Never as it Seems--February 2016

 

Edeline in Park Cadot (Photo by John Carroll–February 1, 2016)

Summary:

1. Jean-Wendy will not be traveling to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday.

2. Jean-Wendy, his mother Edeline, and his two siblings will be leaving for Santo Domingo on Thursday.

3. The caregivers in the Dominican Republic do not want Jean-Wendy and his family ever to return to Park Cadot and are looking for a place for them to live in the Dominican Republic.

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One week ago I visited the Catholic priest who is pastor of the Catholic Church in Pedernales. His name is Father Milton.

I told Father Milton that I was working in the Camps across the border in Anse-a-Pitres and described Jean-Wendy’s horrible situation to him. I was totally surprised when he told me that he knew Edeline, Jean Wendy’s mother. He said that Edleine and Jean-Wendy and his siblings had lived on the outskirts of Pedernales until they moved to Camp Cadot. He even showed me some eye drops on his desk that had been used for Jean-Wendy.  I showed him pictures on his own computer that I had posted on Dispatches from Haiti of Jean-Wendy lying in the dirt in Camp Cadot.  Father Milton put his head down and shook it back and forth in disbelief.

I specifically asked Father to find a host family for them in Pedernales. I knew I was putting him in a bad situation because Edeline and her kids are all illegal in the eyes of the Dominican government and the sentiment in the Dominican against people like them is not good.

However, Father listened attentively and seemed agreeable to the idea. When I left his office I was cautiously optimistic.

Since my meeting with Father I have gone to two masses that he has said. But after mass he did not tell me anything about his search for a host family. So yesterday I finalized plans for transporting them to Port-au-Prince as described in this post.

Today when I arrived at Camp Cadot #1, I went directly to Edeline’s shack. She was out front and hugged me when I arrived.

I asked her if she was getting ready to go to Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. She looked at me and said that she and Jean-Wendy and the other two kids were not going to go. I was startled but can’t say I was surprised. I asked her why.

She said that yesterday (Sunday), she walked alone from Park Cadot across the border to Father Milton’s church in Pedernales to ask him for Jean-Wendy’s medical dossier from Santo Domingo. He told her that he had spoken with me and had seen pictures of Jean- Wendy in Camp Cadot.  He told her that she and Jean-Wendy and his siblings needed to leave Cadot due to its filth and the “risk of germs”.

Fr. Milton explained to Edeline that he had contacted the priest in Barahona (two hours from Pedernales) who had arranged for Jean-Wendy’s first eye surgery in Santo Domingo when Jean-Wendy was a baby. The Barahona priest agreed with Fr. Milton that Jean-Wendy should not live in the Camp and requested that Jean-Wendy return to Pedernales, then travel to Barahona, and he will schedule him for an ophthamology appointment in Santo Domingo and cover all costs.

I asked Edeline if she agreed with this plan. She said yes because she said that the priests are “responsible” for her and Jean-Wendy and that she feels responsible to them also. She feels strongly that she needs to listen to them and take their advice.

Even though all she has is her Haitian birth certificate translated into Spanish, Edeline does not fear going back to the Dominican when both priests are advocating for her and her children. Jean-Wendy and her other two children were born in the Dominican and all they have are their Dominican birth certificates. None of them are considered citizens of the Dominican Republic. However, the situation on the border is fluid and

Edeline is willing to take her chances.

Edeline has never been to school and when I asked her if she can read and write, she smiled and said, “I don’t know anything.” But she has street smarts galore and does not want to burn bridges just a few minutes from here with Fr. Milton and the Barahona priest. She seems very comfortable with her decision.

I told her that if this plan collapsed for any reason and she ended up back in Park Cadot, the wonderful host family in Port-au-Prince would still accept her and her children. She smiled and thanked me but she did add that she is afraid of Port-au-Prince due to the shootings and violence that she hears about.  Edeline has “people here on the border” who are willing to help her.

My last question to her was, “If you could only choose one place to live now, would it be Port-au-Prince or the Dominican Republic?” She immediately answered, “the Dominican Republic.”

Apprehensive baby in Park Cadot (Photo by John Carroll–February 1, 2016)

 

John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org