a small section that still needs work. He was so happy!
At the end of each clinic day, the janitors Franck and Yves would carry the bags of trash out to the fire pit and burn them. I helped Franck carry them out on Thursday and watched the local kids dig through the trash for anything useful that we might have discarded.
This is the view from the fire pit: the river, the palm trees, the mango tree, and the pigs. I love how green and clean everything in Cazale is compared to Port-au-Prince. 
Rosna is 13 years old, but she looks like an 8 year old. She has been malnourished near death 3 times in her life. The staff at the Rescue Center have nursed her back to health and she is currently one of the healthier and more active kids.
Sonyel has clubbed feet that will soon be corrected by surgery. He gets around really well on his clubbed feet and he is a sweet little boy.
On the right is Loudmie. She was one of the Rescue Center children but is now in full health. She is living with Licia's family while she awaits the completion of her adoption. She's only 7 years old, but she works around the house like an adult, taking care of infant Magdala (Story), helping with the cooking, and watching Licia's younger kids. Every night, I would go to bed and about 45 minutes later, Loudmie would come in and tuck me in completely. It was so precious that I didn't tell her that I actually prefer to sleep with my feet out of the sheet.
I forget this little guy's name. He has hydrocephalus, hence the huge head.
Daphna latched onto me and wanted me to hold her all the time. I got a lot of rice and bean and pee stains in my scrubs thanks to her.
Cobra (Bladimi) came to the Rescue Center so malnourished that everyone thought he would die. He looks marvelous now and he has the most handsome smile. 
The boys at the clinic play a game where they flatten a metal soda bottle top, punch 2 holes in the middle of it, and then put a fiber from a discarded rice sack through the hole. If you pull the string hard enough and fast enough, the bottle cap begins to spin. Then you attack someone else's contraption and try to cut their string with your bottle cap. Carmelo and Luc were both really good at it.
I had been watching them, thinking that this would be a fun game to teach the HFC kids. But then Ronell sliced his finger open on one of the bottle caps and had to get stitches. Guess we won't be introducing this game to Bolosse.
1 comment:
THAT GAME SOUNDS MAD FUN
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