Just a Quick Anecdote from Me

    Twelve months ago, my first time in Haiti, one of my greatest, yet most irrational, fears had been realized. I hadn't been in the country for even 16 hours, yet there I stood in a home for sick and dying babies. Facing a sea of cribs, occupied by living, breathing, delicate babies, I selected my target. My discomfort appeared obvious to anyone who saw me attempt to hold the baby. With my arms locked, I held a baby like Rafiki from the Lion King, because I had no clue what else to do. The infant began to cry, and from that moment on, the nuns who run the nursery constantly surveyed me to ensure I didn't cause any serious problems.

     

     By the end of my stay at the nursery, I had somewhat successfully fed a toddler, sorta changed a newborn's diaper and kinda bottle-fed an infant. Due to my inexperience, I would mostly call the morning a success. On only on occassion did a nun have to regain control of a situation for me. While feeding a 9 month old boy, I learned that babies can't breathe while they drink formula (in retrospect, this makes sense to me). The nun slapped me in the hand with a wooden spoon she carried in her apron and removed the child from me. Lesson learned, I guess.

   

     As scrappy as my paternity skills may have been a year ago, I found myself excited to go back to the home for sick and dying babies on my return to Haiti this year. Last Tuesday, there I stood again, facing an array cribs, occupied by the crying fragile newborns I once feared. Armed with the experiences I recieved while working in the nursery at Woodridge, my confidence to handle what the day brought felt unparalleled. I dove right in, harnessing my knowledge of how to properly hold, change and feed babies. The morning ended on a much better note than last year. No major issues, no nuns surveying me, and best of all: zero slaps by an angry, wooden spoon weilding, Sister.

     

     Personally, I found my personal growth from my first year to my second as a large improvement. When realizing this, a lot other comparisons of my growth over the past 12 months became evident to me. This year has been an important one for me, and in reflection, I learned that events and experiences are the engine behind personal growth and maturation. I felt like my Junior year officially began once I arrived home from Haiti last year. To me, the realization of how much I've positively changed is a beautiful way to conclude this year, and start a new one.

          - Robby Underdal