Sometimes I forget how easy it is for most of us to get help when we’re sick — you just go to a clinic or call a doctor. But in the mountains of Haiti, things are so different. Every day, families fight against poverty, hunger, and sickness, and still somehow keep going.

There’s a little boy named Jovanel, who lives with his parents way up in a place called Montagne Terrible (which means Terrible Mountain, the name fits). Their house is made of mud and tin. His dad works in the fields from sunrise to sunset, and his mom stays home trying to feed their baby with whatever she can find — even if it means going hungry herself. She is not eating well and was not producing much milk for her baby.

When Jovanel was just one month old, they tried giving him solid food — not because they wanted to, but because he was crying all the time beucase he was not getting enough milk. He couldn’t keep anything down and was vomiting alot. He cried all the time and got really sick — fever, cough, everything. There used to be a small clinic nearby, but it closed when the country’s crisis got worse. After that, they had nowhere to go.

One day, a neighbor told them about our clinic in Cazale. It was far — really far — but it was their only hope. So they walked ten hours. Through rocks, mud, rain, and the hot sun, carrying their baby the whole way.

When they finally made it, Jovanel was so weak he could barely move. The nurses took him in right away and found out he was malnourised and dehydrated. They gave him medicine, ORS, and enrolled him in the Medika Mamba program, and taught his parents how to take care of him with the little they had.

Even now, they keep walking those same ten hours every month for his checkups. Ten hours — just to make sure he stays alive.

We are so proud of his parents for being responsible and caring for thier son.