An Experience I Won't Forget

So I want to take this time to share something with you that happened in Haiti that really touched my heart:



My arm was getting tired, cramping up from staying in the same position for so long. I didn't care, this was too important. Sweat beaded on my forehead and poured down my face in the warm room with no pleasantry of an air conditioner. Thoughts swarmed my mind of how blessed I am as a person; so spoiled really. As I held this infant in my arms, slowly feeding him the hot corn mush, tears welled up in my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I didn't know his name, but it didn't really matter. All I could do was just pray for him and try to smile as he gladly accepted the food I was giving. He couldn't have been more than 2 inches in diameter in his arms and legs but his stomach was bloated from malnutrition. It was so different than holding any other baby I've ever held. This little guy seemed so emotionless, void of feeling. I couldn't once make him smile, but he at least stopped crying when I picked him up. Looking around, the room was filled with people from my team, all holding and feeding babies, just like I was. Most looked just like me, tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. That was the fastest 45 minutes of my life... I didn't want to leave. There we were, in Delmas, a region of Port Au Prince not far from our hotel where we were on our site seeing trip. The following day we were to go to Wahoo Bay. We had arranged to stay at a hotel near the orphanage which one of the leaders had been to the year previous. It was a Catholic orphanage called the Three Sisters of Charity. There were so many rooms just filled with cribs, kids on my team in each one. It was an emotionally overpowering moment. I'd never heard my team so silent as a million thoughts raced through their minds, similar to my own. Thoughts of how blessed I am, wondering what happened to their parents, how often they get to eat let alone be held. My heart was broken for each and every one of those little babies. As we were leaving, the tears started falling more steadily, especially as their cries rose from being put back down in their cribs. My whole team was dead silent for the walk back except for silent crying, not really even being able to do a full count off because their voices were gone. Several of the girls actually asked me if we could come back the next day instead of going to the Caribbean beach. I would have loved to myself actually. I'll never forget that day in Haiti, ever, and I doubt that anyone on my team will either. It's a reminder every day of how blessed we are here in the US, and also how much need there is around the world. I wish I could go back and take you all with me.