PLEASE NOTE: Be aware, some viewers may find a number of these images to be disturbing or upsetting.
This is a second post for July 22. It could not be left to obscure inconspicuousness in the middle of yet another random post…
…this was a special place. Full of very very special people.
Twenty-nine years ago, someone brought an orphaned baby to Sister Flora while she was spending time on Ill-a-Vasche. The baby was unresponsive and not breathing. Everyone said the baby boy was dead, but Sister Flora could hear a very faint heartbeat. Within moments she had gotten a reaction from the limp body with a bit of lemon juice on his mouth. Sister Flora then took to CPR, resuscitating the baby and solidifying her mission on the island.
One orphan baby became two, then three, then dozens. But many of the children aren’t simply orphaned children – some even from the recent earthquake.
Many are extremely physically or mentally handicapped. And she cares for them all – all 40 or 50 of them – as if they are her own children. In fact, some of them are: she has adopted quite a few.
Her greatest concern, though, is constantly in the back of her mind. A petite woman growing much older by the day, she worries who will take her place in the years to come. Some come to the orphanage to help for weeks at a time, but there is no successor in mind.
Sister Flora teaches the children there a craft which they then sell in Les Cayes, the closest town on the mainland, for a little supplemental income. When that fails or doesn’t provide enough, she has been known to go out on the street and seek assistance directly from anyone who will hear her plea.
The fifty-something children at the orphanage truly do seem happy – Sister Flora does seem to be succeeding. When asked how she manages, she says, “For 29 years I have lived to care for these children one day at a time.”
(Follow this link if the embedded window doesn’t work properly. I’ve tested in Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. Sometimes the window cuts off the photos improperly.)
If you’re curious what happened to the first baby: he’s now 29 years old with a family of his own living in France.
Stay tuned,
-Noah D.
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PS: I have contact information if you ever feel compelled to help.
