The article I read, "Bound for Home, Healed, Heartsick" from Boston.com was about four Haitian children who were flown to Massachusetts in order to be cared for in Springfield at the Shriners Hospital. The two boys and two girls who were brought from Port Au-Prince, Haiti were cared for for eleven weeks at the Shriner's Hospital for their injuries which were caused by the earthquake that occured over the winter that devistated Haiti. The article describes all four childrens' experiences with the earthquake and being transported to the United States because of their injuries. All four children and all four families of the children are very grateful that they were given the chance to recieve the care that they need for their injuries. Also, the parents of the children explain that although they miss their children and want to be with them, they think that their children would all be better off if they were given the chance to stay in the United States instead of returning to Haiti because they would have the chance at a better life.
Although this article does not really relate to any epidemics or diseases it does relate to Mountains Beyond Mountains and the work of Paul Farmer. This article relates to the work of Farmer, because it is all about how these four children have been cared for individually and because of this care have shown immense improvment, which probably would not have been the case if they had recieved care in a large group back in Haiti. The article also relates to what we are learning about in class about the conditions of Haiti and the current state that this thrid world country is in. The descriptions of what Haiti is like now causes the reader to stop and think about helping instead of just looking away from the disaster that has striken Haiti. This is also a message that Farmer wanted to get out to people around the world.
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What an intrigueing article! I have a couple questions however. Were these four children all from the same town and did they stick together throughout their experience? I was also wondering about the last sentence in the first paragraph. Were the parents of the children allowing their kids to stay in the US without them forever? I found that skeptical. I think you did a really good job connecting what we're currently learning to recent news. It doesn't seem real until you actually see or hear for yourself that the issues in Haiti really do exist and corrupt thousands of lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gillian, as I was curious about how long the children would be away from their parents too. The article was a bit of a reality shock and it was sad to read about the parents having to be away from their children because they do not live in an area fortunate enough to help them. This article really expanded on Haiti's poverty and their lack of medical advancements which we talked about class. It is interesting to see how what we learn in class relates to current events.
ReplyDeleteI really like this article! I thought it was cool how you were able to make a direct connection between this article and Mountains beyond Mountains. I also thought it was interesting how if we had not read Mountains beyond Mountains, this article probably would not have caught your attention the way it did. It is also cool that we have a lot of background information now on Haiti and the types of health issues they have there because it made the article a lot easier to read, comprehend, and make connections to our curriculum. As Mary said, it really is sad that the children have to be sent to the United States because they live in an area that is not fortunate enough to help them. I did not find this shocking however because based off the knowledge I have regarding Haiti, I would not assume that the family has the money to accompany the child to the U.S. but that they would do whatever necessary to help their children.
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