Meet Willy Clotaire | Water Missions Haiti

Rulio “Willy” Clotaire has spent his life in a wheelchair ever since Polio took his legs 19 years ago. The road was never easy for Willy, who, as the 7th in a lineup of nine children, had learned how to work from an early age. At age five he started working in a local garden to make money, and by age 10 was making hats and detailed wood ornaments to sell as souvenirs to tourists. When he turned 16 he decided he had made enough to finance his education and enrolled in school. Four years later he was stricken with polio and within a year had moved permanently to using a wheelchair. This didn’t stop him from continuing his schooling and it would be another five years before he would stop, leaving with a 4th grade education level at the age of 26.

Willy and I spent some time talking about his life and role at Water Missions. It wasn’t an easy conversation but as my questions became more intimate, Willy only became more vulnerable. His story is one deeply marked by grace and an inner strength. Every answer comes with a smile. Even the hardest questions begin and end with a softness of face and humble spirit. “The street isn’t safe for me,” he explains when I ask him what he likes about working at Water Missions. “And I feel secure and comfortable here; no one laughs or makes fun of me, they just appreciate me for who I am.” Willy is responsible for operating the Tradewater system on the Water Missions Haiti compound in Port-Au-Prince. He operates the water system for anyone in the community who comes to the compound to purchase safe water. When I ask him how he found out about the job he cracks a smile and simply says, "The white man sent for me." He explains further, about how Julio started asking everyone in the neighborhood about him and how eventually, after a few attempts by Julio to contact him, Willy agreed to meet.

We continue on as I ask him what the biggest thing he misses from life before Polio is. I say it slowly, hoping that if asked gently the words won’t bring any pain. “The hardest thing is all the things I wanted to achieve, I can’t anymore,” he says honestly and meets my eye, and I try not to show emotion. It is impossible to fully imagine what that must be like. It’s 5 o’clock so he wraps up his work and piles all of it on his lap. I follow him through the office as he says goodbye to co-workers before rolling out the back door. In the office parking lot he lifts himself out of the wheelchair and into a chair that’s been adapted for the road, which he proudly calls The Wheeler. It’s the type of contraption that one propels by pedaling with ones hands. He turns The Wheeler around, heads out the gate into the road and begins his 10-minute pedal home.

One thing Willy Clotaire has is gumption. Life has thrown him about as many lemons as it could get its hands on but he never gave up. He had certainly thought about it but I remember the words he ended on and they make me smile: There’s nothing you can do but accept life as it comes at you.

The pride Julio has for Willy is evident in the way he lights up when I ask him about the situation. A one-sentence reply turns into a five-minute description of all the different reasons Julio has made this choice and how incredible Willy is at his job. He ends by saying, “I would see him on the streets and people made fun of him and he was rejected by society. So I offered him a job and he showed me he could do it. I proved something to them [the community] and now they accept him. This is how I want to help them all.”

As Water Missions Haiti expands, Julio is keeping his eyes opened for people like Willy who could fill a position. This is a life choice he hopes will seep into the minds of everyone around him and maybe one day they will all be considered equals.