After taking a trip to Guatemala with Compassion, as a sponsor but more importantly as a ministry advocate, I felt a responsibility to protect all other sponsors from what I experienced.

You amazing sponsors out there who put your heart and soul into writing letters. I didn’t want anyone to hear this story and have it stop them from writing their sponsored child again. Let me explain …

I had been to Haiti to do medical missionary work and I thought I had seen poverty. I was confident after that experience I would not be affected by anything I saw in Guatemala. God didn’t agree and set me straight.

The home we visited was no home but two pitch-dark wood sheds. It was pouring that day and the rain seemed to just add to the feeling of despair that surrounded us. What hit me more than the physical structures the people were living in was the emotional wreckage I saw and heard as we asked them about their lives.

The mother was unable to speak after being raped by guerrilla soldiers years ago, two of her children had gone to gangs never to return again (or they would themselves be killed for leaving), and three small children looked up at us with such hollow eyes and empty hearts.

I always make a point to ask Compassion children I meet anywhere if they receive letters from their sponsors. I think this question is important for many reasons. To hear their feedback helps me to know what I need to do to get the word out to others that they must write more. And, it is good to hear out of their precious mouths why it’s so special.

So, I asked my question to this family as well. The response hit me like a knife going through my heart … literally.

I guess that’s just one of the reasons I burst into tears and felt so completely foolish. What right did I have to cry when they were the ones living like this?

The oldest little guy still at home, was — I’m guessing — maybe 8 or 9 years old. He responded.

“Yes, I have sponsors.”

He showed me only one letter. I asked him,

“Only one letter?”

He replied,

“This one is newer. I did have more but not now.”

Now? Why not now I’m wondering?

“They did send me letters, but my dad was an alcoholic. He died. After that, my mom had no money, no food. So we had to burn my letters to stay warm.”

I felt this rush of pain traveling from my brain down every nerve ending to my heart. It was so profound. At first, I just couldn’t stop the emotions as I hugged him and he was crying. We cried together.

But then, my own selfish fears kicked into gear silently like a train hitting me at full speed. What did he just REALLY say? Wait … what about my letters to all my children. What if?…

I have thought and thought about what I saw and heard, not sure if I should share. Thinking it could be so irresponsible of me as an advocate to tell sponsors this, knowing how wrapped up into letters everyone gets, including me.

A boy in Guatemala shows off a letter from his sponsor.

After awhile, we begin to crave those beautiful cream envelopes. Think of them so often, almost wanting to tackle the mail people before they even fill our mailboxes! We are sincere in our love, truly giving to our children that which brings us closer together when distance separates us.

The question I kept asking myself was, how can I relay this in a way that others can see the much, much more important message in this, rather than focusing on how the letters were burned and what if that happened to mine or yours.

Just as in our own families we treasure photos and letters of our time together, ultimately it is the memories of those events that no one can ever take away from us. When we receive a letter from a loved one, sponsored child, friend, we don’t forget … ever.

We hold the memories inside us like a time capsule and nothing can change that, not even a fire to stay warm.

What the sponsor family of that sweet little boy don’t know won’t hurt them. You know why? Because not only have they been supporting their little boy each month, but they also provide something they never could have guessed. They sent survival for a family, literally.

God protects and God provides, always. We really have no idea how much we are doing each and every time we send small gifts in our envelopes, letters and photos.

I never, ever, ever want what I have shared to deter anyone from writing more. Instead, I pray that it will in fact do just the opposite. When you send a letter, realize that you are doing so much more than simply writing because you are sharing your life with your child.

We cannot control what God plans and shouldn’t even try to. What we can do though is understand and allow God to use what we give of ourselves to help our children in ways we could never imagine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Berger sponsors seven children and is a correspondent sponsor to three additional children. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania where she works as a medical missions coordinator.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The property now housing the Simonette Child Development Center used to be a “peristil,” or Voodoo temple, where a well-known Voodoo priest named Sore ruled for several decades.

Sore was such a famous Voodoo priest that people from different regions in the country came to see him every day for different reasons. Pastor Monas had to face fierce opposition from Sore when he was called by God to start his ministry there 21 years ago.

