Children's Respite Home & Outreach Project, Haiti

I am 19. I have taken time off from school to come and volunteer with HHA and offer what I can. I am by no means a qualified Doctor, Teacher, or Agriculture expert; people who could do wonders In Haiti.

With my time I have had the privilege of coming across and working with some of the children at the respite home (Maison de Benediction) here. At the Maison, be it mentally or physically, all are disabled ranging in severity. In what might be ignorance with my age I have brought a multitude of easy musical instruments, balls, and some hygiene products. After seeing these children I quickly realized this is not what they truly need. They need better nutrition. They need better equipment. What they need.... is more attention.

For what I have brought, it is truly beautiful to see how far it has managed to go. I did not bring everything at once and for some time there was chaos over who gets what. Now each child has taken to one thing or another. I can come and play some soccer or pick up a drum and everybody will grab their new trinkets and join in even if it is just one note over and over. It is an escape that these kids enjoy.

But this is not always the case.

As these kids grow on me I do my best to come with the same enthusiasm and get them to jump in. Unfortunately, too often I see kids quiet or tired, who don't want to or suddenly stop participating. Like healthy children, they too are sad, or tired, or hungry, or sick, or irritated because their clothes are dirty and causing sensitive skin or insects to harass them. The difference is that in other 1st world countries these are easily resolved or removed entirely. For several of these children the families they go home to at the end of the week really struggle to provide the intense amount of care needed.

However, without the Maison the quality of life for each child would be drastically worse. They would not have any degree of the attention, schooling, or even the recreational interaction the staff provides.

I am 19. As a result of that I don't have the qualifications or ability to give these kids some of the solutions they need. But I can come and cheer them up for some time while I'm here. So when somebody donates or volunteers I can vouch for how far it can go for these kids.

Links:

• Read more about our disability care work