some of haiti's faces

Today I'm heading by car to a place in northwestern Haiti called Anse Rouge to meet up with folks with Lemuel Ministries. I'll just be there overnight and am scheduled to return to Port-au-Prince by MAF plane on Friday. In the meantime, here are some photos of people I met on Monday and Tuesday in Maissade while conducting interviews for Save the Children stories.

Gary Cemelia, 10, with the soccer ball he and friends were playing with when we arrived.

Miclise Charles, 11, outside her house.

Miclise's mother, one of her brothers and one of her sisters. I really liked her pleasant, smiley mom and would have loved to chat with her more.

Julianna Albert with her orphaned niece Gina Antie-flore Michaelle Thebeau, 22 days old. Gina is a very beautiful baby. Her mom died from AIDS complications, as I understand it, but so far Gina is doing well. I also really liked Julianna and would have been glad to spend more time with her. When I asked to take her picture, she agreed but first wanted to change from her tank top into a nicer shirt. She also didn't like the way her hair looked, so she added the hat. She's much prettier than this photo does her justice for.

Leveillege Beauge and one of her five sons in the doorway to their home.

Odlin Fanord, 17, is living with his aunt, uncle and cousins since his father died in 2000. His mother died sometime when he was young. It's a cultural norm here for families to take in nieces and nephews when they are orphaned.

Odlin with his uncle and some of his cousins near the garden part of their home plot.

Elsa Michel, 4, and her doting father Charles outside one of Save the Children's rural health centers.

Hubert Louis, the Cazec (elected leader), for a community called Cinquieme. He spoke of how hard things are for their community, and he's been working to find a development organization who will help the community find a potable water supply. Currently residents must walk a long distance to a river for water, and it's water isn't clean, he explained. He's also searching for funding to help more of the community's children be able to go to school. He seemed to really be concerned about the community's needs and to be actively working to improve things.

Evelina (sp?) is the daughter of Izania, the cook/housekeeper of the Save the Children guest house. Evelina found me in the dining room of the director's house where I was plugged into the internet router. She saw my camera and wanted me to take her picture. Then she took one of me.