Seasoning

November 25, 2011

  

Cornbread dressing is my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. LuLu’s Noodles ‘n Cheese and some Cajun fried turkey are tolerable accompaniments as well. Tack on about eight other heaping, steaming vats of food and that is the beginning of my family’s typical November 24^th feast.

 

I admit that I looked at my plate a little differently this year.

Three days ago, a smiley child named Samuel was propped on my hip, hand outstretched and giggling. One of his sisters caught the cue and returned to his side with a gift. He reached in her palm to grab a perfectly round and vibrantly red piece of fruit that she had picked from the nearby tree. It looked like a cherry, but it was so ripe that I could smell how sour it was. Samuel brought the fruit to his mouth and chomped down in an effort to break it in half. He semi-succeeded as skin and juice dribbled down his chin.

 

In the midst of his satisfaction, the tiny fruit slipped from his fingers into the dirt. I was relieved because, surely, he did not like it that much. But he immediately began squirming and reaching toward the ground. The look in his eyes determined that if he did get hold of that fruit again, he would devour it, dirt and all.

Samuel, also known as “Moses,” became a part of a new family about six months ago. Pastor Silar Deluc and his wife Gina, caretakers of the OROEDH orphanage in Port au Prince, Haiti, took him in after he was found abandoned, floating in a basket in a river. Samuel has 59 brothers and sisters sharing their small 25 x 50 living space, seeming to barely survive each day.

 

The same hands that held that little child are now holding this overflowing plate of delicious food as I stand in a clean house clothed in comfort that I have known my whole life, and I struggle to know how to respond to that imbalance.

Five days before, on November 19, 2011, I began my second journey to Haiti, the first taking place in July of the same year (read about it here). The Child in Hand team for this medically focused trip comprised of CiH Director Richard Garner and his wife Heidi Silvey Garner, Dr. Greg and Amalia Ciottone, Dr. Srihari Cattamanchi, Dr. Michael Bouton, Dr. Majed Aljohani, Patricia Johnson, Alain Denis, Ronald Watson, Willie Noel, and our security leader Brett Mills, and myself.

From the airport, we piled in our two vehicles, and then Rich “threading the needle” Garner maneuvered the Haitian traffic insanity to the city of Grand Goave, about two hours from Port au Prince. On this final leg of our long travel day, every one was so kind to allow me, the non-doctor rookie, to claim the front backseat of the van, enabling my oversized and injured right leg to stretch out onto the center console.

Thus began the many honors I was to experience on this trip. Allow me to share a glimpse of some of the others…

           Stepping out of the van, some of the YouTube videos and articles I had seen came to life, as I was honored to meet Len Gengel, the father and founder of Be Like Brit. The wounds of his daughter’s death in the 2010 earthquake were still raw and evident, but the artistry and heart transferred into her tribute--a "B" shaped two-story orphanage—was inspiring. Not only did we get to walk the grounds of this coming shelter, but I had the privilege of snapping a photo of our dear Amalia Ciottone standing in what will be the Child in Hand Medical Clinic, located inside the orphanage and run by the Ciottones.

Another joy found me at the church service led by our Grand Goave hosts, Lex and Renee Edme of Mission of Hope International. I had been greatly anticipating the opportunity to witness how a people immediately dealing with trauma and devastation might worship and praise the Almighty God. How much more reverent or grateful would they be, having to depend on God for daily survival, for basics, for hope?

When we arrived at the open-air structure that enclosed a gathering of beautifully dressed, singing people, my eyes were drawn to the two small boys holding hands and spinning in the aisle. The smile in my heart leapt onto my face, and the two boys looked at me and each reached out a hand. In surprise, I leaned down to take their hands, and they swept me into a dance unlike any I have had before.

            Moments later, there was weeping in that same aisle. A missionary couple of the Hands and Feet orphanage in Jacmel professed his gratitude for God’s protection through tears. The night before, his orphanage was attacked by seven gunmen and his wife held at gunpoint—which is, unfortunately, an increasingly common occurrence against white missionaries in the area. The same night of our arrival, our faithful guide Willie used our van to help transport children to a safe location on the MOHI grounds. How grateful I am that, even in a small way, Child in Hand was able to meet these kind hearts and assist in their rescue.

 

One of the main purposes of our trip, however, was that our incredible team of doctors, led by Dr. Greg Ciottone, would begin medical and nutritional assessments of children, as well as do some educational training for over 50 local caregivers. I was humbled by my inability to speak their medical language, but I was very honored that upon our second visit in two days to the ORAEDH orphanage in PaP, Child in Hand was able to give an answer and a treatment plan to children whose conditions had gone untouched for months—like for the paralyzing, emotionless symptoms of “Little Colorado,” who was the first orphan I ever held this past July, the doctors communicated a plan to treat the parasite that should be his companion no more.

Something I did not experience on my first trip to Haiti four months ago was the Haitian children’s fascination with my hair. Before, “the mop,” as I call it, had been crowded up under a hat, but this time it was down and expanding in all of its Muffassa-like glory (Lion King, anyone?). As soon as I would sit down in one of the undersized chairs strewn about the yard, tiny hands began to dig and pull on my curly locks as if checking for ticks or extension ties. As silly as their curiosity felt to my scalp, I was honored by their simple fascination.

           The greatest honor for me, however, was dispersed throughout our four day journey, finding its culmination on our final evening together on November 21. My goal for this trip was to observe, listen, and gather fresh insight into the goals and mission of our organization, and every member of our team contributed to the realization of that goal. I was honored to receive criticism, questions, and new observation on behalf of Child in Hand, especially from the three visiting doctors who had never worked with us before. I came away from the trip spurred on to streamline our focus. We must answer important questions in order to maximize Child in Hand’s impact in 2012—not prioritizing width of impact, but depth.

And that brings me back to little Samuel in my arms, reaching towards the ground for his beloved, sour cherry now covered in a layer of dirt. The dirt that did not bother him at all. He just kept reaching, desiring that cherry as if knowing something I did not.

What if Child in Hand was a bit like that cherry—a little ripe and a little dirty.

And what if, thanks to another year of experience and error and progress, we now know the truth that Samuel knew all along.

It is possible that Samuel still wanted that cherry because he knew the value of food and what it was to be without it. To him, that cherry was not lost or inedible. No, no--it was just more well-seasoned.