Bondeau Christmas

Thursday begins the holiday season here in the U.S.  Twinkling white lights decorate the palm trees on my street, although it's weeks before Christmas.  Stores are decorated with Christmas wreathes and paper Santas.  Television and radio commercials shout at us about sales on "Black Friday".  So much hype!  So much money spent! So much distraction from what Christmas is really about! 

While I'm taking time away from Bondeau and Kay Timoun this month, my thoughts drift back to Bondeau.  I can't help but compare life here in Florida to life in Bondeau.  Those who have read my blogs know that Bondeau is an extremely poor country village in southern Haiti.  People have barely enough money to live on.  Very few have regular jobs.  Women buy and sell fruit and vegetables to make a few cents.  Others sell penny candy and cookies.  Men do manual work.  So, people don't have money for a festive Christmas.  They barely have enough to scrape together for a special dinner.  Certainly they don't have money to buy toys for their children. 

Christmas for the people in Bondeau is centered around the church as they celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus, born to poor peasant parents, born in an animal stable.  Parents in Bondeau relate to the poor circumstances of Jesus' birth.  They relate to Mary and Joseph who want to give Jesus the best they can, yet can only give him straw for a bed.  Many are in the same situation, wanting to give their children the best they can but can give them next to nothing.

So, there are no twinkling lights decorating the street, no Christmas wreathes or Santas.  Children are thrilled if when they return home from midnight mass they find a small toy tucked under their pillow.  Parents are thrilled if they are able to provide a special Christmas meal for the family.  There is nothing in Bondeau to distract from the real meaning of Christmas.  People in Bondeau know what Christmas is really about. 

Bondeau Baby

I enjoy taking a walk in the evening from Kay Timoun down the rocky driveway to the main road.   A few evenings ago I was taking that walk when I met a woman I have known for a long time.  She was carrying a baby.  We stopped to talk.  I fussed over the baby, talking baby talk. Very often a young child will cry the moment he/she sees me.  It's the light skin that scares them.  But this baby just looked with no reaction.  I quickly noticed that the baby, a girl, was very thin and had tired looking eyes.  Mama told me the baby is one year old.  I know enough about babies to know that a one-year old will either cry or smile or do something when greeted by a stranger.  This baby did nothing!  She just sat in her mother's arms.  So, now I was curious.  Why isn't the baby reacting?  I asked mama if the baby is breast feeding.  No, mama doesn't have milk.  Is the baby eating, drinking milk?  No, no money for milk, no money for baby formula or baby food.  I had seen a little girl in this condition before and in a short time, even though I tried to help, the baby was dead!  So, I talked to the mother about the importance of the baby eating.  She knows, but doesn't have money.  I immediately invited her to come with me to Kay Timoun, where I prepared a small amount of cooked oatmeal with milk and sugar.  (I never did finish my walk!)  I watched the baby while mama tried to feed her.  It was obvious that the child was not familiar with eating from a spoon.  She cried weakly, hardly making a sound.  I asked mama if she would come back every morning and I'd have good nourishing food for her baby.  She agreed to return every morning.  So, added to the shopping list that day was vitamin fortified baby cereal.  When she returned the following day, the baby was munching on a soggy cracker.  While cookies and crackers are OK for snacks, many mothers here think it replaces good nourishing food.  So, I tried to explain  to mama that crackers are not a meal and have very little food value.

Last year, we all at Kay Timoun took on a commitment to prepare breakfast, usually oatmeal with milk and sugar, or baby cereal, for twin baby girls that were undernourished when they showed up on our door step at two months old.  By the time the twins were a year old, they were chubby, happy babies, taking their first steps.

So, keep the little girl in your prayers.  She is very much at risk for malnutrition and who knows what other disease.  She needs good nourishing food, which she will receive as long as her mother brings her here to Kay Timoun.