As stated below, by Becky, we spent the day at a safe house. I am so glad we had a chance to go there. For me it was a mix of feeling today; happy, sad and ill! HAPPY: to have helped those with limited resources, and who trusted us with their stories. SAD: about the violence people inflict on others everyday! ILL: about doing a phyical exam on a 6 year old that had been raped! My other incounter, that will live in my heart for the rest of my life, was examining an 18 year old girl. To keep it short, she was gang raped and beaten 2 months ago. We think this was the first time she shared her story outside her family. At the end of the exam, I told her how sorry I was that this had happened to her and held her hand. After that the flood gates opened for both of us. We embraced and she held me tightly for a long time. SHe insisted that I stay with her for the rest of her time at the clinic and I walked her out to the entrance, where she hugged my tightly and thanked me. Is it bad that I wanted to bring her home...
Sad that today was our last working day. We are off for some fun sight seeing tomorrow. It will be good to decompress. Hugs to all, Kerry.
I can hardly believe that it was only just over a day that I wrote last. It seems like I have done so many things in the meantime. I finally got to go to Cite de Soleil to the We Advance clinic. What a day. It was wonderful to meet the kids I had heard so much about. Shaylo was one of our favorites. He would dance like Micheal Jackson and sang Justin Bieber songs. I'm sure everyone will be hearing about him soon. We believe he will be famous and you can say you heard about him here first. It was so amazing to be able to meet these people and be invited into their homes. I hope we were able to provide some encouragement and knowledge that would help them get through their day. I was so touched by the mothers that asked us to take their children home with us. We ended the afternoon with a visit to an orphanage. There were about 20 kids ages 16 months- 14 years. We presented them with stickers and beanie babies and played soccer and volleyball with them. I think we really impressed them with our crazy soccer skills. Either that or they were so surprised at the absolute lack of talent that we had. Either way there was a lot of running around and laughing. That was both the end of my afternoon or the start of a busy night. I worked night shift at the Medi-Share hospital. It was great to follow these little patients this last week. I feel like I know what to do to comfort them, what things they like and don't like and I can start to contribute to their care. I am amazed at the talent of the nurses I worked with this past week. They were all so able to adapt to their circumstances and get done what needed to get done. The end of that shift was just the start of our day. We were going to be providing a mobile clinic for a group called Cof-a-Viv, a group for survivors of gender based violence. It was quite an emotional day for everyone. I am so proud of our team that worked so hard to make everyone feel welcome, loved and safe. The clinic was a huge success and we were invited to come back whenever we wanted. We are just finishing another amazing meal by Carlene of spaghetti with some really spicy tomato sauce. We are being absolutely spoiled here. Now for an evening of R and R to decompress and, some sleep for me. I am so lucky to be travelling with such an amazing group of women that never complained about the task that needed to be done, were patient and kind to everyone they met and excited about every new experience. Haiti is a special place to visit and brings the best out of everyone who travels here. Heidi
On days like today, it's hard to know what to say. I knew that we would be doing a clinic in a safe house, but i guess i am a bit naieve. I haven't had much exposure to this sort of thing, and truthfully didn't really know what to expect. So when a six year old sat down in the chair, and a women that works at the house said that she had been raped, i didn't really know what to think. what do you say? what do you do? Like Kerry said, little girls like her should be worrying about this sisters being mean to them, playing with dolls, or running around enjoying life, and shouldn't have to be worried about this. Traumatized for life, i am sure. I am pretty sure she will always be on my mind. If you could only offer her a toy and things would be better, kiss her owie and make it go away, anything so that this won't be something that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. On a brighter note, the weather today was beautiful. Not sure of the temp, but the back sweat was a little less...something that has been a constant this week! Yet another beautiful day filled with love from the Haitian people, surrounded by smiles. until tomorrow, becky:)
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