Sobering and Encouraging
Posted by shawn alexander on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 @ 06:11 AM
Beginning at 7 AM, we again visited the women entreprenuers. We met them at a small road side market, in the street as they were on an errand but mostly in their homes. This was again a sobering day but one that provided a little encouragement.
Milord Cloitide, is a 37 year old mother of 3. During the earthquake, she was outside cooking a meal on the fire when her house began to collapse. Her one year old son was in the house and as she turned to run toward it to retrieve him, she saw a large wooden plank fall on him. Unable to get help, it was 4 hours before he died in her arms.
Marie Lourdes' sister had her back broken when a side of the block wall fell on her resulting in paralysis from the neck down. It was 2 days before she could get her to a hospital as she had no transportation. What type of treatment will she receive for this severe injury in a local Haitian hospital?
We then met with a group of women of Fondespwa, who were working together. One member of the 6 was missing and that was Afozen Gertande. She lost her life in the quake, when a concrete block fell on her when she returned to her house to fetch her child. Next week, at their biweekly meeting, we need to do something to commemorate her life.
When we expressed heartfelt sorrow to the women over the last 3 days concerning these deaths and injuries, the women seemed to shrug it off and say they were fine. They did not appear to express deep sadness. It caught us off guard. We asked the missionaries later about this and they stated, the Haitian woman frequently show that attitude because they are surrounded by constant suffering, set backs, loss of life at early ages and therefore must live for today, as tomorrow is so uncertain and fragile. To have a light touch on life and those whom they love, is the only way they can cope.
Almost all have lost their homes and knowing they have meager possesions and limited resources, we neverhtless ask how will they fix their house so they can move out of their tents? The answer is usually the same, "only God knows". End of story, time to move on. In the minds of many, they may live in their "new" houses for years.
We ask the women if they want Fondespwa to continue or have these events made our service to them unimportant. The short answer is to definitely carry on. They have said:
"We have something to do so we are not busy bodies but busy bees; our husbands are not mad at us because we provide much to our families; we are held in high regard by others because we have a business; we feel more independent, we have food for our children; we can now send our children to school; finally we have good clothing for our children; we are proud of ourselves; we have hope for a better life."
After we had spoken with one member of Fondespwa, we walked with her through her part of town, so she could direct us to the homes of other members. So that we would be comfortable, she had her 3 children carry little metal chairs on which we could sit and be comfortable, when we stopped to speak with the women. In their misery, they still show so much kindness.
In the last 3 days, we have met with 98 women and have a pretty good sense of how they now life and will for the foreseeable future. It's bleak.