Yonel… “We could see every rib he had!” I had never seen such a “skeleton-like” child, who was still alive! When we were conducting a Mobile Clinic in the far-out regions in Haiti, a grandmother came to us with this young man. His name was Yonel and he was nothing more than “skin and bones.” He looked like a “skeleton” with pants on!

His baby sister was dying, but she was already too far gone. We thought that maybe we could save Yonel’s life. We took him back to our old orphanage, (which was where we began), and en-route, we stopped to eat a mango and Yonel ate “8 mangos!” He quickly gained weight and gained his health back. We never had any problems until he went to “diesel mechanic school.” He did not pass, but he never let us know he was not passing. When we found out, we were really upset… not because he wasn’t passing, but because he never told us. This is typical Haitian custom. Even if they break something here at the orphanage, by accident, they will never tell us! We have to find it out after the problem has grown! But this time we had already invested money into Yonel and we felt he should have come to us instead of letting us continue to pay. But, life goes on…

A short time later, he begged us to give him a job. So, we put him on our “painting team!” It is like “job security” for the future, because we will always be painting, and fixing, and repairing! Yonel found out that he actually loved painting! We gave him a steady job and, just a short time ago, he got married! While he was standing there with his bride, my thoughts went back to that day at the Mobile Clinic, where a skeleton-like little boy stood before me. And now, here was, standing before me, with his new bride! How life moves on! Yonel still works for us on the “painting team.” He never comes late. He loves his job, and, he loves his wife!! We are all happy!

Sherry