Baby Marie looks like an infant, but doctors think she is closer to 24 to 30 months old. That’s because she has cerebral palsy. She cannot walk or talk, yet she is aware of her surroundings and responsive to attention. Every time I would pass her cot, I would lean over and stroke her head and say, “Bonjour, Marie,” and she would smile and wiggle her arms. And every time I walked away, she would start to cry.
No one knows anything about baby Marie, although, due to her condition, there is a theory that she was an orphan before the earthquake. All the volunteers take turns feeding her, and Nadine, the mother of an injured boy on the adjacent cot, has taken her under her wing and sleeps with her at night.
With more than 40,000 orphans in Haiti now, Marie’s chances of finding a home are slim to none.
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Baby Marie suffers from cerebral palsy and therefore couldn’t tell the aid workers what she was feeling.
Photo by Lisa Lucas |
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