Great Photo?--January 2016

 

(Photo by John Carroll–January 29, 2016)

When I saw these boys on the mule yesterday, I thought what a great photo-op.

But you know what it is great for?

It is great for showing the misery of Haiti. They are not happy boys. They are hungry boys. Their lives are incredibly uncomfortable.

They lack the basics.

Most likely they were born at home.

Most likely they are behind on their childhood vaccinations. (They may have never had ANY vaccinations.)

Their mothers have limited access to clean water for them.

They struggle EVERY DAY to get enough to eat.

As the years go by they will watch impassively and helplessly as other siblings and lakou friends die from “stupid deaths”.

Twenty years from now, they will have done an incredible amount of hard work in the unforgiving Haitian fields. Their back muscles running up and down their spines will be like steel cables. But they won’t be able to read and write.

Their life expectancy is about 60 years. If they are lucky.

So it is a “great photo” if we look in their eyes and understand what they are telling us.

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org