I was fortunate enough to be in Haiti twice, once just three days after the earthquake and a second time during the third week afterwards. My mind is filled with unforgettable experiences, but I want the children of Haiti to speak for themselves.
Each one holds an important lesson for me. Each child has a unique perception about life, Haiiti’s political reality, about faith, about acceptance and most of all, about hope.
Pushon, 12, was one of the first children I met when I arrived on January 15th, three days after the earthquake had devastated Haiti. I was in Port-au-Prince, starting work in a makeshift hospital, set up in huge tents on the airport field.
Pushon’s left leg was horribly crushed and held the odor of rotting flesh. Flies were gathering around the open wounds, bones were sticking out everywhere and the flesh was completely gone from the medial aspect of his lower leg. That leg looked like a picture from one of those anatomy books which shows muscles and vessels and bones, but it just wasn’t as neat as a picture. It was obvious we would have to amputate or he would die.
Pushon panicked when we told him. “No, no, no,” he begged, “I can wiggle my toes. See”, as he pointed to his toes. “You have a bad infection,” we explained, “You’re getting a fever. You will die soon if we do not cut off your leg.” He thought a full minute; a minute is a long time to wait for a 12-year-old to answer. He wet his lips before he spoke his mind. “My father needs me”, he said. “My mother is dead. My sisters are dead. My father needs me.”
Pushon knew what it meant to be an amputee in Haiti: unable to ride his bike, he would no longer be able to go to school or church. Children with deformities, moreover, were often shunned in school. Whether he did or didn’t go to school he would most likely never be able to get a job. In a country where that has an 80% unemployment rate, why would anyone hire a one-legged man when there were so many men with both legs?
At age 12 Pushon completely understood the social issues of his country.
FULL STORY Lessons learned in Haiti: from the mouths of babes (NCR Online)