One Year Later

January 12th, 2011 marks the one year anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that destroyed Haiti's capital.  The following is a short reflection that I wrote for the CMMB website in regard to the anniversary of the earthquake:

As I drove through Port-au-Prince this week on the way to the HIV/AIDS clinic with some of my children from the orphanage, I was once again reminded of the devastating situation that continues to exist here in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake of January 12^th, 2010.  The number of Haitian people that continue to live in tent cities now, nearly one year after the earthquake, is disturbing.  The tents I saw as we made our way through the city, were mostly made from bed sheets, discarded scraps of fabric, and torn plastic tarps, all held together by tree limbs or rusted pieces of metal.   I can’t help but think:  what do they do every time it rains?  They have almost no protection and no privacy.  Now, with cholera continuing to sweep through the country, those living in the tent cities are some of the most vulnerable to this horrible illness.

Thankfully here at the orphanage in the mountains of Kenscoff, we are isolated from most of the difficulties that Haitian citizens are facing in the more populated areas of the city.  Following the earthquake last year, we accepted about 50 new children into our home here at St. Helene.  Their stories are heartbreaking.  Almost all of them lost their homes.   Many of these children had lost one or both parents in the earthquake.  Some of them were sent to live with extended family:  aunts, uncles, older siblings, elderly grandparents.  Since these family members had lost their homes as well, they were forced to move to tent cities where they endured some of the most wretched conditions without proper sanitation, food, or clean water.   After realizing that they could not provide for these children, many of those caregivers brought the children to Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs (NPFS) to seek help.  Now, these children call St. Helene home.  They live here with their brothers and sisters and are well loved and cared for.  They attend school here at the orphanage as well.  The one thing that is apparent among these children is that they are happy.  They are always smiling and laughing and quick to greet me with a hug and a kiss.  Here in Haiti, it is very easy to overlook the positive and just see the bad and the ugly.  I am so thankful to be able to care for these children working as a CMMB volunteer as part of our St. Helene and NPFS family.  I hope and pray that 2011 will be a brighter year for Haiti and will help to bring about the positive changes that the people so desperately need.