LIFE IN HAITI PART 1

Throughout the years I have found that it is good to return to the basic and review what we really know about life in Haiti, the land where we are called to care for the children. Though painful, this reverie reminds us clearly why we are needed to help the impoverished people of Haiti. Our Lord said “When you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”. Let us never lose sight that we are not only serving the children of Haiti but in doing so, we are serving our Lord, Jesus Christ!

If you have had a drink of water from your kitchen, brushed your teeth, washed your hands with soap or taken a bath, eaten a meal or had a dose of medication this morning, you have done more than 90% of the people in Haiti. Haiti is a land of unbelievable poverty and dire starvation. For the average Haitian family there is no access to clean water, only the well water they purchase from their Government which if we were to drink it would probably be fatal to you and me. For these 90% there is no running water or sanitary facilities (bath rooms) inside their homes. They have no kitchens as we know it. They cook their food over a charcoal fire on the ground somewhere outside of the room where they sleep. In the bedroom which may sleep up to five or six children and adults, some may have a mattress but many sleep on the dirt or concrete floor with an old blanket or just a sheet to cover up. They do not consider this a hardship as it is the only life they have ever known.

As to food and medication, the lucky family in Haiti is able to eat one meal a day usually of rice and beans. Occasionally they will prepare some soup or a bowl of spaghetti with a little ketchup for the sauce, or perhaps some garlic and oil and Haitian seasonings. But for many of the children we know in Haiti without the feeding program of A Voice in the Wilderness they would have nothing to eat and would soon pass away. People in Haiti would love to have jobs to be able to feed their families, but there are very few jobs and very many people. In Haiti the current population is estimated to be around 8.4 million people with 50% of these being under the age of fourteen. I have been told over and over again, “We do not have to eat everyday”. But you and I know in order to live we do have to eat. Medication is simply not available for these people. You can purchase it in a room facing the street behind a wire grill, but they have no money. A bottle of Tylenol or a box of band aids is simply beyond reach for them. When we do medical clinics they beg for Tylenol, Tums, soap and vitamins. You see I have personally given bar soap to adults who have never owned a bar of soap in their entire lives. I have had teen age boys come to me and beg for soap. When I first went to Haiti the majority of the adults and children we served had little hair and that hair had a rust red cast to it. The rust red hair is a sign of malnutrition. Today we do not see as much of the red hair but we do see some and when we do medical clinics it is not uncommon for parents to bring children obviously suffering from malnutrition for us to help. Vitamins are always needed and do make a difference in these children and adults lives. We are fortunate to be able to purchase bulk medication from The Canadian Caribbean Chemical Company located in Port au Prince. At the 4’cs we can purchase cough medicine, diarrhea medicine, blood pressure medication, scabies medicine and liquid vitamins for those who obviously are in serious need. We can also purchase medicine for those who present with yeast infections and we are blessed to be able to purchase the anti parasitic medication for everyone who comes to us for help. Each trip we give away 1,500 to 2,000 of these one time dose pills, which will kill for three to six months the infestation of intestinal parasites that everyone has who lives in Haiti or spends much time there. Things you and I never have to think about are the pestilence these people live with day to day. Rats and bats which are carriers of disease, mosquitoes carrying malaria and dengue fever which effect many, tuberculosis which is common and scabies which eats through the skin down into the inner parts of the bodies of children and adults.

The number that is published is that the average (?) Haitian family has the equivalent of $350.00 American dollars a year to live on. And nothing in Haiti is cheap. Gasoline has always cost more than in the States, grocery cost has climbed month after month for the past twelve years. And one has to wonder how do these people survive! The average death age for a Haitian adult is currently 52 years old. This is a little longer than previous numbers of 48 years for Males and 50 years for Females. And yet so often I am guilty of complaining about my everyday life, shame on me! I am convicted that because we are so blessed, God requires more of us. Please join with me in praying for the salvation of Haiti. Jesus Christ is the only answer to the problems of that dirty little land which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (some say the world). We know for sure it is the dirtiest place on the face of the earth. They cannot leave, they cannot work, without help they cannot even have a clean drink of water or one meal a day.

But today 350 are eating at three o’clock this afternoon. They will eat Monday through Friday, they are the few we can give hope to each day. They are my children far away in that dark sad land. Helping them is my call!

Called to HIS Service,