Yesterday Erin and I took Stephenson our oldest boy in the
Miriam Center who is 25 years old down to the one stop to teach him how to use
his hard-earned money.
Stephenson’s main disability is seizures and mild MR. He is such a hard-worker
and has recently started working in the new central kitchen at the mission and
receiving a salary. He always has
eyes open to anyway he can help ANYONE. His #1 characteristic is
hardworking. We realized that He
is making all this money but had no idea how to spend it. Yesterday was our first
attempt at teaching him. He loves to eat and eats BIG portions…so yesterday
afternoon Stephanie explained to him in Creole before we left that “you work
hard for your money and you are gong to go into town and if you want a drink
you buy 1….if you want some food., you buy some.” He was so EXCITED. And thus
we headed downtown. Stephenson bought Erin and I ice cream and himself 4 Pate
and a drink. We could not believe he ate ALL that food after he had just eaten
a humungous plate of beans and rice for lunch 2 hours before. We had a nice
meal sitting at the “tiki bar” at the one stop. It was a wonderful experience.
We then took him inside to help us buy catch-up for dinner. We got the idea of
setting up a small store at the mission and teaching him how to buy the items
he needs like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. (but actually putting the $ back
in his folder after) This would help teach him $ management. Stephenson has
been requesting his own room stating “I can’t live with those boys anymore…they
don’t respect me or my stuff.” He is growing up & we need to start
considering more seriously his future. Yesterday was another step forward in
helping him! I feel blessed to have gotten the opportunity to be apart of it.
I went from an AMAZING experience yesterday at the one-stop
to being in a place where my heart hurts after just returning from an ice cream
outing to the One Stop. Erin & I got the idea yesterday on the way back up
the hill yesterday with Stephenson that is would be so much fun to bring the
severe and profound children down 1:1 to get ice cream & spoil them for an
hour. Today we took Chamma & Rachel. After nap-time we dressed the girls
super cute, packed a backpack with spoons/baby wipes and headed downtown. As we
were leaving the gates Chamma mumbled “bye” to the momma’s. This is the first
time I have heard her say any other words other than “ka-ka” and “Hi”. The
girls were so EXCITED! As soon as we left the mission gates I would say 95% of
the people we passed starred…stopped in their tracks and turned around to look
at us. We enthusiastically said “Bonsua!” which means “good-afternoon” to each
as many people as we could. The girls smiled at them and a few we even lifted
the girls arms to wave. When we got the one-stop we immediately drew a crowd of
people starring at us (mostly the one-stop workers…particularly the security
guard). I left both girls with Erin as I walked into the one-stop to buy 3
little containers of ice cream (the girls shared). Chamma loved her ice cream she tried chocolate, strawberry,
and vanilla! Rachel had a hard time eating it as it became liquid to quick
& she was aspirating BUT she enjoyed the 1:1 time. I purposely ate off of
the same spoon as Chamma to make an even bolder statement that these kids are
not a curse and we can’t catch anything from them even eating after them as is
believed. Before leaving I needed
to run back into the store to pick up a few items for Stephanie. I decided to
take Chamma in with me. I was surprised that the security guard ran in after me
and watched me intently the entire time…along with the rest of the staff. This was so unusual…since moving here I
have been to the one-stop over a dozen times and they have always been so
friendly & nice.
On the way back to the mission Erin and I were talking about
our feelings of what just happened…we came to the conclusion that though our
hearts hurt deeply on how the Haitian society views children with disabilities that
this activity is a great way to raise disability awareness and to practically
do disability advocacy. We plan on going tomorrow again with 2 different kids!
Since disabled children are hidden away…they are viewed so horribly/incorrectly…you
are shunned from your community for having a disabled child…you are looked down
upon…there is a severe lack of exposure. They need to see that the beliefs they
have are not justifiable…they need to see us loving on these children…they need
to see us being Christ’s hands and feet…They need to be shown the worth/value
these kids have!
As I have been sitting here reflecting more I began to think
what my parents must face 1x a week when they bring their children to outreach…how
many looks do they get?...How many mean things are said to them or about their
child?... How many are truly ostracized from their families and/or their communities?...How
many feel no other choice then to keep their child inside other than 1 day a
week?
The past 3 or 4 weeks God has really been laying on my heart
the importance of doing more outside the gates as far as disability care and
advocacy. A few things we are praying over include home visits to outreach families
homes, in the summer doing VBS combined with disability advocacy in my outreach
families area & bringing the disabled child/family and integrating them
into all the activities, and now doing little outings to the one-stop. The
thought of trying to change the view of disabilities in Haiti can seem so
overwhelming BUT God is constantly reminding me that just like I say that I
want to change Haiti 1 child at a time that the only way I am going to change
the mindset/view of disabilities in Haiti is by helping 1 person at a time see
the TRUTH!
Today we took Berto and Niaka down to the onestop for ice cream "their first date." We always joke that these 2 are boyfriend and girlfriend because they always sit next to each other. The other day I went downstairs and found them in the stroller with interlocking arms AND Berto does not like when anyone else sits next to him ;-) The security guard did not hang as close to us today and did not stare as much. We still had people stop and stare but the people who were there the day before did not. We realized this is a great way to do disability advocacy. Berto loved his ice cream but Niaka was not such a fan. It was a fun trip!
Today we took Berto and Niaka down to the onestop for ice cream "their first date." We always joke that these 2 are boyfriend and girlfriend because they always sit next to each other. The other day I went downstairs and found them in the stroller with interlocking arms AND Berto does not like when anyone else sits next to him ;-) The security guard did not hang as close to us today and did not stare as much. We still had people stop and stare but the people who were there the day before did not. We realized this is a great way to do disability advocacy. Berto loved his ice cream but Niaka was not such a fan. It was a fun trip!
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