Two Years After the Earthquake - Part 3

boys at an orphanage loving the bubbles we brought. Fabio Diniz photo

This is the third story about returning to Haiti two years after covering the earthquake.  For part 2, click here.

Today we're heading to the orphanage where our relief team stayed after the earthquake.  Finding the compound is tricky because many streets don't have signs.  Two years ago we had a tap tap (truck taxi) driver to guide us but now we're on our own.

An orphanage worker had told us, "turn right at the old rundown shack with a water hole in the ground with a tire over it."  Dane thinks we missed the turn a half-mile back but I can't tell.  While the rubble and UN trucks are gone, dilapidated huts and abandoned tires litter almost every block.

We're not far off course and soon find the bright teal gates just as we remembered.  New Life Children's Home.

As the armed guard lets us in, we see the mango tree!  We'd spent hours talking, eating, praying in that spot.  The last time we were here, tents had covered the soccer field that we had turned into a base camp but now the field is lush and green.

A staff member greets us in English, "The kids will be so happy to see you." Most of the kids are in class but the toddlers are outside playing.

Kevin!  He was a starving newborn who slept holding my thumb the last time I saw him.  Now he's a healthy two-year-old with a  round belly who carries himself like a ringleader in diapers. 

Kevin and John, now thriving at two, were starving orphaned infants when we met them.

"When you were born," I demonstrate rocking an  infant in my arms, "I took care of you," I say pointing at Kevin.  He seems to think I'm calling him a baby and stomps off to get a toy truck.

Playing with the other kids, I try to coax a gaunt-looking boy to join us. Before I can stop him, he rips a piece off a plastic mat and eats it.  Still afraid of starving, I guess.


A mom waits
Staffers take the kids inside for naps. A young, White woman comes for John who had been rescued from the mountains after the quake.  "I'm his mom,"  she says in English.  She's living here waiting for the government to approve her and her husband's adoption paperwork.

As we talk, she mentions wishing they had baby pictures of John.  "Is the Internet working?"  I ask.  Nurses on our team had taken the first pictures of John two years ago.  Amazingly, I'm able to download several Facebook photos on to her laptop.

Before leaving I pray with this mom who refuses to leave her son, knowing that in Haiti it can take two years to bring a child home.

Barefoot boys
Later, our host drives us to a Haitian orphanage.  "It won't be like the American one," he warns.  We come to a small, concrete building that can only be reached by climbing a steep hill.  Instead of mango trees and a grassy field, we're met by barefoot boys playing soccer in a concrete entryway that's smaller than most American closets.

Dane Melberg photo

The kids don't wait for the pastor who runs the orphanage to introduce us, instead they grab our hands and lead us inside.  As we break out stickers and bubbles we've brought from the US, the kids erupt in joyful shrieks, giggles and laughter.

The tiniest child, Samuel, wants to chase bubbles with the other kids but he's so frail his bones might break if one of them accidentally steps on him.  I pick him up and let him help me blow bubbles.  Our host says Samuel wasn't expected to live, suffering from TB and starvation.  The three-year-old's hands seem much too big for his body; he weighs no more than an 18-month-old baby.

The kids climb on Dane like a human jungle gym as he tosses them over his head.  Samuel wants Dane to toss him in the air, too.  It's too risky, though, in case he falls.  But how can we say no to a child who just wants to play?  Dane gently lifts a beaming Samuel over his head as the other kids laugh and cheer.

It's hard to say goodbye. The pastor closes the gate and walks us down the hill to our truck.  I still have Samuel in my arms.  I want to drive away with him, just to keep feeling his heartbeat...

little Samuel leaning on my shoulder

"A child here in Haiti would probably trade whatever toy you give them for five minutes on your lap with your arms around them." ~ Patty Meyer, New Life Children's Home

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