U.N. Visit

           

Cute G.I. Joe soldier dancing
with Christella

             I have always wondered why the U.N. is in Haiti.  And, U.N. troops have always kinda scared me . . . pretty much all people with guns slung over their shoulders scare me.  Having said that, my only prior interaction with the U.N. was quite pleasant: a U.N. patrol car pulled me over about three years ago while I was driving my motorcycle—they just wanted to make sure I was okay.

Maxo always finds someone to hug!

            Today, I had more interactions with U.N. troops.  They came to hang out with our kids, provide lunch, and do some medical exams of our kids who have been sick.  I loved it!  The troops were awesome! 

            The group was pretty much all from Argentina, except one incredibly gorgeous guy who is from Brazil.  Gertrude was out running errands, so I got “to be in charge” . . . she even said so!  They arrived about 10:45, and right away got food in the kitchen so that it would be ready to go by 12:30.  The medical team came upstairs with me while the rest of the group went out back to play with the kids.

Medical team

            The medical stuff was interesting.  I knew which kids I wanted them to see—Keloke, Kethia, Nadia, Bradley, Junior, Judeline, Naika, and Sarah.  These kids have been sick on and off for the past two weeks, so I thought “why not have them checked out?”  Well, because the team is from Argentina (except for the hunk we labeled G.I. Joe), they all speak Spanish and some English.  Thank God I attend a church that has bilingual services in Spanish because I could actually understand some of what was being said.  Thank God for Abby who speaks Spanish because her dad’s side of the family is from Mexico.  Thank God for Rosie who is fluent in English and Creole.

            Here’s the way it worked: medical staff checked out the kids and spoke in Spanish.  Abby translated the Spanish into English.  Rosie then translated the English into Creole for her aunt, Suze, who is the nurse at the orphanage.  Pretty slick operation we had going!

            Many of the kids were doing fine, but some of the others need to be checked out.  Thanks to the U.N. troops we know that we need to get a nebulizer so that 2-3 of the kids can be treated for bronchitis or asthma.  We know that we need to get another child to the clinic for a urine sample because their might be a urinary tract infection.  We know that we have at least one child who needs a very different diet: six small meals a day, mostly bland (rice, applesauce, polenta, some bananas) . . . basically the BRAT diet. 

Jacky found a friend  . . . so happy
for him!

            Once the medical stuff was done, I was able to go down and hang with the other kids and soldiers.  It was so cool to see!  G.I. Joe was dancing with Christella—like really dancing, the way gentlemen used to dance with ladies.  Alvarez fell asleep in the arms of one female soldier.  I think it was Carlos who ended up pushing Princess Wilcia around for a while. 

            The kids loved the food the group brought—a goulash-type meal.   There was plenty to go around, and it was definitely better than the typical rice and beans or cornmeal mush and beans they get at lunch (I know because the kids shared some of the goulash with me and I have had the unfortunate luck of having tasted some of the rice/cornmeal mush/beans concoctions).

             I still really don’t know what the U.N. is doing in Haiti.  But, I do know that today, as in May when they came, they provided our kids with good food, attention, and lots of fun.  That’s not bad for a day’s work