Thanksgiving Miracle
I want to tell you a story.
We hear so many times about what goes wrong in Haiti. The atrocities of the developing world. Some of us live more closely to it than others.
We hear of children being sold to orphanages for $70 US.
We hear of babies, children, adults dying because of lack of medical care and lack of access.
We hear of hospitals shut down and on strike for 5 months at a time.
We hear of a mother killing her own new baby because her baby is starving and the mom is destitute, out of options, and has lost hope.
We hear of well meaning families from around the world adopting children who have a mom and a dad here in Haiti.
We hear of orphanage directors (local or expat) abusing children, even killing them, and working the system to benefit.
We hear of an economy that is struggling and yet many NGOs import all of their resources rather than supporting the local economy here.
We hear of mothers not breast feeding their children because of a lack of education.
We hear of women abused and beaten when they merely desire an education.
We hear this every day.
But let me tell you about my thanksgiving miracle. Let me tell you of a story that went so right that I can't even believe it. There are people doing it right. There is hope. Word is catching on. People do learn.
The week of Thanksgiving I received a Facebook message from an expat looking for medical care for a Haitian boy who had been pretty ill for two months. Oh no, I thought. Here we go again. It's been my experience that it's very hard to pick up the strewn out pieces of information of past attempts to receive medical care in Haiti and to try to get someone help here. It's difficult because the person in America is on one end and the Haitian who is sick is here on the other end and I'm trying to be the go between in this world of cultural disconnects. Usually the child I'm trying to help is in a bad situation or has already visited several hospitals and clinics and have not found help. Maybe the child is at a bad orphanage that won't let us help. It just gets... complicated.
When this person, we'll call him "James," reached out, I was very clear about what our clinic does and that it's open to anyone but I don't have time for special favors.
A day or so later, Alexandre walked in the door with his father. Sweet 9 year old Alexandre was thin, hurting, a little scared, but smart and well-loved by his father. Alexandre was very sick. He had a fever, labored breathing, and a palpable mass in the region of his bladder. He was also incontinent of urine. His father had been trying to get him medical care for 2 months and they had been turned away from hospitals and treated at clinics but with no resolution. He had performed lab work that doctors had demanded. And still, Alexandre, was in bad shape. Dr. Mainviel saw Alexandre and explained the case to me. Dr. Mainviel prescribed a conservative treatment and tests, including an ultrasound. Dr. Mainviel went above and beyond (as he often does) to get the dad's phone number and take special care of Alexandre.
I kept up with James on facebook and explained the situation to him and how serious it was. James explained to me that he supports the family and had sent Alexandre's father money to cover the medical expenses. On Thanksgiving day Alexandre and his father came to the clinic towards the end of the day after going to the hospital to get the lab results. The ultrasound showed that Alexandre essentially had stage III kidney failure. It's likely that this growing UTI he's had for 2 months traveled up to his kidneys and caused severe damage. The ultrasound also noted a cyst of unknown size in his bladder (hence the palpable mass Dr. Mainviel and I felt). This was a medical emergency and Alexandre needed to get to a pediatric hospital quickly. I offered to take Alexandre and his dad to St. Damien's hospital (children's hospital in Tabarre, Port-au-Prince). I don't typically make hospital runs. Hospital runs are what nightmares are made of. There's always horrible stories of trying to get a patient admitted somewhere, being turned down, going to 6 hospitals in port au prince, seeing the worst of the worst in ERs, etc. Anyways. I took him to the children's hospital and begged the resident studying to be a pediatrician to take good care of Alexandre. I also mentioned that this same hospital ER had turned him down before because Alexandre 'wasn't sick enough.' And now he has stage III hydronephrosis (Thank you very much). The hospital admitted him and I headed on to thanksgiving meal with my church community.
On the way to the hospital we had gone by Alexandre's house for his dad to pick up some money. His dad introduced me to Wadley, Alexandre's older brother. For Mr. Belizaire to introduce me to his other son shows me how proud of his children and family he is. Throughout all of the interactions and phone calls (with my broken Kreyol) we had, Mr. Belizaire kept saying, thank you - "Mesi anpil, mesi anpil, mesi."
