Using the Bathroom: A Desperate Act
Jacmel, Haiti
Tuesday, July 23,2013- there is only one bathroom in our Wellness Center and it is
in deplorable condition. It is only cleaned every third day. The toilet does not flush.
And it is in an enclosed room with no windows. So the smell is hot and offensive.
Most days I do not even go near the room. But some days I just have to go. Today is
one of those unfortunate days.
in deplorable condition. It is only cleaned every third day. The toilet does not flush.
And it is in an enclosed room with no windows. So the smell is hot and offensive.
Most days I do not even go near the room. But some days I just have to go. Today is
one of those unfortunate days.
The big metal door pushes in to the small, dark, smelly room. The concrete floor has
swelled enough that it is now impossible to close the door completely. It takes all of
my effort to drag that door to just a crack of an opening. I want privacy but I also
need some light. As I am struggling to push the door shut, I see Magdelena, the
neighborhood's lost soul, approaching me. She acknowledges me with a wave and
heads towards me. Now all hope of any privacy during this dreadful ordeal is lost.
Magdelena has no boundaries and no need or skills to be discrete.
swelled enough that it is now impossible to close the door completely. It takes all of
my effort to drag that door to just a crack of an opening. I want privacy but I also
need some light. As I am struggling to push the door shut, I see Magdelena, the
neighborhood's lost soul, approaching me. She acknowledges me with a wave and
heads towards me. Now all hope of any privacy during this dreadful ordeal is lost.
Magdelena has no boundaries and no need or skills to be discrete.
“No, no, no”, I shout to her through the crack in the door. “Stay away. Go away”!
My voice is now just a little panicked.
My voice is now just a little panicked.
But she ignores my request and now I can feel her breathe on my face. She stands
there, staring at me. And I realize that I have to surrender as I really have to go. But
then, just then, her thin, long fingers slither through the opening. With all of her
might she struggles, to pull the door even tighter as she attempts in vain to offer me
just a bit more privacy,
