wings of hope

I was excited to visit this home for Children with Special needs. I work with this population of children at home and was interested to find out how things were done in Haiti. The ride up the mountain was beautiful. The building was quite nice especially compared to all the other buildings I had seen so far. Wings of Hope was taken over by the St Joseph's home for boys, the guest house that we stayed at. I was surprised to see how severely affected most of the children were. 35 Children of various ages live there. Most are wheelchair bound and non-verbal. Their many smiles told us how happy they were to have visitors. Their wheelchairs were of variying types and conditions. I couldn't help thinking that most would be considered unusable in Canada.

We spent the morning playing. We had brought some toys to add to theirs. The musical instruments were a hit as we gently pried open clenched hands to place a maraca or tamborine into them as many were unable to grasp it on their own. We were able to take pictures here and with digital cameras were could show children their photos. They really liked that.

We spoke with Rene who works there after and found out the sad truth of children with special needs in Haiti. Voodoo is highly praacticed and people believe these individuals are manifestations of evil spirits. They are truely shunned from society. My job in Canada is to make sure children are included in all activities in their childcare setting. Do they have adaptions made so they can fully participate in circle, art, outdoor play etc. In Haiti they are not even included in society! Many have not been outside the walls of Wings, never have felt grass beneath their feet. A real reality check for me.