The Missionaries of Charity

Today we had the opportunity to visit an orphanage outside of Port au Prince that is run by Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Theresa of Calcutta’s order of nuns. Their mission is to serve the “poorest of the poor” around the world, so sadly, Port au Prince is a natural place for them to set up shop. We were told that when we got there, we’d have no guide or orientation, but that we should just start walking around and doing. As we walked in the door, I was kind of nervous, and as we walked into the first room full of about 30 cribs with some really sick looking babies, I felt totally overwhelmed …. For about 1 minute until I felt two little arms wrap around my legs. Oh, I guess this is what they meant by just start doing stuff. I picked up the kid who looked not older then 2 and started walking around with him and looking at all the fake flowers hanging from the ceiling and posters of Mickey Mouse and pictures of Mother Theresa hanging on the walls. He was so smiley and repeated everything I said, in English or Kreyol. We started walking around saying hello to all the other babies who were in cribs unable to walk. Most were just sitting lethargically. Many were crying. A few had IV drips. What struck me more than the crying ones was how silent many of the others were. And in that whole room full of babies, I couldn’t get even one to smile … and I’m kind of good at making babies smile.

I walked into another room full of parents and families who were there visiting their children. Many of these kids aren’t actually orphans at all, but their families just can’t care for them right now for some reason. So many families came. Mothers sat on the floor and nursed their babies. Many more fathers than I expected came and held theirs. A few siblings came along too. These were really normal looking people – not crazy or convicts or drug dealers – just people who can’t care for their children and found in the Sisters’ orphanage a better alternative than leaving their child malnourished or uncared for. The children – all between about 8 months and 2 years – were all being fed a kind of rice cereal. So I found one who didn’t have any family with her, sat on the floor and fed her. Then her father arrived and I happily handed her to him so he could finish feeding her. Later after he fed her and rocked her and changed her diaper, I saw him just standing beside her as she stood in her crib, and he was just fanning her fact with a piece of paper. I found another little girl to feed and I was struck by the fact that her hair smelled like clean baby smell. I put my finger in her hand expecting the usually baby reflex or wrapping her fingers around mine, but she didn’t. She just ate what I put into her mouth, and occasionally looked up at me. I found another little boy who was standing in his crib crying and reaching out, so I picked him up. He immediately buried his head on my shoulder, and I just held him tight and bounced him until he fell asleep. I thought I could get away with putting him down, but as soon as I started to pull him away from me, he startled and held onto my shoulder. So I sat down and just kept rocking him. Later on I found the older kids – between about 3 and 6 eating lunch. They had such a big healthy lunch, and many of the tiniest asked for seconds! When I walked in I found the same little guy who had greeted me in the beginning, so I sat down with him to eat lunch. He was a little small to feed himself (I thought) so I started feeding him. Then I realized he must be so much older than his size suggested because he was MORE than capable of feeding himself, and directing me to exactly which parts of the meal he wanted to eat at which time. After lunch and a few games of Simon says with those bigger kids, it was time to go. Walking away from children who don’t get much stimulus and just saying “bye” was terrible.

For me that whole experience was strangely joyful. Some people found it overwhelming and frustrating to consider why so many kids were so desperate and how could the situation be different, and what will have to change to improve their chances. I guess I just didn’t care about any of that for those three hours because my only purpose was to do something for the children around me – hold them, feed them, change their diaper, play with them, rock them to sleep. I’ll worry about changing the world that put them there in the first place tomorrow.