Sebastien

Today was our first day with a translator, what a treat. He’s been pretty good so far, Simone was an english teacher until the earthquake. The going rate for a translator is $10 a day, other labor $5 a day. Today we started Sebastien’s story, he’s 8 years old and had to have one leg amputated after the earthquake. His house collapsed, his aunt was told that everyone in the house was dead. Three days later she heard Sebastien’s voice. The next day a hospital put a dressing on his leg, three days after that he came to Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti and had to have the leg amputated. I asked him what it was like in the rubble, he said that he was trapped beside a dead body. I asked him if he was scared, he said no. He’s full of energy, happy, loves the camera, and is living in a tent outside the hospital in the post-op area. His aunt is taking care of him and his uncle comes from 110 km away every few days to see how he is doing. It seems as though that whole section of the camp has taken him under their collective wing.

Today I had five people come up to me and ask if i could help them find a job. One young guy had lived in the US for 13 years but was deported after overstaying his visa. He speaks perfect english, creole, and spanish but can’t find work as a translator.