Saturday, March 16, 2008
BTW: I'm not able to attach any photos because I'm shooting all RAW images that won't translate into JPEGS until I get home to our real computer!! Sorry!

Up at 8:45. Today was my day with the ABU (the Abandon Baby Unit) at Le Hospital a l'University.
We were dropped off by security at the front of the building. Blanca had been here plenty of times, so I wasn't too worried. But as soon as we entered the front door, there were people sitting, standing wandering everywhere. There were flies buzzing around the sky blue walls and peels and garbage in the stainless sink on my left. This was like no hospital that I had ever been to. There were babies everywhere!
But all of these babies were being attended to by moms and dads, grandmas and nurses. They were hot and tired and there was only the light from the windows that were in rooms farther away. These people had been there for hours and days. There were older women waving their arms and chanting over their little tiny babies who were obviously ill. There was some crying, but mostly these babies were so sick that they just laid there.

We walked directly to the ABU, but as soon as we got there, there was some commotion and were shoo'd out again and told to go check with the office. Something was going on. And I began to shake a little. I was with Blanca and her sister, but we didn't understand Creole and they didn't speak English. And my French was going to get us nowhere. I was getting even more nervous. There were people talking and kind of racing around us. Some were mad or confused. And I began to think we were getting ourselves into something bad.
But as I turned around and looked down the hall, I noticed John (our security) and his assistant walking towards us. I was going to be fine.
I began to walk towards him and smiled. The only thing I could say was, "Je suis hureusse". It's spelled wrong, but I told him I was happy.
He laughed because he knew what I meant.

We finally got into the ABU. After they had concealed whatever it was that they didn't want us to see. The women there are not trustworthy.
I'm finding that most of the people here are so poor that not many people can be trusted.
There were about 16 to 20 beds. Every one was taken - in fact there were two in some and in one, three. There were babies who could've been born last week and children who had been over 13 years old. How long they had been there I have no idea. But the bed that they were laying in was exactly where they spent nearly every second of every day. Getting out was not an option. They knew it and they (not one of them) tried to. If we got them out, they could sit with us in the small courtyard beside the unit. But they couldn't run around. Their legs couldn't hold them up. They had no strength to do it and sat in our laps and enjoyed the sky above and the single tree that shaded some of the area.
Most of the children were mute. They made sounds, but quiet ones.
I took pictures for almost an hour. But finally, I just put my cameras away and took a little one out the courtyard one by one. Spent 20 or 30 minutes with a few, walking in circles and singing the few lullabies that I knew. The courtyard was old cement that had cracked open with decades of ware. There were openings where sewage ran through and holes where the rats would run in and out. The walls on the sides of this 30 foot by 10 courtyard were at least 20 feet high, but it was an opening. The sheets and clothes were hanging here. The dishes were being washed there in tub of stale water and they kept splashing ammonia on the ground.

This ABU is a 1000 times more functioning than it was 5 or 8 years ago. Even though I know Susie is getting screwed in almost every avenue of these projects, I can't help but see that she is making a difference. She is making a change.
These children are being fed and some are getting adopted.
She is an amazing business woman and is a total inspiration. Blanca (Susie's personal Assistant), Charity (Susie's assistant), and Lupe (Blanca's sister) are all such amazing inspirations!
Love you all-Kim