Haiti Kids

Images of Haiti

singing

July 19- we are crocheting in the women’s group today.  Everyone is very focused.  In the background, I can hear the children singing in the next room.  They are loud, very loud and joyful.  They pound on the desk in rhythm with their chanting. Sometimes the women get annoyed with all this noise.  But I live to listen to their singing, no matter how loud it gets.

can i touch your hair?

July 19- "Madame, can I touch your hair?"

up on the roof

July 15- I have befriended the young girls in the neighborhood. We meet at night, on the rooftop. One of them has a phone and a few downloaded music videos. I sit on a pail and they cluster around me, their boney elbows resting on my shoulders. They insist I watch their 1" screen filled with Haitian pop stars. Sometimes they dance for me and sometimes I attempt to dance for them. This brings a lot of laughter and rightfully so. When the bugs become too much, I excuse myself and go back to my room. Tonight, I am bringing my MP3 player. Madonna will be joining us.

Bridget Kelly in Haiti

Bridget Kelly in Haiti
Jacmel. Haiti
Summer 2013 


In the winter of 2010, Nadiv and Lynn Shapira, from Wilmington, DE, made their way to Jacmel, Haiti to offer medical treatment to the many people who suffered injuries from the devastating earthquake.

Lynn was so moved by the devastation and the poverty that she started the Haiti family Initiative when she returned to the USA.

Now in its fourth year, HFI offers a yearly summer Wellness Program.  The people of Jacmel are offered free medical care, a women's empowerment group and a camp for the children.

The program is run by volunteers from the United States and around the world. These volunteers are supported by translators from the Foreign Language Institute, an English language school started by a group of young men, dedicated to helping Haiti.

This summer, I was asked to spend the entire five weeks in Jacmel, with the intent of mentoring the translators so that they may some day take over all of the responsibilities of running the children's camp and the women's group.

I am grateful to have had such a rich opportunity.

Keeper of the Rice

KEEPER OF THE RICE 


 Little, dirty fingers slide in to the palm of my hands. They grab on to my belt loops. They hang on my purse straps. They cling to my legs. They know I am the keeper of the rice.