This Is Tiga ...
Tiga Means "Little Boy" In Haitian Creole ...
It's The Only Name He Knows ...
He Is About 5 Years Old ...
No One Knows For Sure ...
Tiga Is Abandoned & Homeless

TIGA'S STORY

Cite Soleil is a 27 square mile settlement area on the east side of Port au Prince, Haiti.
Almost 1 million of the poorest of the poor reside here in conditions
that can be aptly described as deplorable, demoralizing and brutal..
No running water, no electricity, no sanitation system or services, open sewage.
Due to the dehumanizing conditions, it only follows that crime and abuse are commonplace.
This is an area where almost one half of the children born do not live to see their 4th birthday.

This was Tiga's world.

A registered nurse from Corpus Christi, Texas, who prefers to spend his spare time in areas such as this working with street children and volunteering in local hospitals, was on one of his trips to Cite Soleil. When midday approached, he decided to go back to the St. Josephs Boys Home where he was staying. This was partially due to the exhausting 100+ degree heat, humidity, and hoards of desperate people that serve to make the area even more unbearable than it already is. Walking up the one paved road through the center of the area, half way to the exit from Cite Soleil, he noticed a group of about 50 people standing on the side of the road passively watching something. Reaching the group of people, he peered through the crowd to see what was attracting such interest. He wasn't really prepared for what he saw.

Running along each side of the street is a rough concrete ditch that serves as an open sewage system as well as a public latrine. A walkway consisting of loose pavement rocks was on the other side of the ditch. Lying on these rocks, which were so hot the heat could be seen radiating from their surface, was a small naked boy, lying on his back in a contorted position. He was drenched in sweat and profoundly unconscious. A seizure brought on by heat exhaustion in combination with his malnutrition, dehydration and neglected state had caused him to fall from the street, barely missing the two ft. deep open sewage ditch. Landing on the rocks he had lacerated the back of his head.
The people watching the boy from the side of the road knew that to intervene by picking him up would be equivalent to claiming him, making the child their property should he be found to be abandoned. When you are unable to feed or clothe your own children or even yourself, many do not see this as an option. There is no "911" in Cite Soleil, so to stand and passively watch as he dies would at least keep him company as he passed from his life of desperation and torment.

The nurse immediately broke through the crowd of people, jumped the sewage ditch and kneeled next to the boy. Examination revealed he was unconscious with no palpable heartbeat and without any discernable respirations. The child had just died with no one showing they cared. The nurse began CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resusitation) by giving mouth-to-mouth respirations. Miraculously, his pulse returned and he began to breath after only two breaths. As he began to pick up the boy, the crowd began to yell "No monsieur! No monsieur!", still considering the abandoned child rule. Despite the protests, he picked up the boy and began to run back in the direction from which he came where he had seen a medical clinic. It took about 10 minutes to reach the clinic. It was closed. He saw a filthy alley running along side and behind the clinic that led to a connecting building. He carried the boy through the alley and up some stairs where he found what appeared to be a children's hospital unit. There was a female physician there and about 30 rickety beds, each containing a child, all between the ages of about 2 months to 16 years. Not having any supplies to speak of and no medications for treatment, many of the children had their mothers sitting next to their beds holding prescriptions for the medication needed to cure them or save their lives; prescriptions that would never have any hope of being filled. When there is no money for even food or descent clothing, money for a prescription is a very remote hope. Two of the children died by the end of that first day.

Still unconscious, the boy was placed on a round wooden table surrounding a post in the middle of the room. The nurse started an IV and began running 1 liter of dextrose & water into his veins. He was washed with cool wet rags and an attempt was made to make him comfortable. After about 2 hours he became semi-conscious. Another hour passed and he was fully conscious but extremely weak. When asked what his name was, he could only whisper "Tiga".
Several of the onlookers laughed at his answer.
He was only "little boy".

A small bucket of food consisting of rice, beans and a small piece of chicken meat was sent for from one of the street kitchens. Tiga was hand fed the food and ate like he hadn't eaten in days. It was decided that he remain in the little hospital unit for 3 days so that he could be watched and fed. The nurse paid for his three day stay which came to about $8 U.S. The physician informed the nurse that he had to come back in 24 to 72 hours to see if Tiga was claimed by someone, if not, he was indeed the "property" and the responsibility of the nurse who had brought him in and signed the admission form.

On the third day, the nurse returned to the hospital but Tiga had already been released. After about 2 hours of searching, he was found wandering aimlessly around a filthy courtyard in the center of a group of cardboard & tin shanties. As the nurse picked him up, a man approached and said we could take the boy but only if he was paid for. The man was said to have no relation to Tiga, but apparently had considered himself the one who would be paid for his release. Also adjacent to this courtyard was a Vodou peristyle (Voodoo church) where the houngan (priest) had been sitting and listening to the exchanges that had been going on between the nurse and the man. He was apparently angered by the arrogance of the unknown man, came out of his peristyle, intervened, and the dispute was quickly ended. The houngan picked up the child and handed him to the nurse. Tiga and the nurse then left Cite Soleil to introduce Tiga to his new life.

Tiga now lives at a home for abandoned handicapped children in Phaermont, Haiti. There he will receive the best education available and all the love and care he could ever want. The nurse in this story was Michael W. Brewer, RN, Pres/Founder, Haitian Street Kids, Inc.

This Is Tiga Today ... Only 4 Months Later, The Empty, Lifeless Eyes Have Been Replaced By Bright Happy Smiles And A Love For Life With A Happy Future That All Children Deserve.