It just seems horrible that a parent would abandon their child. At least that is what I was thinking when I went with my friend Dortje to visit the abandoned baby room at the hospital. We were talking about it and she was telling me about some kids who are getting treated and then when the day comes for them to go home no one comes to pick them up. Some parents know that they can’t feed their children and at the hospital they get fed several times a day. So many people are living under a sheet held up by sticks and have no way to care for their kids. Others are afraid of the bandits roaming around. And others simply can’t afford to get here.
In the abandoned baby room it seems that most of them are special needs kids. Also, there were some older kids that they did not know what to do with yet as their parents had not come. One girl who was maybe 12 had been brought to Port au Prince from the country by her parents when she was very young to live with her aunt. Her aunt died in the earthquake and she does not know her parents names or the town she is from. So while the social service dept does an investigation she is in limbo here at the hospital. Certainly the orphanage will take her in when social services is done.
I spent about 45 minutes holding or playing with the kids. I intended to take photos and or video but I couldn’t. I can’t really explain why, but it did not feel right. Maybe when I get more time to spend with the kids in the hospital I will feel comfortable photographing them.
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dear colin,
ReplyDeleteas mother hurts and touchs me even more, what you write . but thank you for that. it´s helping me beeing even more aware of other people and their needs and looking also out of "my small, save little garden", helps me to be more awake...
big hug, alenka