Kerline

Hi everyone, this is "Poppyseed," (Bryan Bartow). In the picture below is Kerline. Kerline has "CIDA" as it's known in Haiti.

A few years ago, Kerline had a baby in the local hospital, and it did not survive. We felt so sad for her and her loss, and paid her hospital bills and got her started in a small business. She called me SOO excited about her apartment she had rented, and the new "ti komes" she had begun. Her little business flourished and she began to live life again.

Months later, she had another systemic attack and wound up in the hospital. Al the money she had earned and saved got swallowed up in medical bills, and she again found herself in abject poverty again. I got a call in the States from a mutual friend that told me of her plight and once again, we were able to help her get on her feet again. She again was elated and made it work yet again.

Just a couple weeks before the hurricane, Kerline fell ill once again. She survived not only another attack, but the hurricane as well. This was her on the day we gave her another start-up! She called as soon as I got to Port to tell me she had a new apartment, and was heading out to buy the remainder of her goods to sell at the local market.

I had to ask myself as I hung up the phone.....will she make it? Will she die if she falls ill again? How many times should we help to keep rebuilding her life? One day, I thought, it'll get her. It will be her last trip to the hospital. The last time she'll pay a medical bill. The last time I'll hear her weakened voice on the phone. Never give up. Never stop trying to help people live the best life they can while they have time. It choked me up to think of the inevitable. One day at a time...