Sometimes the big questions are answered by one little boy.
I like to think we are all searching. Searching at different times for different things. For some, it’s for purpose, others it ranges from the meaning of a Tweet to the meaning of life. Some searches are purely personal, some for the community, some for the world around us. This is often an hourly, daily, lifetime pursuit. We are all searching.
For me, my experience with Team Broken Earth has long been a search. Many times I’ve stopped to rub my brow, wondering why we are here and what we are doing. In the darker moments, I’ve searched my soul wondering if it’s possible to make even a little bit of a difference in places where the odds are as stacked so dramatically against it. Other times I’ve searched bitterly for the answer to one simple question: why? Why so many suffer so near to so much wealth? Why can’t more be done? Why do wait times vary? Why do I have to wait till 2019 for the last season of Game of Thrones? Why am I so fixated sometimes? The answers escape me. But the search, no matter how big or small, always continues.
Sometimes the search has stopped me dead in my tracks like hitting a wall during a full-on sprint. I remember being in the public hospital in Port au Prince, sweat pouring off my back, 40-degree heat with patients lying in dilapidated beds. Twenty to thirty to a room, a single light bulb hanging and no air moving. Some patients lay with bones exposed and others directly on the floor with unattended lacerations bleeding directly onto the hospital floor. I remember that feeling in my chest, in my gut. Overwhelmed? Completely. Panicked? Absolutely. The smells, the volume of patients, and the shredded, raw humanity of it all. I had to take a knee. There it was again. That question. Why? Why them? These people had nothing. They have even less now. Why did it have to be them?
Sometimes it’s just hard to see the light. But it’s there. It finds a way. It breaks through. A little bit of hope makes its way in.
Remember little Jonathon? Five years ago he was in an orphanage in Port au Prince. He had been abandoned in the streets as a newborn and someone found him and brought him there. The staff was doing their best to care for Jonathon, providing him with the necessities of life.
By luck or happenstance or fate, our team had arrived for a visit as we often do. One of the nurses found Jonathon struggling to survive. He was malnourished. Emaciated. A tiny skeleton of a child with skin so loosely draped on such a small frame. Again the question. Why? Why him? But this time it was immediately followed by what can we do? We answered. The team rushed him back to the hospital.
We inserted lines, feeding tubes and monitors. We gave him so much attention, so badly wanting this tiny bit of hope to just make it through the night. Maybe through another day. Jonathon’s search was how to survive.
I’m so proud to say that he did exactly that. He stabilized and rebounded. He was at death’s door and this little newborn rebounded. Even better? He flourished and grew to the point that he could be discharged back to the orphanage as a healthy and thriving infant. I can still see those little hands now free of any bandages and tubes. His eyes searching the way infants do. Everything a wonder. Everything a possibility.
Over the years our team has stayed in touch with Jonathon and watched him grow and develop into a healthy little boy. His picture and his story continue to inspire me and help me in my own search. As the poem says, I carry it in my heart.
Something so very special has happened this week. Jonathan was adopted.
He will finally have a home and a family who loves him. Beyond all, he will have opportunity, hope, and support. I can tell you there are so many hearts bursting with joy, so many tear-soaked smiling faces on our team right now.
Sometimes the search is long and dark like the halls of that Port au Prince hospital. Sometimes you feel like it has no answers, no clues, no direction. Then a story like Jonathon’s happens.
So maybe there are no answers. Maybe our search should be for the moments and not the answers. Somewhere in there we’ll see the hope, feel the inspiration and generate the drive to always keep looking for it.
Hope was created for Jonathon and the life he will lead because we… you, our supporters, and our team… we were ALL there for him. May he take that and run with it. To search. Discover. Live. Love. And never, ever give up hope.
Best,
Andrew
Ps. Check out this video we posted awhile back by team member Travis Horn about Jonathon’s story here.
April 5 at 8:45 pm, Patricia McDonald said:
What a wonderful thing Broken Earth is doing for these unfortunate people. You have brought them hope when they thought there was none. Keep up the wonderful work you are doing. May God bless you all.
April 5 at 10:50 pm, Doreen Ryan said:
Such a wonderful & amazing blessing.I’m beyond overwhelmed but so very happy for this darling child.
Thank you Dr.Furey to you & your team for being a true inspiration to mankind & for making this little boy well so he can now have the life he so richly deserves.
God Bless him & god bless you all.
April 6 at 12:13 am, Bill and Doreen Williams said:
What a wonderful story Andrew.
April 6 at 1:06 am, Margot Reid said:
What a beautiful, moving story and now Jonathan, thanks to wonderful Broken Earth and newly adoptive parents Jonathan will be loved and well looked after.
April 6 at 11:47 am, Scott Wilson said:
Great news for both Jonathan and TBE! I remember my visit to the orphanage and my introduction to him as a healthy toddler. Great work, and don’t despair – Winter is coming before you know it!! Well dine
April 6 at 11:50 am, Scott Wilson said:
Great news for both Jonathan and TBE. I remember my visit to the orphanage and my introduction to him as a healthy toddler. Well done! And don’t despair – “Winter” is coming sooner then you think!!
April 6 at 4:34 pm, Angela Faverin said:
So proud to be a supporter of this wonderful cause. Dr Furey and Broken Earth thank you 🙏🏻 for helping those less fortunate.
April 7 at 3:00 pm, Charmaine Woodland said:
There you go! That’s a great story of LOVE….in action. Take a moment to pat yourselves/each other on the back. Onward and upward Team Broken Earth ❤️
April 11 at 12:47 pm, Peggy Bartlett said:
Thank you Andrew for sharing this story. It’s a great reminder of why we are so very proud of you and the team members that give so freely and unselfishly of their time to truly make a difference in the world .
May 8 at 6:54 pm, Bernie Cruikshank said:
Maybe by asking why we can change some answers like you have.
I’m glad he was adopted and hope it works out for him in the long run. One of my classmates adopted 3 children from Haiti after the earth quake and their story has been very full of challenges. Again the why?
July 18 at 4:26 pm, G. Kennedy said:
Andrew, I just wish I had money so I could help with the necessities you need to continue and support all of the amazing work you and Broken Earth do to help those wonderful grateful souls. God Bless you all.