A few days ago I wrote about how tiYoldy can see (maybe it was on facebook, not here). She was scheduled for eye surgery on the 18th. What I didn't know till today was that while getting ready to go to the hospital, she told big Yoldy (who's taking care of her) that she could see. When she held two fingers tightly against her good eye, she could see her fingers. She went in anyway, and the doctors couldn't believe it!!! They said it could only have been a miracle!!! tiYoldy told people "we prayed!" And people there have been asking about Canaan... So yes, she's able to see, but she's not had a surgery yet! I guess God knew we didn't have all the money yet! I don't know the exact story - whether she'll still need the lens change, whether she can see well or not, but this is a miracle!
So today (Friday) was an interesting day. There are pastors in Citi Soleil that have been wanting S. Gladys to come visit them. So today she, P. Henri and I went to see where the churches were and if it's really as bad as they say. Citi Soleil is like a suburb of Port au Prince, considered the most dangerous area, though presently it's not so bad or dangerous. It's a place where the kidnappers would
hide out, poverty is rampant, and it smells like a pigpen (seriously and literally). There's trash and kids everywhere. I think that place produces children by bulk (hope that's not too crude:) - and they all have huge bellies, but they're so cute even dirty. Imagine a baby just crawling naked in the dust. His whole bottom, front and back and legs, are covered in dust. And the mom is just standing there. The houses are set so close together, and sometimes not bigger than the inside of a truck. They're made of sticks, or wood or blocks (broken and otherwise) and sometimes have a roof, although most of the tin was red from rust and broken, and sometimes the roof was missing. Some place had houses that looked a little better - small houses made by USAID or some group like that. They're concrete, about 6X10 maybe, with two to one building.
Houses are side by side
There are so many children everywhere!
It smells like the pigs everywhere, even where there are none.
And flies galore!
The walls were broken out during the 3 year uprising because this is where the bad guys were hiding.
Water is scarce - one church had two bio-sand filters, which are really heavy, but he had to chain them up so they wouldn't steal them. A rare and special commodity!!
Several of the churches try having schools - some actually had adult chairs for the kids to sit on. Others spread things on the floor for them.
Now my minds racing, wondering how I can manage a clinic there. If nothing else, to give worm medicine to all the kids!!! It's amazing how big some of those bellies were! There's got to be so many diseases! I'll admit I was surprised to not see so many really malnourished kids, but we're finding families will often keep those out of sight because of embarrassment.
From there we stopped in to see P. Henri's mom, and you see the total opposite. She's 'bujwa' (the rich, elite class), not a christian. She has a beautiful house, lots of trees and plants, maids, white leather furniture... OK, something a lot of you probably have, but here it just feels so very elegant! What a difference in lifestyles here!!!!
OK, I better let you go, but here's a few pictures from kids here at Canaan. Internet actually allowed me to upload them!!!
This fellow below is our Navedson. He's about 18 months, and has been at Canaan since July. He's the little fellow that was left on my clinic steps. What a difference since then!! He was dehydrated and malnourished. Now he's learning it's faster to walk than crawl. With eyes like his, he wins people over with no problem!
Rolancia is 2 months younger than Navedson, but was quicker to walk. She has a peaceful disposition and everybody loves her, even our construction workers!
For Thanksgiving, some of the kids prepared some skits. Here you have King and Queen Nebuchadnezzar
