The January 12,
, 2010 earthquake brought much destruction to Haiti but nothing so heartbreaking and overwhelming as the flood of new orphans in this country where suffering is already no stranger to children.
Within a matter of seconds, families were instantly devastated and decimated.
Children, roaming the streets for days, weeks and even months, not knowing where to go or what to do as parents simply disappeared.
Some disconnected children were claimed by relatives, some taken in my government representatives, while still others walked the streets or sought help from strangers.
The needs are simple -- find food and shelter.
Survive another day.
Below are the stories of six of those children who have have recently become part of our family at Maison de Lumiere.
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THE ALEXI FAMILY
Back row (left to right) - The rescued cousin (who lives with his own family), Stanley (8). Front row - The grandmother, Wadeline (15), Wilson (4), Tiyou (6), and Adnaika (2) |
The Alexi Family Children - It was a horrifying experience. When the earthquake hit, their mother, and only living parent, was instantly trapped beneath a multi-ton solid cement roof of their home. There were no ambulances, no emergency service personnel to help -- just a few compassionate neighbors.
With only her flailing arm visible from beneath the collapsed building's rubble, the children's mother tried to signal people that she was still alive. Neighbors who saw what happened rushed over and dug vigorously beneath the rubble to rescue her. As they tried to rescue her they were surprised to discover yet another person trapped beneath the rubble - her 12 year old nephew, also trapped beneath the collapsed building. He crawled out to safety but, as rescue efforts continued, it became apparent that there was just too much rubble and block and not enough help. Her body was so badly crushed that prospects for her survival grew dim with each passing minute. The rescuers could do nothing as the children watched in shock as their mother's wavering hand stop moving.
The childrens' grandmother, emotionally devastated by the loss of her daughter, came to care for the children. A nice neighbor let them set up a tent on his property where an unfinished house stood. But a safe place to live was not enough. Orange hair and bloated bellies were signs that the children were suffering from malnutrition. The oldest daughter, 15 year old Wadeline, tried her best to assist the grandmother but without adequate food and water they were often sick and weak. That is when we first met them. We were looking for a house to rent when we first saw the children. They were sitting on the front steps of the house we came to view. They seemed so small and helpless. When we heard their story it broke our hearts.
We continued to come back and visit the children and provide food and clothing. Members of a visiting missions team also met the children and wanted to help. They offered funds to assist the family and even enroll the children in a local school.
It became evident that the grandmother was emotionally and physically incapable of caring for the children. She asked us to take the kids but our homes were maxed out. That's when the Lord presented a solution - rent the unfinished house where the children lived, make it into the new guest house and make the old guest house into a new girls home that would accommodate considerably more girls. We also had boys graduating out of the boys home soon that would free up space for the three little boys.
We spoke with the owner and negotiated a great rental rate on the unfinished house for the next six years if we completed construction. Although much of the major work was done, there was still extensive work ahead - electrical, plumbing, new walls and more. That's where a dear friend came to the rescue. Chad Youngquist, a construction engineer who was visiting with a missions team from Washington, also had a heart for this family but he also had a major burden for girls suffering abuse in nearby tent cities and orphaned by the quake and he knew we could rescue more girls with an expanded girls home. Chad agreed that, once we rented the property, he would immediately put together an army of construction workers to come in weekly waves over the course of a month with the goal of completing the house by February.
As new guest house is nearly completed, we have already moved the kids in to Maison de Lumiere. We were also able to offer the grandmother a job working with our feeding program.
Schneider - A friend and former MDL employee told us about a young boy, 8 to 10 years of age, who was living by himself, under a tarp, in a tent city. He was regularly being beaten up by older kids on the street and was often seen with a bleeding head. We went to check out the story and found it to be true.
Apparently, on January 12th, he was playing soccer with friends on a street nearby his home when the earthquake happened. He was unharmed but ran to check on his family. The building where his family lived was gone -- it was just a pile of rubble. He never saw his family again. He had no other relatives he knew of so he just started living on the streets. Months later, a policeman who was living in a nearby tent city saw him wandering around the streets and had compassion for him. There are no public facilities for homeless children, other than a children's prison, so he told the boy he should come live near him. The policeman, however, had lost his home in the quake and was living with his family in a tent. The tent was too small to accommodate more than his own family but they found a tarp set up a makeshift tent for the boy in the same tent city. When the policeman would have extra food, which was rare, he would share it with the boy.
After we met him, we invited Schneider to eat with us at the orphanage. When he walked through the gates of the orphanage, this listless, quiet boy sprang to life like he had just walked into Disney World. The now wide-eyed, smiling boy looked like a different child. He immediately joined in with some of the MDL boys playing foursquare. Then, he saw the soccer field and basketball court. He forgot about eating. He just wanted to play with the kids, run around and enjoy the place. Every now and then, he would just stop playing, run over to us and say, "Merci," and then run back to play some more. We prayed and God confirmed that Schneider was to become one of the boys of Maison de Lumere.
Much Work to Do
The new children's health is our first priority. We are in the process of de-worming all the kids and getting healthy food into them. Our patient and loving staff is pouring the love of Christ into these children daily.
All of these children are currently seeking sponsors. Please join us in prayer, that the Lord would provide loving sponsors to help these children and that these precious children would grow up to be little lighthouses for Jesus. To find out more information or about sponsoring any of these kids click the name of the child below:
Adnaika
Schneider
Stanley
Tiyou
Wadeline
Wilson
