My greatest desire was to be able to doctor and heal, or at least relieve, the physical suffering or raise the morale of all the people I could treat. However, my friends insisted that in only a week I wasn’t going to be able to do much. Therefore, what was important wasn’t so much the physical help, but sharing joy and Christian hope and making the most of the experience to learn from them how to be more humble, thankful, generous…in short, to value what is truly important in my life: God and others.

The best gift of this trip has been receiving the thanks and love of the people I was attending to, even though in some cases I wasn’t able to help alleviate their physical need or sickness. I was only able to offer a smile, a hug or words of encouragement and with that they were happy.

The director of the orphanage (several hours outside Port au Prince), his family and the people that work there have taught me what it is to be happy and optimistic in spite of the difficulties. Some mothers of the children I attended mentioned to me that the worst thing for them was that some days they have nothing to give their children to eat. However, they don’t lose hope that God always provides, even though sometimes they need to fool their small stomachs with “mud pies.”

This has been one of the best experiences of my life and if God allows, I will return…

(All images Canon 5D2, 24-105mm)

Photos ©Copyright Gary S. Chapman 2010

Dr. Espallargas examines a very sick child.

A child waits her turn to see the doctor.

Dr. Espallargas speaks to families about health care.

After examination, this woman was sent to a hospital for further tests.

Dr. Espallargas spends time in prayer before starting another day.

"I was only able to offer a smile, a hug or words of encouragement and with that they were happy"

A young girl leads Dr. Espallargas by the hand to see the home the aid group is building for her and her eight brothers and sisters.