Haiti-Aid

I know I am not alone when I say I am overwhelmed by the images coming out of Haiti. My heart aches for the faces pressed against fences or standing in mobs with hands outstretched, just waiting for something to eat, anything to drink. The far off looks on the faces of children covered in concrete dust, surrounded by rubble, are something we should never have to see in this world of massive wealth. These are certainly unfathomable conditions presented so poignantly; but for me, the most challenging photos are those of the dead, lying in the street covered, at best, by a sheet or shredded piece of tarp. 

Image after image, body after body, I find myself asking a question that was all too familiar during my time in Haiti – Can these people not even have dignity in dying? It sucks that they don’t have enough food to feed their family or money to send their kids to school. But, seriously, can’t they at least die in peace, surrounded by loved ones? Though this was sometimes the case in my experiences, it certainly wasn’t always. Case in point is a woman I met at a hospital in Mirogoane – a town about an hour from my village.

 

You can read about my complete experience with this woman in my blog, but long story short, I met her while visiting a patient from our clinic. She was laying on the filthy tile floor, surrounded by a puddle of her own urine, her body exposed for all too see. It turns out she was dying from AIDs and she had been dumped at the hospital, left alone to die with no one to care for her in her final days. I begged the family members of other patients to help her – buy her drinks (with money I provided), change her sheets, anything… No one wanted to help; she was not their responsibility. 

It was in my moment of exasperation, when no one would help, that I reached one of my many emotional brinks in Haiti. I had had enough. I was angry at this woman’s family for abandoning her. I was furious at the individuals in the Haiti who refused to help. I was enraged at a government that had so little regard for its people.

Seeing those images of dead strewn throughout the streets and thinking of the woman I met so many months ago bring me back to the same question – Will the people of Haiti ever realize the dignity we all deserve out of nothing we have done but simply because we were created?  Did their chances just decrease to irrecoverable levels?

Luckily, there are organizations in Haiti whose sole purpose is to bring healthcare to every Haitian, including the woman you see above.  One such place is the clinic where I worked, funded and managed by the the Visitation Hospital Foundation.  Supporting their efforts is a great opportunity for you to donate to Haiti and know that your dollars will make a difference.