Walking By

Outside the gate of our mission station, there was a man would lay in the dusty road. He lay there sometimes with his back propped against the wall and his oversized right leg sticking out into the street. Othertimes he sprawled out sideways, his head just inches away from the earth where goat poop, trash, and urine wash down in the rains.

Almost every day I walked passed him on my way to class, sometimes greeting him sometimes not. Usually I was in a hurry to get to class, and carrying only what I needed to teach: chalk, books, a flashlight for the walk home, so when he asked for food, I didn't have any with me to give.

Here I walk by people every day wearing tattered shirts or shoes two sizes too big. The kids, all of them, have learned 2 or 3 English phrases including "I am hungry," and "Give me one dolla(r)." And adults who see you in the street will ask you for the shoes off your feet, and those who see you in the store ask you to pay for the items in their hands. So I've learned to ignore, grown accustomed to turning my head and walking away.

But this man, lying in the street alone, was obviously not a child playing a game and testing his English or an adult looking for a laugh or some free phone cards. This man was dying in front of me every day.

Several times I thought, I should take some food to that man today, but don't remember doing that even once. I didn't give him any money or even a cup of cold water. I walked by him. So his face has haunted me. I see it sometimes when I read stories in the bible like the good Samaritan or of Jesus healing a beggar.

In April of 2010, I headed back to the States for a few months, and while I was there, this man's face never left my mind. I decided, when I get back to Haiti, I must give this man some food or something. I looked for him when I returned in August, but he was not here.

I asked about him and discovered he had passed away sometime while I was gone. I don't even know his name. Never had a real conversation with him. Yet the face of this man will forever be my companion.