Mothers Day - Haiti
Today is Mothers day in Haiti. In Haiti the word “mama” encompasses so much
A mother is Haiti, is the one who has all the responsibility to raise her children.
A mother in Haiti is a mom, but she is also a dad. That means, that all the responsibility is hers.
A mother is the one who is there to guide and raise all her children.
When a mother gives birth, the father is most times, already absent.
A mother is obligated to do all of the work.
In this time, when we don’t have a government, there is no support for a mother. A mother deals with so much overwhelm, so much stress, and so many problems.
A mother truly has to fill both parental roles because in Haiti it is very rare for a father to be there to take responsibility for the development and care of his children.
Nearly all, I would even say around 80% of women in Haiti, are in the situation of playing the role of both mother and father.
Because the fathers are absent the mothers have to take on more responsibility. Because they have the children, they are obligated, they are responsible. In addition to being alone as parents, there is no government that is even there to help them to take care of their children. They are truly alone in their responsibility of raising and caring for their kids. Because it is such an impossible position to be in, they end up obligated to find another man to help care for them. Another man, who gives her another child. Another man who eventually leaves her too. Leaving her in an even more difficult position, with an even greater load.
That is why Mothers Day here is Haiti is such a big deal. It is a big deal to all of the children who understand all the hardships, pain, humiliation, and misery that a woman, a mother goes through to take care of the children.
I want to send you a photo, this is a photo of a mother with her 2 year old baby. You might notice that the baby’s head isn’t a normal size. This is due to a medical condition that the baby has. This mother has two other children with the same man. This photo is of a mother, who ended up making the decision to follow Christ. Because of this decision, the father, who is a voodoo priest left her and the children. She has now been abandoned, left to care for three children all by herself, one of whom is severely ill. The mother doesn’t have work. She doesn’t have any way to care for her children. She is left to deal with all the difficulties of raising these kids by herself.
This example, it is just one picture that represents so many mothers in Haiti. I choose to share this picture with you, because I want you to know the caliber of mothers that we have in Haiti. A mother who is all by herself, abandoned, with no one to help her, no government to support her. Yet still a mother, a mother who is there, someone who has not given up on her children and family.