A Day Late

I have had the opportunity over my life to meet incredible people from all walks of life in countries with cultures unique to my western way of thinking. One such person was Madame Glacidia in the mountains of Haiti.

I didn’t travel there to meet her specifically but she was there waiting on me when I arrived with a medical team one day. The group I was working with, Love A Child, holds medical clinics in small villages in Haiti away from the mass population of Port-au-Prince. Here, medical supplies were nonexistent and the hope of seeing a doctor or nurse was only a dream. Yet, nonetheless, we were here.

When you hold a medical clinic in these villages the power of “word-of-mouth” advertising is seen in it’s most powerful and efficient form. While the village may only have a few dozen residents, there are always hundreds present to receive medical care. They come from neighboring villages. Some close and some far. Some travel through the night to just have the opportunity to possibly see a doctor or nurse. There’s no HMOs, PPOs, or Assisted Living here. It’s just life…in its most primitive form.

Barely able to walk, Madame Glacidia approached the clinic. It was clear this woman was in excrutiating pain. She was delirious. She had a blood disease and it was bad. It had progressed so much in her body that her skin even had the stench of death. She was literally a dead woman walking. Unless a miracle happened…she would die. With her was her 6 month-old baby, her son and her husband. They were obviously very concerned. Sherry Burnette and the medical team did every thing they could that day to help her.

Two weeks later she was dead.

It’s overwhelming to witness such a needless death when all that was needed was proper nutrition and hygiene in the first place. But so many more die each day here in a country that is so close to the coast of Florida. We might as well have been on another planet.

What seemed to be a day late for Madame Glacidia was a day in the nick-of-time for so many others that day. From children suffering from malnutrition to worm infestations in almost every person the team encountered... medical miracles and wonders were wrought that hot summer afternoon. Lives were changed.

I don’t think I’ll forget Madame Glacidia. To me she represents how fragile every life is and how fleeting our time on this planet can be. And I don’t think I’ll forget the children I met that day either. They’re alive because a medical team came to their remote village one day in the mountains of Haiti.

For them, this was truly a life-defining moment. I think it was for me too.