"Homage to Haiti"

Today we mailed money to our friend Johanne, from Haiti, whom I recently met on a business trip to Chicago.  If you are following this blog, then you know her story.  She is currently living in Chicago with a host family so that she can attend school, and she is one of nine (9) children in her family from Haiti.  In our first conversation, Johanne informed me that she has a 16 year-old sister who is pregnant as a result of rape, and this sister is living with the remainder of Johanne's family in a small village in Haiti.  This unborn, innocent soul is scheduled to be born this August, and Johanne informed me that her mother was very scared about not being able to feed this baby.  Johanne's family lives in a small village, and they are very poor.  Well, I believe it to be no accident that we were assigned seats next to one another on this recent business trip.  My desire to help others with less than me, combined with the sole purpose of this blog project all just came together in perfect harmony.  If you notice the quote at the top of this blog: "Nourishing the hungry while feeding my family...", this story just couldn't have been scripted any better!  I was determined to send our next donation to this village in Haiti so that this baby at least had some nourishment from our efforts.  I was apprehensive about sending a money order directly to her mother, as I am unaware of how Customs or the Haitian government operates, and I feared that she might never see it.  I discussed this with Johanne, and she informed me that they have a family friend who is in Chicago who will be soon be traveling to Haiti to see Johanne's family.  This friend will be visiting Johanne soon in order to receive things to take to Johanne's mother when said friend goes to Haiti at the end of this month.  So, call it foolish, but we sent cash directly to Johanne to be given to her friend to deliver to her mother.  The passing of the baton so to speak.  We had $160.00 in our "Donations Jar", and we added an additional $40.00 so that we sent $200.00 in total.  Johanne's words:  "Oh, Jennifer, my mother is going to be sooooo happy -- she can at least have some peace because of you...you beautiful person."  To which I replied, "It is my sincere pleasure to help in some small way, and you are actually helping me and my children by giving us this opportunity."  We agreed to talk soon, and I hung up the phone with such a complexity of wonderful emotions...it is true that when you give, you are the one being blessed.