Nadia Visited Today

Nadia visited today.

Nadia is Jackson Jean-Baptiste’s sister.

Jackson was refused care at OSF in Peoria and died in January, 2006.

Nadia told me how her life is going in Haiti today.

Her mom broke her leg one year ago and has not been able to work since then. Prior to her fall, Nadia’s mom was traveling to a coastal town, far from their home just outside of Port-au-Prince, to buy second hand clothes and sell them on the street corner. This provided a little money for food. Now money is more scarce and that of course makes food more scarce.

Nadia completed high school but flunked the baccalaureate (baca) test. She needed to pass this test to allow her to proceed in school and take the philo. The vast majority of Haitian kids flunk the baca because the test is difficult and their schools just don't prepare them well enough. (Incidentally, the tests are in French, not in Haitian Creole. Most kids like Nadia are bilingual.)

Nadia, her four siblings, and her mom live in a tiny two room house without running water in the mountains overlooking the capital.

Nadia spoke lovingly of the people in Peoria that had helped Jackson. He is buried in a little town outside of Peoria.

Nadia asked me if she could come to Illinois to put a flower on Jackson’s grave.

I told her “probably not”.