Father Bob Lord has been a long time friend of Len and Cherylann, and the Gengel Family. It's Father Bob who married Len and Cherylann. Fr. Bob also baptized all three of Len and Cherylann's children: Britney, Bernie, and Richie. This is why it was especially sacred that Fr. Bob baptized a group of our children while he was here this past week. Both as a sign of the journey and an indicator of the importance of their faith, this simple act resonates in ways one can't describe...
What a wonderful blessing to have Fr. Bob here and have him preside over the baptism of 4 of Be Like Brit's Children. It's for these reasons why Len and Cherylann decided to dedicate the chapel at Be Like Brit to Fr. Bob. Having helped shape the lives and the faith of Len, Cherylann, Britney, Bernie, and Richie, Father Bob will now forever play a role in shaping the faith in our children at Be Like Brit.
We were equally blessed to have with us last week the group from Becker College in Worcester. Len went to Becker, and Dr. Debbie Pallatto-Fontaine is a member of the faculty there. Debbie is also a Reverend in the United Church of Christ, and serves on our Program Committee which has helped to develop and steer the organization's policies. Debbie has played a crucial role in developing education strategies and in fleshing out our religious policies. From our dedication ceremony to our daily operations to a baptism at a Catholic Church in Grand-Goâve, we truly strive to be ecumenical in our workings. This is just one small example of how we do that.
I've never been shy about sharing with readers some of the ways in which Haiti (and life in general) challenges my faith. Having been born and raised in a Catholic family, attended Catholic schools all of my life, I am rooted in that tradition more so than any other. Every day, there are instances where my beliefs are challenged. There are also those instances where my beliefs, or my lack there of, seem to be reaffirmed.
On Monday of last week, one of our children came down with a high fever. Having Tom and Christina on hand as a Medical Britsionarys was helpful, as they were able to administer the proper medications and recommend proper treatment. That morning, they went off to the Mission of Hope International Clinic to lend a hand and get some community medical service time in while in Haiti.
Not long after they left, the child with the fever became increasingly ill. Violent vomiting and a fever that topped out at just under 106, Rosenie and I rushed her to the local hospital for immediate attention. Understand that when I say hospital I mean a building that has some capabilities, but most school nurses offices in the United States could do what they do there. It's the only option in this part of Haiti, and while it does lack in many ways, one thing they are able to do is rapidly bring a fever down by the administering of injection medicines. Our intention was to get the child stabilized and have her follow up with our own medical team members as necessary.
Upon our arrival to the local hospital, we found hoards of people crammed in to one small area; not uncommon. It was vaccination day for infants, and there were literally hundreds of babies with their mothers pressing themselves into the one small room where they would find their free vaccinations. Rosenie and I pushed through the crowd to get to the desk and explained our urgent situation. We were brought into a room to wait for the doctor.
On the examination table in the same room was a young girl of 3 years. Her situation was critical. Two Cuban doctors worked in a frenzied and seemingly scattered manner to try to get this child oxygen. They had the mask on her face, but the child had vomited so much that her airway was blocked. As I sat and watched them work on this child, I realized that the oxygen mask was a futile effort, as the oxygen, while flowing, was not making its way into the child's lungs.
I tried to explain that to the medical personnel - that the child was not getting any of the oxygen they were trying to pump in to her because of the airway obstruction. They largely ignored me, despite my efforts. Helplessly, we sat there and watched the life leave this poor child's body. She died on the table next to us, needlessly. It's sort of haunted me all week. What else could I have done? What else should I have done? How can a community hospital have doctors who don't know how to check for a blocked airway? How can this happen?
The duality of Haiti: Life in baptism by morning. Death by afternoon. Faith challenged.
I tell you that story not to make you sad or not to seek consolation - but to address a more significant point, a larger point. The importance of medical care within our own facility is obvious, and is our central focus as we move forward. Not only do we have the priority of the health and well-being of our children, but hosting hundreds of Britsionarys and volunteers every year, we know that we need to be prepared for any emergency situation.
We've been working tremendously hard on building relationships and extending our network of contacts in Haiti, and they are wonderful relationships to have. The problem is that none of them are close - physically. In situations of emergency, we have to drive to Port-au-Prince to seek adequate medical care. Building the capacity of our clinic in house is of utmost importance. This is why our Medical Britsionary program is so important - it brings to Haiti and to Be Like Brit medical personnel who are capable of responding to situations that locally can't be handled. This is why we can't thank people like Tom and Christina enough!
The death of the three year old child which I witnessed was senseless, and it didn't need to happen. That's so often the case here in Haiti: Easily cured illness or minor injuries go neglected and lead to more serious issues. A fully functioning medical clinic at Be Like Brit would not just exist to serve our own, but to open our doors to the community. Medical personnel could conduct educational seminars and workshops, focusing on preventing illness and disease rather than needing to respond to easily avoided crises.
On a happier note, despite the challenges of the week, we have exciting things happening here at Be Like Brit. Our good friends from Becker College left after building a house for one of our caregivers, Celina. They spent a lot of time with the children in structured activities, which is always a challenge and always yields great results. Having the group from Becker, largely working on degrees in education, psychology, and nursing, we had great skill sets to tap in to and keep the children busy in constructive and goal oriented play. What a great gift to give! Spending your spring break volunteering in Haiti is certainly not something most college students would think to do! We are so grateful for them, and so happy to have had Debbie and Susan back with the group as their team leaders!
On the heels of the Becker group's departure, our good friends from Team TORO arrived in Haiti on Friday afternoon! Team TORO is busy working on a very special project - one that we're trying to keep a secret from the children. When they started work yesterday, the children naturally wanted to know what they were making - what would be the end result. I laughed and said to them, "it's going to be a surprise!" The speculation and the guesses are hilarious - ranging from a pool to an outdoor shower (not sure where that idea came from?). It's so much fun to watch the children stare out the windows and wonder what's going on - and even more fun not telling them! The progress has been incredible and you'll just have to wait and see what they end up with by the end of the week!
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Any guesses?
The children continue to do amazingly well! They are enjoying "spring" in Haiti ~ moderate temperatures, a bit of rain, the breeze off the ocean which cools everything down. Enjoy a few photos of the children out at the park yesterday, and as always, thanks for reading!
