Final Day

Before we knew it our final full day in Haiti was upon us. It seemed impossible that it had come around so fast, yet we had packed so much into our few days. How could it be that in such a short time we could feel as if our lives were inextricably linked to those here? What we had seen and experienced would somehow now be a part of us forever and in some way we would not be the same people who had left England with nervous anticipation the week before. For sure we had shared many adventures and there had been highlights, such as the wedding- which stood out as a sign of new beginnings, but there was an awful lot to process and still so many unanswered questions... We were becoming physically and emotionally exhausted and our wobbly moments were increasing day by day, but we couldn't fall apart in front of the children and our determination to come away with some clear objectives for Bright Tomorrows kept us going. 


We were going to our last orphanage today which was on the outskirts of the city. This afforded us the opportunity to see some more areas that had earthquake damage and also some more of the tent cities. One of the boys we have been supporting had been moved out to a new area by the government, but as we drew closer we could see that this was not a great site for the twenty or so thousand people living there. The land looked dry and parched and there was no shade whatsoever. Apparently water is brought out to those who live here, but they have to find their own food and the nearest school is a long way off. This was not somewhere that I would like my boys to live and I thought of Paul who had been moved here.

It was midday by the time we arrived at the orphanage. We were hungry, needed the toilet and our spirits were already a little low. We weren't really prepared for our encounter here and the very poor conditions that we were to be met with. It's location was rather pretty; much more rural than some of the city orphanages, with banana trees all around. But the buildings and living accommodation were by no means adequate for the 45 children who lived here. We walked around in a state of disbelief and despair as we tried to take it in. 12 children lived in a bedroom that was no bigger than 2.5 metres square. A double mattress propped up on orange boxes took up most of the room and a couple who looked after the children slept in here. The children slept on the bare floor around the sides of the bed. 

We carried on with the tour. The kitchen, we discovered was a metal pot on some stones outside and the "bathroom", just a concrete square covered with a sheet of corrugated iron. We were told that this one was full, so we couldn't have used it even if we'd wanted to, but there was no sign of another toilet anywhere. What did the children do? I can only imagine that they went out by the banana trees, but we didn't like to ask.

Flor and I had fallen silent by this point. What was there to say? How could this possibly be right? This was not to cast judgement on those running the orphanage; they were doing their best in very, very hard circumstances. In fact, they were wisely schooling children from the locality who could afford to pay fees so that they could pay a teacher and thus educate the children who lived there. But there was clearly no additional support at all here and it showed badly. 

We managed to pull ourselves together enough to spend some lovely time with the children, whose faces lit up when they received the cards from children at home. Then we climbed back into the car with our heads spinning with yet more unanswered questions.

Surely there was a way that Bright Tomorrows could get involved here?