Black Press reporter Katherine Engqvist followed a team representing the Westshore Rotary Club as they travelled to Haiti to assess the needs of two orphanages. The following is the first installment in a four-part series highlighting some of the people they met with along the way.
The road to the Divine Hands Orphanage near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is dotted with mauve hibiscus growing wild along banks scattered with garbage.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e never been to this part of Haiti B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 almost like going over the Malahat,B次元官网网址� said Langford resident and Glenwood Meats owner Rick Fisher. HeB次元官网网址檚 lost count, but this is roughly his 10th time venturing to Haiti on humanitarian trips.
Approximately six months ago the orphanageB次元官网网址檚 director, Doris Abraham, decided to pack up everything she could and relocate after discussions with her new landlord. It was a move that landed her in the hospital. Now, she stands on the side of the main road, waiting for a group of special visitors. The little round woman is beaming as she flags down the truck carrying a group of Westshore Sunrise Rotary volunteers. A smile spreads across her freckled face and she wraps Rotarian and Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett in a bear hug.
The new location is more than an hourB次元官网网址檚 drive from the previous. But itB次元官网网址檚 further into the countryside, away from the city. Two oleander bushes frame the front entrance, which is packed with smiling children. The team arrives with Lays potato chips and juice boxes B次元官网网址� as well as enough chicken and vegetables to make a proper feast. The children all wait patiently for everyone to get a bag before tearing into them, older children helping smaller ones. Little hands reach down to feed the small dogs that wait patiently under the wooden benches. Others trade sips of the different flavours of juice.
B次元官网网址淭his is so much better than before B次元官网网址� you should have seen the neighbourhood they came from, it was awful,B次元官网网址� Beckett said.
Hilary Groos, a Victoria resident and the wife of a Rotarian that has made the trip twice in the past, translates for Doris as she sits down with the team. B次元官网网址淭he kids feel better here B次元官网网址� The insects are way less,B次元官网网址� she noted.
Little treasures and stuffed animals line tables beside bunk beds. The girls stay in rooms inside the house, while the older boys stay in a dorm outside the main building. It was constructed by the Westshore team on a previous trip. When they moved, Doris had it reassembled at the new location. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 how we designed it,B次元官网网址� Beckett said proudly, as he examines their handiwork.
Through Groos, Doris noted theyB次元官网网址檝e rigged up what they could for electricity and lighting. Issues with power also affect the delivery of water, which is pumped from a 180-foot well into two holding tanks, and from there, B次元官网网址渆verything is carried by hand into the house,B次元官网网址� Doris added.
When Doris and the children arrived at the new property the well was dry and had to be re-dug by hand. B次元官网网址淲e did that in Ethiopia once and it scared the willies out of me,B次元官网网址� said Saanich Coun. Leif Wergeland, part of the volunteer group.
The electricity is usually on for five or six hours a day, just enough time to fill the tanks, but Doris noted they often run out of water when the powerB次元官网网址檚 off for extended periods.
On the other side of the entrance is a small makeshift shelter, protecting a cage containing roughly 40 chickens. They produce enough eggs to provide another source of protein, but in the future Doris would like to expand their operation to 160 chickens so sheB次元官网网址檒l also be able to sell eggs.
A little boy named Tyson has taken a special interest in the project. He hauls a bucket filled to the brim with water over to the cage. As he climbs on a rock ledge, the bucket B次元官网网址� about a third of his size B次元官网网址� teeters dangerously. He manages to keep it balanced while he continues up the side of the cage, pouring the water through a drip line the chickens can drink from.
A large perimeter wall topped with barbed wire encloses the front and sides of the orphanage, but it slowly disappears as you climb the hill to the house, leaving the back half of the property exposed. B次元官网网址淎nd thatB次元官网网址檚 a problem for them,B次元官网网址� Beckett notes as he tours the property.
Doris allows a man and his family, including his four children, to live in a little concrete room attached to the house. In exchange, he provides security and does odd jobs around the property.
Originally from the Dominican Republic, Doris has personally lost five pregnancies and while she has no biological family of her own, she notes B次元官网网址渢he children are my family.B次元官网网址� But it hasnB次元官网网址檛 been an easy path to follow, she said, noting itB次元官网网址檚 incredibly difficult and at times she fears sheB次元官网网址檒l have to give it up. She looks to the group in front of her, tears sting at her eyes while discussing what the Westshore Rotary Club is able to help her with. B次元官网网址淧lease realize this means an incredible amount to me and the kids,B次元官网网址� she adds.
Fisher shakes his head, B次元官网网址渢hereB次元官网网址檚 no end to their immediate need.B次元官网网址�
While the group is there to help her purchase a long list of items such as a generator, more chickens, mattresses and food, they are also assessing the viability of purchasing the land the orphanage sits on. This will free up about $4,000 US annually earmarked for rent.
Later riding in the back of the truck, the orphanage disappearing from view, Wergeland turns to the group. B次元官网网址淲hen you leave a place like this, you can either remember something like all of the garbage, or you can remember the smiling faces of the children,B次元官网网址� he said.
Jonathan, the boy with the gloves
A little boy adjusts the bright red work gloves he wears on each hand. ItB次元官网网址檚 not immediately clear why heB次元官网网址檚 wearing them, until he shuffles and his two wooden crutches come into view. One of his legs is completely gone, while a prosthetic masks his missing right foot. His name is Jonathan and back in January, Bruce Brown and other Westshore Rotary volunteers arranged to have him fitted with artificial limbs.
Rick Fisher smiles at him and the 10-year-old returns the gesture. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e got a funny feeling he got crushed by some concrete (in the earthquake) and they must have cut his leg off to get him out B次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檚 got quite a scar on his head (too),B次元官网网址� Fisher said. B次元官网网址�(But) heB次元官网网址檚 amazing playing soccer with the other kids.B次元官网网址�
Doris Abraham, the Divine Hands Orphanage director, pipes up, noting B次元官网网址渉eB次元官网网址檚 a really bright young kid.B次元官网网址� While she is very careful to take him to all of his follow-up appointments, he only likes to wear one of his prosthetics at a time. Doris notes that JonathanB次元官网网址檚 mother, who was very young at the time, abandoned him after the quake because she thought he would become a burden.
When heB次元官网网址檚 not using them, JonathanB次元官网网址檚 red gloves get passed along to the younger children. A small boy sits on the front steps pulling them over his small fingers, smiling as he inspects how it looks.
To learn about RotaryB次元官网网址檚 work in Haiti go to or for more information on Divine Hands, search La Main Divine Orphelinat on Facebook.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com
