Donna

I was inspired by the people around me at the clinic today. This morning one of our translator/aides Guibson told us he encountered a woman trying to walk up the hill toward the hospital as he was walking to work. He noticed she was swaying and having trouble holding her balance and asked her what was wrong. (He is learning to evaluate a person’s gait already!) She told him she had not eaten in 2 days and did not feel well. He helped her to clinic and had her wait in a grassy area behind the hospital. After lunch, when the kitchen staff was cleaning up, he asked if he could help them scrape the baked rice from the large rice cooking pot. They were happy to turn the chore over to Guibson. He asked me if he could take some water from us and he used it to loosen the baked on rice and fill a plate for her with it. He scraped some bean sauce from a second pot and made her a plate of food. He then asked if he could fill an empty water bottle with more water and give it to her. We told him he overwhelmed us with his generosity toward her and he said that God and we, had been generous to him by providing him this new job. He felt he wanted to pass God’s blessings on. He told us he saves a portion of his pay each week for the future and uses a small portion to help those he finds who are in need each week. He told us he believes if you give to others it will come back to you. Some ideas are universal.
One of the children presented me with a hand woven bracelet that says, “I love Haiti” and thanked me for being there helping today. I told him I would accept the gift if he would allow me to present him with a gift tomorrow. He smiled from ear to ear and nodded “yes!” That smile and the light in his eyes just brightened my afternoon.
The head nurse who attended JoAnn’s inservice yesterday came by as I was working on Judeline’s hand and Judeline was obviously in pain. She stopped to talk with her and encourage her and then left and returned with a soft rubber ball for Judeline to work with. I was so happy to see one of the nursing staff being encouraging and also being willing to work with the therapists for the good of the patients. JoAnn’s program really seemed to have the desired effect of making us part of the team now!
What an amazing world it would be if everyone spent their days looking for those in need and then helping them, thanking others for their service, encouraging someone during a difficult time or just bringing your wide childish smile to a melting team of tired and hot therapists.