Just a few months after Pastor Monas began his ministry in that area, Sore, the Voodoo priest, gave his life to Jesus. Many of his followers also turned over their lives to Christ. Before he passed away, Sore dedicated the property to the Lord for the local church and different ministries, including the school.

Currently, Simonette Christian Church is the first partner to benefit from the ministry’s reconstruction program after the 2010 earthquake that destroyed the inadequate school infrastructure that existed.

Pastor Monas shares,

“I give thanks to God that among the 44 projects that were destroyed by the earthquake, Simonette is the first one that benefits from the reconstruction. I have been facing big challenges in my ministry here during the last 21 years, but I can now testify that our partnership with Compassion (10 years) has opened the door to long-term development for our community.”

Before Pastor Monas’ ministries started in Simonette, none of the children in that area had the chance to reach the seventh grade. The reason for that was the location of existing schools. It took some children three hours to walk to the nearest town for school.

The Simonette school has made a great difference in the community as it allows more than 300 children, 280 of them sponsored, to benefit from the best education.

“Before I started my ministry in Simonette, the whole community was under the domination of Satan. As a result, many children died before reaching grade six. Because of the gospel, the devil has now no power over the children and their parents.”

Parents and children were brokenhearted when the earthquake destroyed the only school in the community. This new construction with 12 classrooms and other infrastructure brings hope again, as it will allow more children to benefit from a better education.

Ricardy is an orphan who became sponsored at 5 years old. Now, at age 15, he is in grade nine and has big dreams for the future because of our ministry’s help. Ricardy tells us,

“I like Compassion very much because were it not for its assistance, I would never been able to go to school since I have no mother and no father.

“I like my school because it is near my house. During recess time, I go to my house, eat a little something, and come back to class. If it was far away from my home, my grandmother would not be able to find transportation money to send me.

“After the earthquake, we were gathering under a tent for class. Right now I am proud of my school because it is the most beautiful school in the whole community.”

Pastor Monas is proud to see that his vision is being accomplished through the years. The reputation of the church is increasing every day because of the quality of our program. The academic performance of sponsored children is higher than the national average.

In the latest statistics, our students ranked an average of 74% in the grade 12 final exams compared with the 50% country average, and 86.11% in grade 13 final exams compared with the 86% country average.

Pastor Monas ultimate’s goal is to see that all of the children from his community have the chance to attend school and become accomplished adults. He also would like to see the whole Simonette population turn their lives to Jesus before he passes away.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

This is the number-one question I get about Haiti:

“So how’s it going? Are things getting better over there?”

Question number two?

“When’s it going to be back to normal?”

Back to normal in Haiti. That’s an interesting question.

It’s been two years since the earthquake that killed 250,000 people and devastated the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. This is Haiti. Haiti — a little more than an hour from Miami, but where half the children under age 5 are malnourished and the life expectancy is only 59 years.

Haiti, where half the population can’t read or write. And where more than half the population lives on less than $1.25 a day.

And that was before the earthquake.

What is back to normal?

If you’d witnessed the destruction right after the January 12, 2010 earthquake, you would see a noticeable difference today. Most of the rubble is cleared from the streets. There is even reconstruction going on.

At the same time, collapsed buildings are everywhere. You don’t have to look for them, they’re everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people still live in tents or temporary shelters donated by a myriad of charitable organizations. Even the National Palace is still a collapsed ruin.

So are things getting better?

We can report that Compassion has completed its short-term and transitional strategies to bring immediate relief to the impacted children and their families. We provided food, safe water, shelter and medical assistance.

We worked with our church partners to get our programs back up and running, provide post-trauma counseling to the kids and the church staff, and provide shelter, desks and chairs for classes to resume. We are back to the business of caring for and developing the children of Haiti.

Is it like it was before? No. Nothing is. But we have worked hard to give the children a chance, to keep them from losing their opportunity despite the tragedy.

Now we are working on the long-term solutions. We have always been about long-term solutions. To help children in poverty develop physically, spiritually, economically and socially from their mothers’ womb until they become the adults God meant them to be is a long-term solution for Haiti.

