Eyes for Jeannika

Susan Gail Swanson

Eyes for Jeannika

Her smile was as bright as the Haitian sunshine. Carefully braided loops framed her dark young face. Her blue eyes grabbed my attention. Contrasting her radiant smile the blue eyes stared at me vacantly.

“She’s been blind since early childhood,” says Pastor Whitney, coming up behind me.

“How sad! Being poor, blind and uneducated are overwhelming obstacles,” I reply.

“Her bright spirit, perseverance and kindness have helped her overcome a lot,” adds the Pastor. “Her name is Jeannika.”

“Can anything be done for her?”

“Our local clinics in this poor village can do nothing. She needs a cornea transplant that cannot be performed in Haiti.”

Pastor Whitney, a Haitian national, is escorting two friends and me on a short-term mission trip to Haiti. Visiting this small village of Maissade, the three of us hope to make a difference in this impoverished village. Here there are only dirt roads, no electricity or running water. The village is a farm community, poor and lacking in medical resources. Jeannika is one of the many poor undernourished children we have seen. The poverty and need are overwhelming. Children playing in trash-strewn streets, in dirty clothes with open sores. During our ten-day visit, Jeannika comes everyday to visit.

“Why does she come to ‘play’ with us? Has she no friends?” I ask Pastor Whitney.

“The village children laugh at her and tease her. Because she is blind, she has no friends.” Although she cannot see, she tries on our glasses and hats. We laugh and enjoy her company. Jeannika is always clean, smiling and upbeat. Each day we fall more in love with this precious Haitian child. More than anything, we want Jeannika to regain her vision.

All too soon we are going home to the States. Saying good-bye to our Haitian friends is difficult, but leaving Jeannika is really sad. My friends and I pray for Haiti, and we pray a doctor can help restore Jeannika’s sight. In America, during the ensuing weeks, Jeannika remains in our prayers. Sharing slides at church of our trip to Haiti, Jeannika’s plight stirs people in our congregation. Many people ask what they could do to help this cute, blind child. .

Our pastor has consistently encouraged us to “put actions with our prayers.” Jane, from our Haiti trip takes the pastor’s words to heart and begins an Internet search to locate an eye specialist who can give Jeannika new eyes. Sending letters and pictures to potential surgeons in the Miami area, generates an overwhelming response. Several doctors answer immediately! Dr. Alfonso of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami gladly decides to help our Jeannika and sets up an appointment time. The surgery is estimated at an astronomical price of $35,000 plus airfare and travel expenses. Our small

Haitian team of three takes this to our congregation. We decide to take a chance that God will help us raise the money. Our church pledges the funds for airfare and travel expenses for Jeannika and her mother to fly to Miami.

Pastor Whitney, who lives in Miami, will house Jeannika and her mother, but leaving Haiti is difficult. Birth certificates, passports and visas are needed and in a country where births are not usually recorded and political corruption is a way of life, obtaining this paperwork will not be easy. God moves in mysterious ways! A process that would normally take two years in Haiti takes only two weeks! Even the United States Embassy issues paperwork in record time.

Jeannika and her mother arrive in the United States on August 23 for an eye appointment on the 28th. God again moves in mysterious ways. The doctor discloses that only one cornea transplant is required. The other eye is not that bad and will develop vision once the other cornea is replaced. The surgery will cost only $15,000.00. .

Even though we are trusting God for the funds, $15,000 is a lot of money. Our church is a small congregation of less than 200. Two churches in Minnesota and Wyoming who have been to Haiti and know Jeannika answer our call for money and the funds are raised.

Surgery is performed before Thanksgiving. Jeannika goes into surgery blind and comes out with vision, praising the Lord. She is grateful to all the caring Christians who put action to prayers.

God has written in Isaiah “Before they call, I will answer and while they are yet speaking, I well hear” And indeed God does. Who could have imagined that three American women traveling to Haiti could put together a life changing experience for one child; and involve so many people in this life-changing event!

In December Jeannika returned to her little village in Haiti. She is no longer the butt of jokes and teasing, but is a miracle child of hope! Her testimony about American Christians who cared enough is sending ripples of eternity through the countryside in testimony to a God that cares about the “least of them.”

Written by: Susan Swanson

Susan Gail Swanson, author

Christian Author

Eyes for Jeannika