Sunday is a good day for community service. Since I’ve been wanting to go to Haiti, I’ve been in communication with FRADES orphanage through Dr. Patricia Back. I decided today would be a good day to venture to Croix des Bouquets, about a 20 minute ride from the center of Port au Prince. I thought that maybe bringing some of the GAP kids with me would be awesome – introduce the teens to some service work. Junior, Joselyn, and Jean Woody decided to come along for the ride. Plus I have no idea how to take the tap taps and motos to get there. This is a very cool trip since it’s the first time I would be riding around Haiti without Matt (he’s feeling under the weather) and Steeve (our usual translator). Junior is familiar with the area since his family recently relocated to the area. The nice pastor, whose contact info was given to me by Dr. Back, met us in the center of Port-au-Prince with his motorcycle. The boys took a different motorcycle. As I was riding on the moto with the wind in my hair behind Joselyn and the sun shining down, I couldn’t think of a more perfect moment in Haiti. Here I was in the country I’ve fallen in love with accompanied by these amazing GAP kids that I’ve gotten so close to and they wanted to help out an orphanage my friends at USC and I have been trying to help. Since I’ve been traveling all day via tap taps and walking, I couldn’t bring all the supplies I wanted to. I did bring a second backpack of crayons, cholera coloring books, soap, and multivitamins.
When we arrive at FRADES, we see a group of about 20 kids sitting in a circle. They are mostly young kids, probably 7 years and younger. The orphans had no shoes, ragged clothing, and many had visible fungal infections on their scalp or runny noses. The pastor was nice enough to tour us around the house and I took a ton of photos to show my fellow USC students interested in working with FRADES and University of Cincinnati engineers wanting to help with electricity and water sanitation systems. FRADES was not originally an orphanage but quickly became one after the earthquake. The 18 orphans range in ages. The kids eat 2-3 meals a day that consist of rice and beans, void of meat and a balanced meal. The boys all sleep in bunked bed in one large room and the girls slept in a similar compound. Unfortunately, there are two 15 year old girls and since FRADES only recently started their primary school program, the teens are unable to be educated at secondary school level. I wonder if GAP would be able to get involved here too, the need in Haiti for secondary school education assistance is overwhelming.
Junior is the translator that explains what I say about the cholera images on the coloring pages. I designate Jean Woody, a natural artist, to hand out the crayons. Joselyn is in charge of handing out coloring books. The FRADES kids are so well behaved and immediately listen to Junior’s explanations. They then calmly color with the 4 packs of crayons I brought from LA. As I saw Joselyn, Jean Woody, and Junior lay on the floor an color with the orphans, I can’t help but get watery eyes. These kids were already so resilient after all the trauma they have been through and here they were willing to come with me on a Sunday to the orphanage. After coloring, we do a demonstration of hand washing. The very nice pastor opens a bar of soap we bring and fills a bucket of water for us. Junior and Jean Woody sing the hand washing song in Creole, I don’t understand the words but I think it’s something about washing your hands after using the bathroom. The whole experience was amazing. I’m determined to do what I can to help the orphanage. They are so obviously stretched for funds and lack things such as nutritious meals, books, shoes, electricity, etc. Joselyn and the boys tell me on our walk away from FRADES that they want to come back and help, perhaps regularly. I couldn’t have had a better Sunday.
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