Before I went to Haiti this March on a medical mission trip, several people said jokingly. "Vivian, just don't bring any kids home in your suitcase." I didn't, but I brought home a whole village of kids in my heart.
This little girl is Kathina. She is twelve years old, and since she was six, she had seizures almost every day of her life. She lives in Lougou, a tiny village in the mountains north of Les Cayes. Madeleine Avignon is one of the founders of COFHED, the nonprofit which sponsored the trip. She told me about Kathina before the trip, and so I was able to bring medicine for her.
Over the course of five days, we saw almost 1,500 people in a medical clinic set up in the school in Lougou. It was hot and chaotic. I was seeing entire families at once, five to ten people crowding into the little classroom. When Kathina came in with her uncle, she walked right up to me and hugged me, and said something very softly in Creole. I asked my interpreter what she had said. He looked a little surprised and said, "She said I love you." I immediately started trying to figure out if my suitcase was big enough for her. :)
The medicine is working! She is not having any seizures! The next time she saw Madeleine, the first thing she said was, "I want to go to school." Her younger sisters attend the school , which the community built with assistance from COFHED. Kathina has tried to go to school, but her epilepsy was too disruptive.
I am now sponsoring Kathina to go to school. For a very small amount, I pay for her tuition, uniforms, and books. I'm not telling you this to make you think I'm such a wonderful person. I'm telling you because it makes me so incredibly, amazingly happy to be able to do something that really makes a difference in someone's life.
There has been a lot on the news about how much money has been sent to Haiti since the earthquake. CBS news reported $15 billion. And it's in the news how nothing is changing. People are still hungry, living in tents, dying. It's so frustrating, and it's a situation that I don't know how to fix. It's disheartening, because so many people care and want to help, but they feel like any money they send is going into a big black hole, or sitting in someone's bank account, or ending in corrupt hands.
I know that many of my friends would love to help, but feel for the reasons I just mentioned that sending money is futile. I am writing to ask you to consider making a donation to COFHED. They are doing so much with every penny they receive. They are engaging the community on sustainable economic development projects. Please visit their website to see what I'm talking about, and consider making a donation. www.cofhed.org Or just follow along and send up your prayers. Also please forward this note to your friends who might also have a heart for Haiti. A word of warning, your heart might grow two sizes too big!
www.cofhed.org
No comments:
Post a Comment