Jessica’s Story

Told by Brittany Hilker-Pierre

In 2013, some friends and I moved to a very remote fishing village to start a Malnutrition Program. It was there that I met Joel Jean, who is now Partner Haiti’s Head Nurse and Country Director. He told me there was a child up the mountain who was dying and needed immediate help. We made the 2 hour walk up the rocky mountain path and met a 5 year old girl named Jessica. She was skin and bones, with swelling in her arms, legs, face and abdomen. She had the most dangerous kind of malnutrition: Kwashiorkor, a protein deficiency. Her legs were so swollen that she had open sores all over them, and she could hardly move. She was in so much pain, and wasn’t many days away from death.

Jessica and her mother made the gruesome 3 hour trip down the mountain on a motorcycle, not knowing if she would even survive it.

Jessica beat malnutrition, and her family rejoiced. That day began my long standing relationship with her family. I became so close with them that when I would do home visits in their village they would watch my own daughter as I walked around to find others in need. The mother brought carrots from her garden each time she saw me, as a gift to show her appreciation, and I spent countless hours talking and getting to know this family. Each time I visited them was a joyous reunion!

As the years went on and I moved from that village, and eventually moved back to the States, I lost touch with Jessica and her family, though I never stopped thinking of them and praying for them. Last week we sent a health agent out to her remote village to check on them, and we found Jessica, happy and healthy, living with her family. This story reminded me:

Never underestimate the power of helping just ONE CHILD!

Treating a child with malnutrition is a gift that lasts a life-time! It was so beautiful to see this little girl, now 15 years old, enjoying her family and her life today.