Alexandre is still in the hospital. He is hopefully getting quality care at one of the best children's hospitals in Port-au-Prince. James and I keep in touch and Dr. Mainviel keeps in touch with Mr. Belizaire.
Here's where the story unfolds. James explained to me a bit of the background of how he came to know this family and why he supports them (none of this would've been possible without Mr. Belizaire having some quick funds for his son to receive medical care and continued support to pay for procedures, tests, exams, etc). James explained that he and his wife had wanted to adopt a child and were in the process of adopting Wadley, Alexandre's brother, who was in an orphanage because his parents couldn't provide for him. Somehow James and his wife figured out that Wadley has two capable parents, a loving family. They decided instead of adopting Wadley, they would support the family so that they can be together, so the kids can be educated, have access to an after-school program run through Compassion International, know the gospel and so on.
WHAT?! This is what dreams are made of ladies and gents. THIS is how to do it. Instead of following through with what was on their hearts, James and his wife decided to keep a family together. Now Alexandre is able to have access to medical care because a family in the states is supporting them. They have been able to finish building their home, the boys are both in school getting an education. It's a miracle. Truly. James and his wife are involved in this families life, they care and correspond. James messaged me yesterday to ask how to say 'get well soon' in Kreyol.
It was been a privilege to be a part of this story, to be a piece in this puzzle, to watch the miracle of what it looks like when we decide to put family first. I'm so tired of awful orphanages and starving children. I'm so tired of misinformed churches sending money down to a corrupt pastor who uses the funds for his own selfish gains. It's time for Haiti to learn, again, what the family unit looks like. It's time to learn that they don't have to give their kids away. It's time to put our heads and our hearts together to strengthen community and provide opportunity. I'm dreaming up some ideas as we speak as are many around this country whose goal it is to keep families together.
I hope you love this story as much as I do.
To learn more about children and families from some great orgaizations in Haiti, check out:
Little Footprints Big Steps
Haitian Families First
Papillon Enterprise
and many, many more
We hear so many times about what goes wrong in Haiti. The atrocities of the developing world. Some of us live more closely to it than others.
We hear of children being sold to orphanages for $70 US.
We hear of babies, children, adults dying because of lack of medical care and lack of access.
We hear of hospitals shut down and on strike for 5 months at a time.
We hear of a mother killing her own new baby because her baby is starving and the mom is destitute, out of options, and has lost hope.
We hear of well meaning families from around the world adopting children who have a mom and a dad here in Haiti.
We hear of orphanage directors (local or expat) abusing children, even killing them, and working the system to benefit.
We hear of an economy that is struggling and yet many NGOs import all of their resources rather than supporting the local economy here.
We hear of mothers not breast feeding their children because of a lack of education.
We hear of women abused and beaten when they merely desire an education.
We hear this every day.
But let me tell you about my thanksgiving miracle. Let me tell you of a story that went so right that I can't even believe it. There are people doing it right. There is hope. Word is catching on. People do learn.
The week of Thanksgiving I received a Facebook message from an expat looking for medical care for a Haitian boy who had been pretty ill for two months. Oh no, I thought. Here we go again. It's been my experience that it's very hard to pick up the strewn out pieces of information of past attempts to receive medical care in Haiti and to try to get someone help here. It's difficult because the person in America is on one end and the Haitian who is sick is here on the other end and I'm trying to be the go between in this world of cultural disconnects. Usually the child I'm trying to help is in a bad situation or has already visited several hospitals and clinics and have not found help. Maybe the child is at a bad orphanage that won't let us help. It just gets... complicated.
When this person, we'll call him "James," reached out, I was very clear about what our clinic does and that it's open to anyone but I don't have time for special favors.
A day or so later, Alexandre walked in the door with his father. Sweet 9 year old Alexandre was thin, hurting, a little scared, but smart and well-loved by his father. Alexandre was very sick. He had a fever, labored breathing, and a palpable mass in the region of his bladder. He was also incontinent of urine. His father had been trying to get him medical care for 2 months and they had been turned away from hospitals and treated at clinics but with no resolution. He had performed lab work that doctors had demanded. And still, Alexandre, was in bad shape. Dr. Mainviel saw Alexandre and explained the case to me. Dr. Mainviel prescribed a conservative treatment and tests, including an ultrasound. Dr. Mainviel went above and beyond (as he often does) to get the dad's phone number and take special care of Alexandre.
