A few days following the Haiti Earthquake, my student, John Krueger, walked in and said," My aunt and uncle are on their way to Haiti to help people." The way he said it made me realize that this seemed somewhat normal for him. . . I fired a bunch of questions at him and he did the best to answer them, but as an appointed "Gym Helper" who was never late for his job, he needed to run. John's mom, Annie, teaches reading (Assurance of Master, AOM) at our school, so I scurried up to her office, "Your brother is going to Haiti?! Really!?"
She shared with me that her brother, Dr. Pete Daly and his wife, Lulu, who is a nurse, started a Surgery Center next to an orphanage "Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos" or "Our Little Brothers and Sisters" which is home to over 500 children in a village outside of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and that they are connected to "Friends of the Orphans" throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Peter and Lulu were going to Haiti to perform amputations and to do whatever they could.
The students were interested and moved by their classmate John's relatives who were on their way into a disaster zone for 2 weeks. I asked them if they would like to make "thank you" cards that would be waiting for the exhausted volunteers upon their return. We could thank them for being willing to not only face, but be immersed in such pain and suffering, unable to help the masses who were still trapped beneath the rubble, but doing what they could for those who had survived. So far.
The students' sentiments were genuine and sweet. Many tried to empathize with the children who had lost parents, naturally. I had a bag of "model magic clay" in the cupboard, so we formed key words and attached them to the front of the cards. The kids really got into it.
In March, Peter and Lulu came to our school to meet the students. Our fourth graders had the opportunity to see one form of "humanitarian work" up close. Most of us we were WAY outside of our comfort zone just by glimpsing some of the photos. Pete and Lulu said that they had three sets of photos and these were the least painful, which was hard to even imagine.
Following our special guests' presentation, I said to them, "I would like to go."
That was in March and by mid-April, I was in the books and had my flight reservation made. John's mom, Annie, has been such a wonderful support, as well as Annie's sister Katie who has been there and gave me some packing tips, like bring instant coffee. Last Friday night, Dan and I were invited to small informational gathering for potential volunteers in the medical field and it was so good to touch base with Peter and Lulu again. Although we will not be there at the same time, I do not feel as if I am entirely alone. My guitar is coming along. . .
I will hop on the plane in less than 40 hours. Thank you for joining me here.
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