Haiti has changed Wendy Pawelko's life.
"I look at things differently now," she says, and most of what she does these days is a precursor to a return trip to the beleaguered Caribbean nation.
The retired social worker and her daughter spent three weeks in this hemisphere's poorest country last fall volunteering at one of Haiti's hundreds of orphanages.
Pawelko's face lights up when she looks through photos of the infants and toddlers they helped care for, many of them developmentally delayed or suffering from illness. She smiles in remembrance as she plays the video of children dancing in delight at the first party they'd ever experienced - thanks to Pawelko, her daughter and a generous neighbour back in North Battleford. And tears spring to her eyes when she remembers how they had more fun with an empty box from a donated washer and dryer than any Canadian child could have with all the boxes piled under a typical Christmas tree.
After her experience in Haiti, the material trappings of the North American lifestyle have become less meaningful to Pawelko, and the appreciation of things Haitians dare not take for granted - like a ready and clean source of water - has heightened.
"I had a hard time flushing the toilet when I got home," said Pawelko. It seemed so wasteful after living amongst people to whom water is a limited commodity to be carefully conserved. At the orphanage, the rule was to flush only for a bowel movement, each volunteer was allowed a scant inch of water in a glass each day to brush their teeth, and the every-other-day showers were the turn on-get wet-turn off-soap up-turn on-rinse off variety. She marvelled at how the orphanage workers somehow kept the children scrupulously clean and neat by carefully managing the available water.
Electricity was available at only certain times of the day, and the orphanage's "computer lab" consisted of one ancient PC. At home, from her kitchen window Pawelko is gratified to see solar panels on the garage behind the house, set up by her husband Frank ("he's a hippie," she says), and each time she uses one of the several techie devices they own, she can't help but feel over-privileged.
Her comfortable living conditions and ready health care here in Canada are also a stark contrast to the earthquake- and hurricane-damaged buildings of Haiti, amongst which large dogs are allowed to run at large, the best defence against the huge rats that frequently bite children.
Pawelko now sees the slightly dated couch in her living room as something she can live with when balanced against saving up to return to Haiti. It may not be this year, but it will be as soon as enough is saved up for airfare and accommodation. And this trip will be a true family affair. Her daughter, social worker Chelsea McMillan Grande of Whitecourt, Alta., hopes to bring along her husband this time. He is a civil engineer. Pawelko's own husband, a building operator with the Ministry of Government Services, also plans to go ("he's handy," she says).
Both men's talents will be put to good use there, says Pawelko.
Pawelko, prior to retirement as the executive director of the Battlefords branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, and her daughter, decided to make their first trip to Haiti after Grande heard Dixie Bickel of God's Littlest Angels speak about the orphanage founded by her husband and herself.
When they heard volunteers were welcomed, Pawelko and Grande resolved to get involved, even though all volunteers must raise their own support for their stay in Haiti and pay for their room and board while there.
Pawelko's motto, when traveling on holiday, has always been one bag for the traveller, and one for the people at their destination. In past travels to Cuba, she has always taken small items and personal supplies that Cuban people just didn't have ready access to.
Though this was no holiday, they had no intention of going empty-handed to Haiti, so they set to work raising funds with the help of neighbours and friends, selling baking, crafts and sewing, and even special "dog treats" made by Frank.
They also canvassed businesses here and in Whitecourt for donations of medical and hygiene supplies for the children - even scrubs for the orphanage workers.
When Pawelko got on the plane, she had 50 pounds of donated and purchased clothing in her carry-on luggage. She had to use vacuum bags to get all 78 dresses and 100 baby outfits in.
They eventually arrived at God's Littlest Angels orphanage, located in the mountains near Port-au-Prince, above a village in which mothers die in one out of four childbirths, says Pawelko. When they arrived, they found out some of the children of the orphanage do have one parent. With the infant mortality rate the highest in the Western Hemisphere, however, families often have to turn to an orphanage or other institution to ensure survival of a child, for medical or financial reasons. It may also be the only way to ensure a child gets an education.
They quickly found their time filled with caring for children from infancy to toddler age, doing physiotherapy and cognitive therapy and just generally showing love and affection to all the youngsters there. Both Pawelko and Grande soon became enamoured of the children, and amazed at the care the orphanage was able to provide despite the sometimes dreadful circumstances.
Run by an independent, non-denominational ministry registered in the United States and Canada, funding and donations come to God's Littlest Angels mainly from those two countries and from France. While it gets by in almost rustic conditions and with limited resources, it boasts the only program in Haiti that focuses on at-risk newborns. It has a fully functioning nursery with incubators, warming beds and the capability to provide oxygen, intravenous fluids, and monitoring support for critically ill infants.
The majority of the children brought to the orphanage are between the ages of newborn and seven years old. It also houses older children, sibling groups and children with special needs waiting for adoptive parents.
Currently in rented facilities, GLA has purchased land in nearby St. Fort Jacques where they are building a new orphanage large enough to house all of the children from newborn to 10 years old.
Party Time
Just before leaving for Haiti, Wendy Pawelko found a neighbour pressing $100 upon her with the request that she spend it on whatever seemed best once she had seen the conditions at the Haitian orphanage at which she was planning to volunteer. Pawelko matched it. But what to spend it on, she couldn't decide.
It made sense to her to ask someone who is there day in and day out, month after month, year after year. So she approached one of the staff.
What would you do if you had $100 to spend on the orphanage with no strings attached, she asked.
The answer was simple.
"I'd have a party."
It may have seemed an odd answer at first. But Pawelko had seen how the children had very little to celebrate, yet were compliant and well-behaved, seemingly content with their lot. A party would be something completely out of their experience.
So the neighbour's money, along with her own, went toward the purchase of some lumber and a tarp to build a make-shift outdoor movie screen, and to purchase a movie, The Lorax, and some treats.
The children were dressed in their best, their hair carefully braided, and they proceeded to dance to music being played in the outdoor play area. The video of them dancing in delight is one of Pawelko's treasured keepsakes from her trip.
Once the dancing was over, they settled in for the movie. Each child was given a small container of Pringles. Their normal reaction was to take one Pringle and pass the container on. Their excitement and disbelief at discovering they each had a whole container to themselves said so much about how little they expect, says Pawelko, and it brought tears to her eyes.
It was a big party for the children, but not a large expense from Pawelko's fund, so she was also able to order 12 new scooters to augment the three much-mended and much-enjoyed already there.
The staff member had been right, Pawelko discovered. A simple party had changed the atmosphere at the orphanage. It was gratifying to see more smiles and a little more happiness for the outlay of a relatively few dollars.
