Haitian girl learning to walk

Haitian girl. Ile-a-Vache, Haiti, 2007

Reality in one of the poorest corners of Haiti: if you are born with a physical disability your parents likely won't be able to care for you. Abandoned by her parents, this little girl is in the loving care of a nun (Sr. Flora) who runs an orphanage for the severely disabled. One day she may be able to walk on her own.

My reasoning to post this photograph now was quite purposeful. One of the most frequent Google searches that drives people to my blog is evidently, "Haitian girls." I don't know the motivation behind these searches but I lived long enough in Haiti not to ask. Still, one can hope, the searches are well intentioned.

a little help for some friends

Yesterday, a Uruguayan unit of the military branch of MINUSTAH went to visit St. Flora's orphanage on Ile-a-Vache. We asked them to help us help her by providing some "expertise" and "budget estimates." All morning, as we trooped around the property in the glaring sun, a little train of followers kept us company.
Among many things, the engineer was amazed at the antiquity of a the hand pump being used on the only operational well on the property. The "pump" has little rusted buckets attached to a leather belt, which reaches down 18.5 meters. The buckets splash water into a trough when someone winds the handle. Saying that Sr. Flora operates on a shoe-string is an understatement. Hopefully, with this added expertise, a project proposal that is in the works will bring much needed aid to Sr. Flora's 55 kids.

fishing the empty waters