Haiti v. DR

You think that the DR is poor and then you take a gander across the river. Literally.

One of the things that is very common here in Banica is for families to have a young Haitian girl living with them to help them with cleaning and cooking. I do not want to call it a maid because that just sounds bad...but they are maids. And these families are poor themselves! There really isn't anything I can compare it to in the US but just stick with me here. Simona (my homestay mom) recently "hired" one of these girls to live with her and help her clean. Simona has a lot of medical problems so cleaning is a little painful for her. She actually takes really good care of the young girl, she bought her clothes, a bedroom set, feeds her soooooo much food, and is trying to help her learn Spanish (she only speak Kreyol) so that she can study in the high school here. The young girl, Jocelyn, come from an incredibly poor part of Haiti. Last night I tried to speak with her but she does not speak Spanish and I do not speak Kreyol so a lot of it was guessing. It is so sad though because she is a TINY little thing and I know that in her entire life she has probably never known what it felt like to be "full" from food. It's just sad. At dinner last night I had a piece of chicken, some batata, and a tiny bit of soup. Simona always says that I do not eat a lot haha but the food here just does not agree with my tummy! I try! Anyway, Jocelyn amazed me at how much she ate. She had a huge bowl of soup, an entire plate of rice, batatas, and an entire avocado...and ate every bite of it. AND she should!  She needs to eat as much as she can and regain the strength she was unable to gain these past 13 or 14 years of her life. My heart just really hurts for her. I have no idea what hunger like that must feels like. That is 13 years of hungry! It's not skipping a meal or wishing you hard a second piece of cake...that's a lifetime. It breaks my heart - I don't want a single soul to go without food!