You've asked about Daniel and the needs of the kids and how you can help but before I TRY to answer your specific questions, I feel like I have to make something clear: "try" is the best I can do ... because things are complicated. Haiti is complicated. Navigating cultural differences is complicated. Communicating across two languages - English and Kreyol - is complicated. AND Daniel keeps taking me to meet people living in the MOST complicated situations.
And quick and easy answers are in short supply here!
To illustrate how language and culture sometimes gets in the way of even basic understanding, I will start with this truly embarrassing example: I just learned this morning that "Daniel" is not my friend's first name - it's what you and I would call his "last name"!
But Haitians will normally give or sign their names the opposite of what we do. Which means if you ask a Haitian what his first name is, he'll probably tell you his family name - because here the family name comes first! For a year he has allowed me to call him Daniel because, he says, most other Americans do it - we all assume it is his first name and it is a familiar name to us, so he let's it go. But I wouldn't want him calling me "Gross" all the time, so I need to make a change. ;-)
So from here on out, I need to call him either "Mr. Daniel" (which is WAY too formal for such a good friend) or "Rodolphe", his actual first name. (Pronounced "Row-dolf".) It's going to take some getting used to!
Here's another complication I feel like you need to understand: Rodolphe has NOTHING of his own. He has no job. He has very few possessions of his own. As a Christian, he sees his neighborhood as his mission field. He sees malnourished and hungry kids outside his door and knows he is called by a loving and just Lord to care for them. But he has no resources of his own to share. What he gives to the neighborhood kids comes from the outside: gifts from missionaries here in Haiti or new friends who have met him during their visit from the United States or Canada, sometimes even complete strangers - like YOU!
Last spring, you and your family and some friends from your church raised $200 over Easter and sent it to me to help Rodolphe feed the neighborhood children. It came at the perfect time - a missionary who had been helping Rodolphe get soup mix each month to share with the kids had to go back to the States for health reasons. Very soon he was running short of food for the 100 kids he feeds each weekend.
When I received your check, I went out shopping with Rodolphe and we were able to buy a couple of BIG bags of rice, some spices, some fish for seasoning, some charcoal for cooking and some bleach for cleaning up dishes. He was well stocked by the end of the morning.
At the time, my family and I were getting ready to leave for Indiana for the summer, so, thanks to you and your friends and family, we were able to go with the confidence of knowing Rodolphe was supplied for a while. (I meant to tell you all this back in May, but I never got to it. Please forgive me and know how grateful Rodolphe and I both were for your family's efforts.)
Here's a picture from this morning inside Rodolphe's "house". I use quotation marks because it's just a single room, maybe 8 foot by 10 at most. There's a single light bulb - and that only functions when there is power, which comes and goes. No sink. No bathroom. Just his bed, a small table, some books and several large barrels filled with cooking supplies and food.
Here he is showing a couple of bags of the soup mix.
He used to be given around 50 bags of soup mix each month. But in October he only received 9; this month he was thankful to get 20. Still, he tends to go through 2 or 3 bags on Saturday morning and the same on Sunday. So lately he has been running short and he hasn't been able to feed the kids every weekend. I think it really breaks his heart when he cannot share food with his neighbors. Recently, his missionary friend sent him some cash and so he's had rice to make up the difference again.
This morning my son Caleb and I went to Rodolphe's house at 8:00 hoping to help with feeding the kids. They were already finished and washing dishes! Apparently the kids started showing up at 6:00 am, asking for food, so the meal was started early.
This little guy is not much older than you are. (He said he was already 12 and I hear your birthday is only a few weeks away!) His name is Michael Joseph and, in case you are wondering, yes, I double checked to make sure Michael was his FIRST name. But, it's not pronounced the same way in Kreyol as English. It sounds more like "Mee-ki-el".
Michael is one of a handful of kids in the neighborhood who are actually in school. Beyond feeding him on the weekends, Rodolphe helps Michael by tutoring him in English and practicing conversations in English with him.
It's gotten late and I need to get ready for a new school week. I will write more tomorrow to tell you more about what Rodolphe does beyond feeding kids and will TRY to get to your questions about the kids living by the river and how to help.
God bless you and your family, Seven!
-Steve
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