On my last trip to Haiti I visited a family of 10 children. Several of the kids attend the Nehemiah Christian Academy. This is one of the younger children above, she does not go to school. Most of the kids there do run around with no clothes on. This is something normal to the community. They simply do not have clothing to wear.
When we arrived there was a small infant in the house. Baby number 10 for the family. We asked the mother what the babies name was and she did not know. She may have been overwhelmed by seeing a lot of "blan" or white people in her home or the child didnt have a name yet. It is common practice to not name your infants after birth until you know if it will survive. Unimaginable here in the U.S.
The house consisted of 2 rooms about 8x10. One bed and a small cooking area outside. That is it. One stool and the babyblanket on the floor for the infant to sleep on. No other belongings to be seen. I carried this beautiful baby around for a while and wondered about its life or if it would even survive. It had a bad cough at the time.
There are more families than I could count in this same situation living in this one small area of Haiti. We are beginning to make a difference in this community one small step at a time.
Stephanie
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