Nica's Story
When I look at these pictures, I am reminded of what a little fighter this chick was. How in a few weeks of her body receiving what it needed, she went from lifeless and mumbling, to singing and SASSY. In the years we worked in inpatient malnutrition care, Nica is one of those kids that just stands out in my mind. She was so sweet, but so spunky - a spitfire.
Looking back, this picture fills me with regret. Sure, we do our best, but these families deserved better. In those days (and its still true), keeping Nica alive was number one. While it’s so easy to look at this picture and think “what a miracle!” (It is a miracle.) I look at it now and think, “what about her parents?” How did we set them up for success when Nica was back in their care 24/7?
When we stopped treating children inpatient, we began focusing on the communities around us. Because of the rural area we live in, malnutrition literally ebbs and flows just like the rains that come and go. Many parents are able to nourish their children when fruit is falling from trees and the rainfall sprouts the seeds. But what about when the rain doesn’t fall?
The expression “when it rains, it pours” has taken on a whole new meaning for me since living in Haiti. Not because I experience it firsthand, but because when you are already living in an extremely fragile state - one blow can send everything around you crashing down. And when the dominos start falling, it generally seems impossible to get far ahead enough to stop them.
Poverty does not mean parents like Nica’s don’t love their children as big as the sky, but it does mean they are forced to make decisions that they should never have to.
Things like education, medical care, fresh food - they all are at risk constantly. Every day is a struggle. It’s 2021 and children are STARVING to death. Moms give birth unattended at home on dirt floors, children miss years of school because parents can’t afford the $25 it costs to pay their tuition for the first trimester. Children are born with birth defects because their mom didn’t receive prenatal care.
When I look at Nica, I see a child that we helped survive. She came back to life before our eyes. She went from sitting in one position to taking steps. And all of that is truly a miracle because it so easily could have gone the other way. Survival is number one.
BUT, if we say we love Nica - doesn’t that mean that we invest in her family? That we address the reasons that she became malnourished to begin with. That we work to create a response to her family’s problems, and not just love and care for them in spite of those problems, but help them come up with solutions. That we provide support to strengthen Nica’s family so that they always remain Nica’s best solution - and that’s where the programs Potter & Clay has been developing for the past three years come in.
During this awful time in Haiti the last few months, it has become obvious that we need to reopen the malnutrition center. That moms DESERVE support postpartum to ensure they can breastfeed their baby. That not only do children need to survive, but their families need support to address the problems they are facing EVERY SINGLE DAY.
So, that’s the balance we are striving to strike. That we first address the immediate problem of malnourished babies, but then work intricately, day in and day out, with their families to support them. To invest in them so that life can become about more than just surviving the day to day.
That’s where Potter & Clay’s team comes in. These are people that pool their own money to give benevolently when someone has a sudden tragedy. These are people that advocate ENDLESSLY for their neighbors, always striving to support in the best way possible. They’re the inspiration, they’re the heroes of this story. With our community programs and the amazing people that run them, we are ready.