Can You See What I See?

This preschooler at St Gabriel All-Girls School in Gros Morne, Haiti, is now seeing clearly for the first time in her life.  The gift of sight!  Brought by a team of volunteer optometrists and technicians from Lions In Sight, California, in partnership with Mercy Beyond Borders.  The team screened over 1,000 K-12th grade students in 2 days (in itself something of a miracle). The only disappointed kids were the ones who DIDN'T get glasses; apparently it was such a novelty that they ALL wanted a pair.

With Your Best Foot Forward

Wherever there's a scrap of shade in South Sudan, that's where you'll find children studying, doing their best to get some relief from the searing heat.  No such thing as air conditioning, of course. Not even a cold drink (ever!).  With their backs against the hot cement and their feet sticking out into the sunshine, these girls know how lucky they are to be among the 650 students at St Bakhita Primary--the only all-girls' primary school in the nation.  MBB is proud to pay for their education.

Facing Life

You wake up before dawn in a mud hut. You trek hours for water that you carry on your head. You cut and haul firewood. You build the fire. You pound the maize. You cook for the family. You care for children and share with your neighbors. You dig (farm). If the rains come at the right time, you harvest. You bind thatch to build your house. You are treated by most men as "worth less than a cow." Yet you don't give up. You pray that the civil war will end some day. You dream about better things for your children. And all the while, you face life with a SMILE.

You, the strong women of South Sudan, amaze and inspire me!

"Where there's a wheel..."

Photo by Elisa Divoux

Yes, it must be true: "Where there's a wheel, there's a way."  (Who said that, anyway?) Surely we see evidence of it in rural Haiti, where folks fashion useful items out of bits and pieces left over from somewhere else, and where disabled persons fend creatively for themselves with determined ingenuity. Hats off to those who find a way even when life seems stacked against them.

Caribbean Beauty

Most descriptions of Haiti emphasize its poverty and the devastation that has resulted from its various natural disasters. Lesser known is the stunning beauty to be found in Haiti. Think Caribbean Sea. Think palm trees and white beaches. Think juicy mangoes and mouth-watering pork griot. Think friendly people. Lively culture. Vibrant art. Steel-drum music. Think beauty!