Knowing that most mothers only abandon a child when they are afraid, desperate, and feel they have no other options, Haitian Families First asked hospital staff and members of the community to help us find the mother.

We’ve helped in this situation before and knew we could do it again.

The next day, we found Clamene who told us that she had searched for help for a long time, but was unable to find it, and now she didn’t think Edanson would live.

Because she had no money, she left him at the hospital, hoping doctors would care for him. If she’d stayed with him, she would have been forced to pay, otherwise, the doctors would have refused to treat him. Leaving him seemed her only hope of having him treated.

With our promise to help her, she came back to the hospital bringing along her infant daughter Nashka. Doctors took care of both children during their hospital stay and, true to our word, we helped with the bill. Edanson spent close to a month in the hospital recovering from illness surrounding malnutrition. During this time we also found that Clamene suffered from pneumonia and anemia. This meant that her infant daughter Nashka was not getting proper nutrients from breast feeding and was not growing adequately.

With the help of Haitian Families First’s basic medical and nutrition programs, Edanson and Nashka are home with their loving mother, and their older brother Esteven. Nashka is breast feeding and growing every day. Esteven recently started his first year of school. Edanson may not realize how close he was to not making it, but we will certainly remember in order to help the next family in need.

The obvious? We’re women!

Although I started my work in Haiti when I was technically just a girl, I have grown up in the last 10+ years to become a woman who cares about other women. And as an organization aimed at caring for children and keeping families together, our biggest impact in a community is often through the strong empowered women in our programs.

Take Jeta, a mother of two who, when we met her, had placed her four-year old daughter with a distant family member hours away because she felt unable to properly care for her. She had lost her job and her partner, and was struggling to feed her young son.

We hired Jeta to work as a community liaison for HFF, and she is now raising both of her children at home. She spends hours in the hospital comforting families enrolled in our Health & Wellness program, she visits newborns to be sure that their caregivers are meeting their needs, and answers any questions they might have.

Last week (as I explain in the video above) we faced an unexpected challenge: we purchased our weekly supply of powdered formula/milk and distributed it to the families, as usual. A few days later, we received calls from many families that the kids had gotten sick.

We found out that the milk had been contaminated with microscopic bugs and eggs.

This is tough for us. Not only did we face higher than usual doctor bills for the kids who became ill, but we had to repurchase an entire week’s supply of milk. This unexpected event cost us approximately double what we normally factor for a week.

In the days following the kids getting sick, Jeta took the lead on checking in with the families that we had not heard from to make sure that their kids had not been affected, and helping them to make ‘serum’, a homemade version of pedialyte made using purified water, salt, and sugar.

Thanks to Jeta’s diligence in checking in on the kids, only a few of them had to be hospitalized for dehydration. She’s a tremendous asset to the HFF family and knew just what to do during this trying time.

Unexpected struggles like this can be tough on our organization, as we are careful to plan out our budget. In Haiti, the unexpected can happen any time, and we have to be ready. This week, we want to ask you for your help.

Please donate to Milk Week.

Whether you contribute the equivalent of your favorite gallon of milk or join the nutrition program as a monthly sponsor, your love of milk can make a difference.

Alfred & His Mom

Ali & Clercine

Ali & Ramses

Anise

Esteven

Jamie Kissing Stevenski

Jamie Tickling Karine

Nashka Learning to Walk

Stecie & Her Grandma

Widjina & Her Dad

So now you’ve seen some smiling faces that give us strength as we fulfill our mission.  It’s your turn!  Leave a comment below and tell us your mission.

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