The disaster response team is thinking of the long-term in post-earthquake Haiti as well. In our Pastor Encouragement and Vision Casting Strategy, we’re teaming with like-minded local leaders to engage the Haitian church and society to give sustained attention to the values of integrity, justice, responsible leadership and good governance.

We’ve started an income-generation program, offering entrepreneurial training and low-interest loans to help the parents of our children start businesses — businesses that will not only help them and their families, but will also bring additional jobs to their communities. And we’re rebuilding schools to meet or exceed international seismic standards.

Schools that will never fall down on children again.

Are things getting better? If you ask Orleys Ley, he would say yes. Orleys is a tailor.

When the earthquake struck, both his home and his business collapsed, killing his wife and oldest daughter. Without a way to make a living he was left alone to care for his two-year-old daughter, Orleus.

However, he was able to get a loan from the income-generation program, which allowed him to buy equipment and rent space across the street from his collapsed home.

He reopened his tailor shop, making clothes and school uniforms. He has been so successful that he has purchased additional equipment and opened a tailor school in his shop. He is teaching others the skills that enabled him to rise out of the despair.

For Orleys, and the hundreds of other small business owners taking advantage of the income-generation program, things are getting better.

And new, stronger schools are being built.

In Simonette, a rural village along the coast north of Port-au-Prince, the finishing touches are being given to a 16-classroom school that will accommodate more than 500 children. Even people without any knowledge of construction or engineering can see the difference in these buildings.

Ultimately we hope to work with our church partners to complete 30 schools and help them move into the future with better facilities than they had before. More importantly, we want to provide opportunities for thousands of children to have safe, clean places to learn and grow.

As I stood in front of the buildings in Simonette, watching the Haitian workers install the last window panes and dabbing on the last of the paint, I listened to one of the students, a girl of about 12, speaking with her friend. “There isn’t a better school in Haiti,” she said.

I can’t say there isn’t a better school, but I can say there isn’t a better-built school. Our engineers will be the first to remind us that no building is completely earthquake-proof.

But there is no building in Haiti that has been built with more care. These school buildings would stand up to any construction standards in the world, built by local workers trained by our engineers to withstand both earthquakes and hurricanes.

Are things getting better? For the children of Simonette, they are.

The girl smiled as she turned to her friend. “That’s my school,” she said.

Yes, it is. The children are too important to give them anything less.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Matthew Moore is the management support director for Haiti and oversees the implementation of our Complementary Interventions earthquake strategies there.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

I love superheroes. Not sure why, but since I was a kid I’ve been enthralled by Superman, Spiderman, Batman and the like. I have a collection of old comic books, action figures (don’t call them dolls!) and other superhero related knick-knacks in my office and at home.

But as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned that not all heroes wear capes. Nor do they fly through the air, spin webs, leap tall buildings or race trains. Heroes look like you and me. And our super power isn’t some phenomenal feat of strength. It’s compassion.

It’s caring enough about our fellow human beings that we are willing to do whatever it takes to end suffering.

On Jan. 12, 2010, the earth violently shook in Haiti. It destroyed cities, claimed lives, and separated families. We watched the harrowing images on our televisions. We read about it in the newspapers and listened to the story unfold on radio programs.

And, like heroes, we responded.

Money. Prayers. Mission trips. Donated goods. We saw needs and met them.

Sometimes, heroes rise up from the rubble. Our staff in Haiti and volunteers spent tireless hours caring for and reaching out to victims — even as they, themselves, lost so much in the quake.

They tracked down sponsored children and their families. They provided shelter, clean water, medicines and food. Our church partners became safe havens for families whose homes were destroyed.

One of the heroes in Haiti is a former sponsored child. His name is Sony Fleurancier.

Sony was not only a sponsored child; he was also a Leadership Development Program student who received a degree in Civil Engineering. Now, he’s using those skills to help Compassion rebuild schools in Haiti. The quake wiped out much of the nation’s infrastructure, including its schools.

As you know, our program takes place in church-based schools. Without them, most of our sponsored children would not be able to receive an education at all. By the end of this year, we hope to have six new schools built, with a long-term plan to construct 30 schools in all.

And yes, because of Sony’s expertise and that of others, those buildings will be built to international seismic standards, providing safe facilities for children while meeting the needs of our church partners.

