We were thrilled when Cassie Foster, a college freshman at Liberty University and a causelife donor, asked us if she could write a post about her recent trip to Haiti. Below are some of her thoughts on her experience:
One word describes the Dominican Republic: breathtaking. I listen to the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs only footsteps across the highway, admire the tall palm trees lining the road, and glance at a cloudy, yet beautiful sky. The perfect weather was only a bonus to the breathtaking sights. Soon, however, the striking palm trees begin to become sparser, the classical buildings turn into shacks, and the road becomes more like a bumpy roller coaster instead of a pleasurable ride.
Although the Dominican Republic and Haiti make up the same island, they each represent entirely separate worlds. The dirtiness of Haiti makes me feel as if I am living in luxury when I enter those dreaded bathrooms at truck stops in the United States. Masses of people are working, walking, and carrying items twice their weight as they stare at the crazy white Americans driving by. Haiti is like nothing I have ever experienced before. Yelling, screaming, and sadness surround me. I have never felt so much hopelessness in one place.
Children run around the villages with no clothes on their bare skin and no parents watching over them. Slave children haul water to their owners. And when I say haul, I mean it. Buckets upon buckets of water being pulled and pushed on a broken cart by three small boys under the age of 10. The village is anything but sanitary. The people are anything but kind. The towns are anything but safe.
Children hauling water to their owner
How blessed I am . . . Thank you God for what you have given me!
However, everything seems to transform once we arrive at Danita’s Children in Quanaminthe, Haiti. It feels as if a safety net has been cast around us. Sweet children surround me from all sides in their brightly colored school uniforms. They are laughing, dancing, playing soccer and, of course, catching up on what’s happening with so and so over there. A completely different world from what I had just experienced. The children here have hope, something I had not seen on the open streets of the town.
As God would have it, I met a little boy who would change my life forever, Alexon. This sweet, beautiful boy was only 7 years old, and he was dying of malnutrition. As I held him, I experienced something I had never fully understood before. I could feel the pain of this child dying from malnutrition. Every thought in my mind shut down as I felt the bones in his spine jutting out of his frail back. Every part of me cried out for this small boy who had been through more than I will ever go through in my entire life. This boy is the reason I am in Haiti.
Cassie with Alexon
I listen intently to the story of this sweet child, and my heart begins to truly understand the horror of malnutrition. Alexon had been brought to the home only two weeks earlier along with a little girl suffering from the same disease. However, for that precious girl, it was too late. She was taken by the illness in a matter of days—A disease that can easily be prevented by clean water and food. A small, precious gift from God, taken away by something we take for granted every single day. I have access to clean water and something to eat at any time. More than just “something” to eat, I have enough food to feed more than just myself, unlike the people in Haiti who do not even have enough to feed their children.
With the help of clean water, we can make a difference in the Haitians’ lives. We can help other children just like Alexon.
Thousands of children silently die each day around the globe due to malnutrition. No one hears their cries, no one sees their tears, and no one comes to their aid. How would you feel if it was your child dying in your arms, and you could do nothing about it? How would you feel if there was no one to save them, no way to stop their agony and bring them a full and prosperous life? Many have lost their lives to malnutrition, but the battle is not over yet.
Many lives are now being saved and drastically changed by providing clean, safe water through causelife. Wells are being drilled throughout the world in Guatemala, Haiti, India, Africa, and multiple other locations.
Alexon is only one of the many miracle stories of children who are being saved through the gift of clean water, but there are even more children who are in need of our help. Will you join the cause and help save a life?
-Cassie Foster