Scott Novorr loves children. The father of four (see related story, this page) likes nothing more than playing with his children and their friends.
Like many people he watched with interest when an earthquake devastated Haiti in January. But unlike others he had the opportunity to travel to Haiti and visit its children last month as part of a group from The Global Orphan Project (GO Project).
Novorr, a member of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, connected with GO Project through a friend. Go Project, based in Parkville, Mo., mobilizes local churches in some of the poorest areas on earth to care for the neediest orphaned and vulnerable children.
"I’ve always had a soft spot for kids and when my friend traveled there he periodically mentioned he’d love for me to go with him one day. I always said ya, sure, one day I will," he said.
That day came sooner than he anticipated. In early November he was invited to participate, but said he couldn’t go.
"I gave every conceivable excuse why I couldn’t go then. Work was crazy. We had 20 people coming to our house for Thanksgiving …," he said.
But his wife, Jennifer, thought it was a great idea and so the mad rush started to get all the paperwork and immunizations done in just a few short weeks.
"Everything lined up just perfectly and I was off to Haiti," he said.
Bonding with orphans
The group of 15, five from Kansas City, planned to visit different orphanages and simply be with the kids.
"So many of these kids were recently orphaned because of the earthquake. Three hundred thousand people were killed and a lot of these kids that we dealt with had recently lost their parents," he explained.
Being with the kids, who ranged in age from 6 months to 16 years, is exactly what Novorr wanted to do. "Every day I feel fortunate for what we have. I wanted to try to give something back to these kids," he said.
His short time there was spent playing soccer, coloring or just holding a child.
"The kids absolutely blew me away," he said.
Novorr noted that the children are not mistreated in the orphanages, which housed between 70 and 120 kids. They are fed, clothed and educated.
"But that’s about all there’s time for," he said. "They are so starved for emotional and physical attention."
That’s why, Novorr explained, it’s important for volunteers to be able to just spend time with the children.
"They just want to be held. Immediately kids will run up to you and just jump into your arms or they’ll hold your hand or grab on to your leg. They want what all kids want," he said.
Haitians speak French, so there’s a communication barrier. But Novorr said the kids still find a way to communicate.
"They love to have their pictures taken and they will yell ‘photo, photo’ and they’ll yell football because they want to play soccer with you," he said.
One boy in particular, Emerson, really took to him. The pair spent a lot of time together.
"The hardest part of the entire trip was the day that we left," he said. "He was sitting by himself on a rock and I went over and sat down next to him. Usually he talked a mile a minute. He was just quiet. He just leaned his head down on me and for a half an hour he just sat there. It was like all the life had been sucked out of him."
Novorr said he felt like he was abandoning the child.
"They don’t tell you much about these kids I don’t know if he has been an orphan a long time or if he lost his parents a year ago. I don’t know how fresh the pain is. That was horrible," he said.
The people of Haiti
The group spent a lot of time in Haiti’s capital city of Port-au-Prince. Novorr kept a journal and took pictures, but out of respect for the city’s residents, he tried not to be intrusive about it.
"The conditions in Haiti are far worse than I ever expected to see. Everywhere you look people are living out of boxes or shacks. Trash is piled 6-feet high. It was just chaotic," he said.
But he saw hope in the faces of the people.
"Driving through Port-au-Prince, people would be a foot from our bus and they would look up and smile at us or wave at us. At no time did I ever feel like we were in danger or uncomfortable in any way," he said.
Novorr said Haitians appreciated their attention.
"It wasn’t about what we brought with us, or money that we were donating, they were just appreciative that we were there to support them," he said.
Novorr was particularly impressed by the character of some of these kids. A member of the GO Project group was a dentist who did procedures on Haitian children. They had never seen a dentist before. A 15-year-old Haitian boy took it upon himself to help the other children.
"Over the course of two days the dentist saw more than 200 kids," Novorr said. "This boy walked each kid from the waiting room into the exam area and for two days took care of these kids by holding their hands or stroking their hair or patting their shoulder."
"He literally didn’t say a word, he was just there. That’s one of those instances where it’s easy to get depressed and feel sorry for the kids but really you know that they are strong and they are taking care of each other," Novorr said.
Novorr hopes to go back again next year. His 10-year-old son, Jack, wants to make the trip as well.
"This wasn’t just a bucket list thing for me. I’ve climbed mountains and other things I can check off my list and move on," he said. "This isn’t like that. I feel inside that I want to keep doing this and my plan right now is to go back once a year and not have a particular mission in mind. There is such a connection with the people in Haiti and for what they are dealing with and with the kids. I just want to be a part of it."