The other morning when I had a break in between English conversation classes that I teach at the sisters' school in the city, I went for a short walk along the boulevard where the sea is on one side of the road and restaurants are on the other. While I was walking two school-aged children (who do not actually attend school), approached me. They asked me for Pesos, the currency in the Dominican Republic. I explained that I did not have any pesos and we continued to chat. They told me they were living on the street. I asked where they had slept and they both pointed to the same street corner. I believed them and felt heartbroken that children so young would be homeless and not even with a caring adult. It occurred to me that even though I spent many years working with people experiencing homelessness in the United States, and even though I have been living in Cap-Haitian for three and a half years now, I had no idea where to refer them for services. Although I am normally reluctant to give money to people, I gave them the very small amount of goudes I had in my pocket, enough to buy one boiled egg or a banana. I felt helpless having no idea what to do for them.
I continued on my walk feeling empathy for them and disappointed in myself for not knowing how to help them. Most of my professional experience has been with people experiencing homelessness of one kind or another. When I initially came to Haiti the first time, in the aftermath of the Earthquake, it was with a sense of call that I personally and we as religious were called to go wherever the needs are the greatest. Here I am, in a country where there is a lot of and sometimes extreme poverty, and on that morning, I was teaching conversational English to some of the most privileged teenage girls in Cap-Haitian and I was completely clueless about resources for people experiencing homelessness. How had this happened?
There are many orphanages in Haiti, but that does not mean that they will take children off of the street. The orphanage where I work for example only takes children whose mothers have died but who have some extended family who can care for them during Christmas and summer vacations and only accepts new children who are younger than these boys are. Governmental child protective services that are supposed to ensure that minors are adequately cared for in the US, don't really exist here in the same way.
When I was walking back toward the school where I teach, they came to me again. The conversation continued. I learned that they had come from a town a bit of distance away and that they were 8 and 11 years old. Much too young to be on their own! They followed me until I got to the gate of the school where I teach English classes. The whole time I was wondering what I could do to offer at least a little more assistance. I told them to wait and that I would try to find out where they could go for help. I went into the convent and called the sister who is in charge of the orphanage where I work and asked if she knew of a program for children who are living on the street. She told me of a community that has such a program and in which section of the city it is located. I looked on the internet for the phone number and tried calling a couple of times but got no answer.
They boys had waited for me. I told them what neighborhood and the name of the congregation who supposedly has a program for children living on the streets. I explained that I had tried to call but had not gotten an answer and that I hoped this would be helpful. I gave them a small amount of money in case they wanted they could take a tap-tap there and I encouraged them to head towards that neighborhood and to ask people where the program is located. They told me that they would come back to see me tomorrow, I told them that I would not be there tomorrow, but would be back next week.
I don't know if I will ever see them again, if they were able to find the program or even if they tried, and if they did if the program was able to help them or if they would be willing to stay. In retrospect, I doubt that I handled the situation as well as I ideally could have. I do know that my encounter with them took my mind off of myself, raised many questions for me and is challenging me to consider how I can better (as is stated in the Marianite Mission Statment) "stand with those who are excluded."
Have a good week. Many blessings!
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