In Port-au-Prince, our medical mission team stopped at an orphanage to provide lunch for the children (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we made the night before), to make donations of clothing, school supplies, and games, to provide basic medical care to those with the greatest need, and to spend some time playing with the children.

Many orphanages in developing countries lack adequate services … running water, electricity, sufficient staffing, and medical care. In addition, the children come from deplorable situations, often carrying physical and emotional scars from their difficult situations. Some children are simply dropped off by family members, because for some reason they feel unable to care for them. Then there are others who are found in the trash. Sometimes, children have had some kind of medical situation that their families were unable to attend to, compounding a situation that may lead to a permanent condition or amputation. The permanent medical condition they created by not being able to access or provide adequate medical care often leads to abandonment. Some children are born on the streets to prostitute mothers and are abandoned or brought into the world of prostitution at an extremely young age until rescued by someone who cares enough to bring the child to an orphanage. Sometimes a mother will move in with a new boyfriend, bringing the child with her, and then use the opportunity to abandon the child at some point in the future hoping the boyfriend will see the child as his responsibility. In some cases, children are left in abandoned homes, or are locked in closets or small rooms for long periods of time, because no one is available to care for them. While the stories seem endless, the reality is that NO child should have to experience any of these life scenarios. And yet, many do … daily.

An orphanage visit definitely emphasizes the point that mission is more often about “being” than “doing.” Orphans need someone who will be with them, staying long enough to let them know they aren’t forgotten … that they are loved. On this hot sunny day we arrived to a very warm and energetic welcome … in fact, it was a bit overwhelming, particularly after four very full days of medical clinics. All of the children were excited to be touched, held, or to be played with. Many signaled that they wanted to be picked up. Once raised into our arms, most didn’t want to be put down nor did they want to let go. Like several others in our group, I quickly ended up sitting on the floor so that I could hold more than one child at a time.

One young boy (~ 4 years old) will be in my thoughts for a long time to come. I never knew his name, and he didn’t say a word to me. He sat on my leg for a long while … just sat. At one point, another child tried to monopolize me and he got very upset. He didn’t say anything, but used his presence to make it clear he wouldn’t be moved. What sticks in my mind about him was that he didn’t seem to have any kind of emotional affect (outside of that brief forceful standing of his ground on my lap). I spoke to him, touched his arms, handed him things as they were passed around by others, but he never did anything but look forward with a blank stare. He didn’t take things from me. He didn’t smile. The only emotion thus far was the few moments when he thought his spot on my lap would be threatened. When I was ready to resign myself to the assumption that maybe he had a learning disorder or some kind of brain damage, I noticed a tear running down his face. Though there was no change in his facial expression, he was crying. Tears ran down his cheeks for several minutes. I wiped away his tears with my finger. There still wasn’t any movement or change in expression. He didn’t offer any kind of emotion other than the tears. But after I wiped them away, he leaned back into my shoulder, snuggled into the fold of my arm, and fell into a deep sleep. I continued to hold him until we were ready to leave, at which point I laid him down on a padded bench and walked out of the building.

It was difficult to put him down. It was difficult to leave the orphanage. As short term missioners, we know we have to leave. But those who touch are lives, somehow change us … they become a part of us. I guess, in this way, we are living out one of the blessings of the Eucharist … where we are all one in Christ.