The story of Joseph

Joseph Jean Paul is an artist...maybe not the best artist in Haiti but Joseph was born with only stumps for arms and legs. He came to visit us yesterday~ He shared some of his story with us and demonstrated how he paints. He was cared for in a Baptist Home for handicapped people until he was sent to a school called St. Vincent in Port au Prince. I'll tell you more about St. Vincent in a minute. But here he learned how to feed himself and brush his teeth and to write and type. He eventually was taken to New Jersey for more intensive OT/ PT and fitted for prothesis for lower extremities. While there he was given a color book and crayons and he fell in love with color and his 'profession' of Artiste was started.
I'm not sure how long he lived in the US but he returned to Haiti and to St. Vincents and teaches other disabled students not only art but compassion and humanity. He is a soft spoken and kind man, his smile like sunshine!
He speaks Creole, French and English- he also acts as an interpretor for the prosthetics and orthotics lab at St. Vincents which is run by mostly men that are deaf & mute. He gave me a small painting and donated one to the guest house for others to learn of his story. Joseph most wants to be able to help the children living at St. Vincents, many with disabilities to have a better education to be independant and strong adults in society.
The pictures below show some of Josephs artwork and of him painting yesterday.
St. Vincents is a boarding school in downtown Port au Prince. I have visited several times and a couple years ago my team built walls and added equipment as well as did some wiring for their prosthetics lab. We were able to see the kids in school and play in the courtyard with them. Not all of the children living here have disabilities but many are blind or deaf, some have severe scarring from burns, some have no arms or legs but all are in school and learn to care for themselves. Much of the staff have disabilities themselves. Men with bilateral upper and lower extremity prosthesis' demonstrate the strength and will of the Haitian people given an opportunity, they then give back to others. Thats all that they want...an opportunity to have a better life through education.

The final picture is of a little girl that needs surgery. She can not walk due to the tendons in achilles being too short. She can not flex her ankles. With surgery, she can be fitted with orthotics and learn to walk. She and her mother came from an area near Jeramie. It is very far for them and they have been finding places to stay here in Port au Prince hoping for help with surgery that will cost $1500. It turns out that this current team had paid for 1 extra night that they won't be here, the plan is to ask if they will donate that money to help the little girl obtain her surgery.

So in Haiti, you can find inspiration everyday in the worst of situations and know there is hope, compassion, love beyond our own being.