Nuggets from Haiti - 2011, part 2

A treasured memory is from a visit to the dormitory for St. Vincent’s youngest residents while lunch was served. Those able to reach the table on their own sat down and began to eat while the non-ambulatory kids were fed in their wheelchairs. After Yolen finished eating and the worker cleaned up, Sonya took a wet wipe from her bag and began to clean Yolen’s mouth of excess rice.

Diana eating in her wheelchair

Lunchtime, eating beans and rice, a Haitian staple

Yolen

One of the deaf boys noticed, came over, and pointed to the wipes. Thinking she understood, Sonya pulled one out and tried to give it to him only to be refused. He simply pointed to his mouth and pointed his chin toward her, wordlessly requesting that his mouth be wiped too. This began a chain reaction of face wiping for every child in the dorm!

Everyone "needed" a wipe!

Good for wiping all parts of the face!

Everyone wanted their photo taken with a wipe.

Poses were struck! Smiles abounded!

It was wonderful to be able to provide this very simple pleasure for these sweet children but equally heartbreaking to know how much each child craves a mother’s touch even in the most practical ways. It is due to these types of experiences that we spend as much time with the children as possible when we visit, offering these moments that both the kids and our team cherish for a lifetime.