Got a quick call from Cliff tonight who was checking in briefly after what he called "a pretty full day" there in Ouanaminthe. They continued working with the children and welcomed in a few new children who were flown in from Port au Prince. These children had pretty significant physical trauma from the earthquake, one with a full arm amputation and others with casts placed on limbs without the bones reset and no x-rays.
Cliff shared that he has been working with a couple of people on the rehabilitation for a little boy named Johnny. Johnny's femur was broken and repaired by a surgeon in Port au Prince. A quick Google search and I found some more info as well as an image of the x-ray and a brief appearance by Johnny in a Anderson Cooper video... it's all so heartbreaking.
This was before Johnny was taken in by Danita:
From "Practicing Resurrection":
On Jan. 21 - "Johnny is a five year-old boy discovered by Danita and Britanny in a clinic in Port-au-Prince yesterday (Jan 21). He was naked, with a broken leg, and wounds on his head and back from having a wall collapse on him. He has the number 36 written in faint faded ink on his arm. He’d been in the clinic for ten days, alone, on the same mattress, with no family. And yesterday he became the first of many new kids taken in by Danita’s Children."
"Johnny was in the is condition for many days, with no medications and with a cast on his ankle. Evidently no one had noticed that his femur was broken."
On Jan. 24 - ”Johnny’s surgery went amazingly well. Thank you to everyone who prayed for him. I can’t even describe what it is like in the hospitals here- there are no words to describe the devastation. Haitian people are so resilient- you walk by a tent of children in full body casts who have just had limbs amputated and they’re smiling.”
And now, walking, after being at the Hope for Haiti Center.
And just think, that is one child's story of coming from a place of total ruin and devastation to a place of hope. I will say this has all made this very real for me again. The images, stories, hearing Cliff. As an emotional being, my heart breaks for these lives. And yet it finds small places of hope and joy for the lives being saved. For the stories of people being found buried alive ELEVEN DAYS after such a devastating thing. It is just unreal. And it's sad to think, already, that there are people that live mindless to this sort of thing day in and day out. And I'm not saying we all have to every minute of everyday, but open your eyes and see and serve when and however you are able. Please.
In the end, after all of my internet wandering, I came upon this image in a gallery posted on Facebook by another team member in Ounaminthe (Christa Hahn) and my heart will go to bed lifted and joyful. And I am thankful for that.
Cliff shared that he has been working with a couple of people on the rehabilitation for a little boy named Johnny. Johnny's femur was broken and repaired by a surgeon in Port au Prince. A quick Google search and I found some more info as well as an image of the x-ray and a brief appearance by Johnny in a Anderson Cooper video... it's all so heartbreaking.
This was before Johnny was taken in by Danita:
From "Practicing Resurrection":
On Jan. 21 - "Johnny is a five year-old boy discovered by Danita and Britanny in a clinic in Port-au-Prince yesterday (Jan 21). He was naked, with a broken leg, and wounds on his head and back from having a wall collapse on him. He has the number 36 written in faint faded ink on his arm. He’d been in the clinic for ten days, alone, on the same mattress, with no family. And yesterday he became the first of many new kids taken in by Danita’s Children."
"Johnny was in the is condition for many days, with no medications and with a cast on his ankle. Evidently no one had noticed that his femur was broken."
On Jan. 24 - ”Johnny’s surgery went amazingly well. Thank you to everyone who prayed for him. I can’t even describe what it is like in the hospitals here- there are no words to describe the devastation. Haitian people are so resilient- you walk by a tent of children in full body casts who have just had limbs amputated and they’re smiling.”
And now, walking, after being at the Hope for Haiti Center.
And just think, that is one child's story of coming from a place of total ruin and devastation to a place of hope. I will say this has all made this very real for me again. The images, stories, hearing Cliff. As an emotional being, my heart breaks for these lives. And yet it finds small places of hope and joy for the lives being saved. For the stories of people being found buried alive ELEVEN DAYS after such a devastating thing. It is just unreal. And it's sad to think, already, that there are people that live mindless to this sort of thing day in and day out. And I'm not saying we all have to every minute of everyday, but open your eyes and see and serve when and however you are able. Please.
In the end, after all of my internet wandering, I came upon this image in a gallery posted on Facebook by another team member in Ounaminthe (Christa Hahn) and my heart will go to bed lifted and joyful. And I am thankful for that.
3 comments:
Kristine:
I was so happy to see your post. I hadn't seen the video of Johnny in PAP before. Very moving.
The boy in the background of the picture at the bottom of the post is named Everson. He attends the school at Danita's and has a special place in our hearts.
http://practicingresurrection.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/everson/
Bill
I should add that when we met Everson, he wasn't attending the school at Danita's, but rather a different school. Everson likes to hang out with the kids at Danita's because they accept him, despite his disability. I recently learned that Danita's team discovered that Everson was being teased and picked on at his other school, and was not accepted by the kids there, so they took him on as a student at their school.
Bill
It's such a blessing reading about Cliff's experience in Haiti. Thanks for writing about it.
Also, thanks for blogging about your adventures in coupon-ing. :-) I plan to give it a shot next weekend! Sadly, we don't have a Publix...or a Whole Foods...or Trader Joe's...but we do have a very nice Kroger!
Post a Comment