Up close and personal

Lesley is a member of group from St Pauls church in London,who visited Haiti recently. Lesley and her team did some wonderful and much needed work at the Maison de Benediction, HHA’s respite home for kids with disabilities. Lesley also spent time with Heather another team member, visiting patients in the wards and praying for both patients and family members who were happy to be prayed for. This is a short reflection by Lesley, written the day before her return to the UK.  

This trip to the hospital at Haiti has been a journey, both literal and metaphorical. I have witnessed poverty such as I’ve not seen before and in the hospital I have seen such suffering. And there’s always an underlying tension, seeing staff provide a service in such difficult circumstances. I am full of admiration for them, yet frustrated knowing that it is not enough. It could be much worse,  but is it the best this country has to offer.

Praying for the patients - such a privilege. Seeing their faces, at first so wary and closed, light up as they smile. They are grateful to receive our prayers. It felt like just a drop in the ocean, but like the widows mite, was offered in sincerity.

And what of the Maison de Benediction? A place now engraved on my heart. Such admiration for those who care for these children day in and day out, with such scant resources.

Working with the children who are able to respond is a such a delight. To bring them a moment of joy and happiness is such a rich blessing to us. But those who can’t respond, who lie still and unresponsive, will pull more at my heart strings, for many years to come.