Part 1 of a 3-part series. A dust-caked toddler stands crying in the dirt road outside a thatched hut, a mix of tears and mucus dripping onto her lacy, dirt-rimmed dress. She looks to be about 2 years old, but is probably 3 or 4 years old. It’s a common site in this destitute nation, where malnutrition makes many children look younger than they are. The child toddles down the crevassed road, knotting her tiny fists to pull away the tears, her bare bottom peeking from behind the opening in the back of her dress. A woman approaches, a stranger, but black-skinned like she. She gently picks her up and seeks out a nearby rock to sit on. The woman cradles the child, soothing her until her sobs subside and vows aloud not to leave her until a member of her family arrives. Rocking together in the morning sun, they are symbols of the hope and the despair of Haiti. The woman is Mathilde Aurelien-Wilson, who was born 41 years ago in the village of Au Centre, some two miles down the mountain from here. She and her American-born husband, Bruce Wilson, 59, live on St. Croix most of the year and run Haiti Community Support ( www.haitisupport.org ), a relief organization that provides free education, hot meals, a women’s advocacy group, a medical clinic, employment and other opportunities to residents of villages on the northern side of Haiti’s Macaya mountain range, where Aurelien-Wilson’s mother still lives. On this visit, they have brought alo ...
Anytime
Part 1 of a 3-part series. A dust-caked toddler stands crying in the dirt road outside a thatched hut, a mix of tears and mucus dripping onto her lacy, dirt-rimmed dress. She looks to be about 2 years old, but is probably 3 or 4 years old. It’s a common site in this destitute nation, where malnutrition makes many children look younger than they are. The child toddles down the crevassed road, knotting her tiny fists to pull away the tears, her bare bottom peeking from behind the opening in the back of her dress. A woman approaches, a stranger, but black-skinned like she. She gently picks her up and seeks out a nearby rock to sit on. The woman cradles the child, soothing her until her sobs subside and vows aloud not to leave her until a member of her family arrives. Rocking together in the morning sun, they are symbols of the hope and the despair of Haiti. The woman is Mathilde Aurelien-Wilson, who was born 41 years ago in the village of Au Centre, some two miles down the mountain from here. She and her American-born husband, Bruce Wilson, 59, live on St. Croix most of the year and run Haiti Community Support ( www.haitisupport.org ), a relief organization that provides free education, hot meals, a women’s advocacy group, a medical clinic, employment and other opportunities to residents of villages on the northern side of Haiti’s Macaya mountain range, where Aurelien-Wilson’s mother still lives. On this visit, they have brought alo ...