I kept up with James on facebook and explained the situation to him and how serious it was. James explained to me that he supports the family and had sent Alexandre's father money to cover the medical expenses. On Thanksgiving day Alexandre and his father came to the clinic towards the end of the day after going to the hospital to get the lab results. The ultrasound showed that Alexandre essentially had stage III kidney failure. It's likely that this growing UTI he's had for 2 months traveled up to his kidneys and caused severe damage. The ultrasound also noted a cyst of unknown size in his bladder (hence the palpable mass Dr. Mainviel and I felt). This was a medical emergency and Alexandre needed to get to a pediatric hospital quickly. I offered to take Alexandre and his dad to St. Damien's hospital (children's hospital in Tabarre, Port-au-Prince). I don't typically make hospital runs. Hospital runs are what nightmares are made of. There's always horrible stories of trying to get a patient admitted somewhere, being turned down, going to 6 hospitals in port au prince, seeing the worst of the worst in ERs, etc. Anyways. I took him to the children's hospital and begged the resident studying to be a pediatrician to take good care of Alexandre. I also mentioned that this same hospital ER had turned him down before because Alexandre 'wasn't sick enough.' And now he has stage III hydronephrosis (Thank you very much). The hospital admitted him and I headed on to thanksgiving meal with my church community.
On the way to the hospital we had gone by Alexandre's house for his dad to pick up some money. His dad introduced me to Wadley, Alexandre's older brother. For Mr. Belizaire to introduce me to his other son shows me how proud of his children and family he is. Throughout all of the interactions and phone calls (with my broken Kreyol) we had, Mr. Belizaire kept saying, thank you - "Mesi anpil, mesi anpil, mesi."
Alexandre is still in the hospital. He is hopefully getting quality care at one of the best children's hospitals in Port-au-Prince. James and I keep in touch and Dr. Mainviel keeps in touch with Mr. Belizaire.
Here's where the story unfolds. James explained to me a bit of the background of how he came to know this family and why he supports them (none of this would've been possible without Mr. Belizaire having some quick funds for his son to receive medical care and continued support to pay for procedures, tests, exams, etc). James explained that he and his wife had wanted to adopt a child and were in the process of adopting Wadley, Alexandre's brother, who was in an orphanage because his parents couldn't provide for him. Somehow James and his wife figured out that Wadley has two capable parents, a loving family. They decided instead of adopting Wadley, they would support the family so that they can be together, so the kids can be educated, have access to an after-school program run through Compassion International, know the gospel and so on.
WHAT?! This is what dreams are made of ladies and gents. THIS is how to do it. Instead of following through with what was on their hearts, James and his wife decided to keep a family together. Now Alexandre is able to have access to medical care because a family in the states is supporting them. They have been able to finish building their home, the boys are both in school getting an education. It's a miracle. Truly. James and his wife are involved in this families life, they care and correspond. James messaged me yesterday to ask how to say 'get well soon' in Kreyol.
It was been a privilege to be a part of this story, to be a piece in this puzzle, to watch the miracle of what it looks like when we decide to put family first. I'm so tired of awful orphanages and starving children. I'm so tired of misinformed churches sending money down to a corrupt pastor who uses the funds for his own selfish gains. It's time for Haiti to learn, again, what the family unit looks like. It's time to learn that they don't have to give their kids away. It's time to put our heads and our hearts together to strengthen community and provide opportunity. I'm dreaming up some ideas as we speak as are many around this country whose goal it is to keep families together.
I hope you love this story as much as I do.
To learn more about children and families from some great orgaizations in Haiti, check out:
Little Footprints Big Steps
Haitian Families First
Papillon Enterprise
and many, many more
Thank you for sharing this amazing, God in control, loving story! My heart just swelled to ten times it's size. I'm going to share it with my church community group. Praying for you, the team, and the people of Haiti. -Rebecca
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca! It is such a joy and blessing to have you on my team!
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