In the hospital:
Wanda was two years old and never enjoyed good health. Now her Mom and Grandma hovered over her hospital bed, sick with worry for the child. As her condition grew worse, they could barely stand to be in the room with her, helpless to bring her some comfort.
In death:
She died at 8 PM on Sunday evening. When the pediatrician on call at the Barahona regional hospital came in the room to speak with Wanda's relatives, she could not speak Creole and the Haitian immigrants could hardly communicate in Spanish. The first thought of the family was to take the child out of the hospital and back to Paraiso for burial. The doctor communicated that this was impossible. The Haitians interpreted this to mean that they would never get the child back for burial. They fled the hospital.
The next day:
On Monday morning, after Mass, the family came to the parish rectory desperate for help. By this time they believed that the hospital personnel had thrown the child out into a dump. The inability to communicate plus the anxiety over this tragic death had multiplied their fears.
Back to the hospital:
We all drove down to Barahona and eventually located the hospital staff. It turns out that the doctor was only advising the poor family that it was against the law for a family to carry a dead person by means of public transportation. The doctor signed the official paperwork to release Wanda's body from the morgue.
Searching for a casket:
We spent the better part of two hours searching for a casket. The family had been so convinced that Wanda's remains were lost forever that they had not considered the possibility of being able to bring her back to Paraiso. During the search for a casket, the memory of Brother Chris in Las Matas de Farfan came back to us. He ran a woodworking shop and always had caskets on hand for emergencies.
Wanda of the mountains above Paraiso:
It took God 13.7 billion years of careful transforming of the universe in order to bring forth Wanda. We who have been blinded by the super-abundance of life on our most blessed planet, perhaps have no idea how precious human life is in our home galaxy. When our descendants venture beyond our solar system and experience countless barren or semi barren worlds, will they begin to appreciate the miracle of each human life? The pediatrician guessed that Wanda suffered from heart ailments which complicated her ability to deal with scarlet fever. We believe in a God who cherishes her life and embraces her beyond the grave.
