Baby Rosemile

Little Rosemile was brought to GAiN’s medical clinic in Chambrun, a small community outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The medical team was alarmed at her tiny size and lack of response to stimulus rate and requested an immediate evacuation from the clinic to a large field hospital in Port-au-Prince. The 45 minute trip to the hospital seemed endless as at one point the truck came to halt in silence as the nurse tried to find Rosemile’s heartbeat, grateful to hear her small intake of breath. Upon arrival at the field hospital Rosemile was whisked into the makeshift neo-natal ICU as a bed was brought immediately. Returning in the afternoon to check on the little one, the GAiN team welcomed with cautious optimism, but the odds were not in her favor. Her conditions were fatal.

This is the story of thousands of children throughout Haiti. Many factors continue to hamper the relief efforts and ability of the Haitian government and other NGO’s to protect the most vulnerable, the estimated 1.5 million children throughout Haiti that have been directly affected by the earthquake. But, even before the earthquake, 1 in 13 infants died before reaching the age of 5 with over 30% of children under 5 chronically malnourished, only 45% of children in school and the social safety net for the protection for children against kidnapping and trafficking were “virtually non-existent” even before the earthquake occurred. These gaps in the infrastructure needed to protect the most vulnerable of society have only been exasperated by the earthquake.
(source: http://www.unicef.org)

So, the question is...what is our part in helping these children? How can we help little girls like Rosemile?