Sony is a hero. No cape. No flying. Just answering the call. Meeting the need. And while he’s not leaping tall buildings, he’s definitely helping us build stronger ones to keep our kids safe.

Here’s to the heroes who are helping rebuild a devastated country. Rebuilding an entire country. Now that does sound superhero-ish, doesn’t it?

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

It’s been nearly two years since the devastating earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.

In the months following the disaster, we received lots of donations to help rebuild and support the families and children affected. In all, we received over $30 million.

After receiving the donations, we began work on 21 strategies to address Haiti’s needs. Some of these needs were more immediate, while others are longer-term strategies.

Needs varied from food, temporary shelters, trauma counseling and medical care, to rebuilding Implementing Church Partner (ICP) buildings and income generation projects.

We still have four strategies in process or ongoing to maintain the support and needs of our ICPs, children, and their families.

1. Pastor Encouragement and Vision Casting: Post trauma counseling training for pastors of church partners and non-church partners, as well as hosting a conference on integrity, justice, and stewardship for Haitian leaders as they rebuild.
2. Child Protection: Provide school fee assistance, prosthesis and physical therapy, as well as monthly support for more highly vulnerable children.
3. Income Generation: Provide training and opportunities for parents and caregivers of our beneficiaries to begin or expand a business, which improves their economic position and provides jobs within the community.
4. ICP Facilities Reconstruction: We have faced some challenges that have delayed reconstruction but have identified solutions allowing us to build, safe, seismically sound facilities for our church partners.
• Quality Building Blocks: All blocks to rebuild the ICPs failed quality testing. We identifed a vendor to produce blocks that met the strength test needed for construction that is seismically acceptable.



• Qualified Engineers: We could not find engineers in Haiti who knew and understood how to build according to seismic codes, so we had to recruit trainers from El Salvador to oversee the building of each ICP and closely monitor each step of the building process.
• Design and Budget:The original design the team of engineers produced exceeded the allowable budget for the rebuild project. This set the project back three months.
• Pace of Building: We can only build one ICP at a time due to the close supervision and training needed for the Haitian construction team by the El Salvadorian trainers. Our plan is to increase building to two to three ICP facilities at the same time once an expanded number of construction teams have been trained and can demonstrate skill and adherence to acceptable building standards.

As we receive information on the progress of these efforts we will publish more updates.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

As a 5-year-old sponsored child growing up in Haiti, Beguens Theus dreamed of what life could be. Now, as a member of Haiti’s parliament Beguens is determined to see the dreams of every child in Haiti realized.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

We began our ministry in Haiti in 1968 with the Child Sponsorship Program. In 1996, the Leadership Development Program began, and in 2003, we started the Child Survival Program.

In 2008, we celebrated our 40th anniversary in Haiti. During 40 years of ministry, we have transformed school projects into child development centers. We have also networked with other nongovernmental organizations in Haiti and have raised awareness within the church and community about the need to be involved in issues affecting children.

Country Director

In 1997, Guilbaud Saint-Cyr joined the ministry in Haiti as a program facilitator and became the operations coordinator in 1999. He was appointed country director in 2003. Before coming to our ministry, Guilbaud was a certified public accountant and the founder of the accounting firm COGEFISC Plus, which promotes financial integrity and accountability within various nongovernmental organizations and private businesses.

Guilbaud taught management in various vocational institutions and helped launch several child advocacy agencies, including ROCHEPE, a Christian organization for child development. He serves as president of the Evangelical Press Council, is a board member of the Micah Challenge and currently serves as a Sunday school teacher and itinerant preacher.

Holding a bachelor of arts degree in business management and a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the State University of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Guilbaud also has a diploma in Advanced Leadership from Haggai Institute of Singapore and a diploma in Micro-enterprise Management. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Azusa Pacific University, California.

Implementing Church Partners

Implementing Church Partners are local churches in Haiti with whom we work to deliver child development programs and ministry in the field.

• Spiritual Climate
  The influence of Voodoo is still strong in Haiti. Christian leaders live in constant spiritual warfare. Churches are growing numerically, but not necessarily in terms of spiritual growth because of the combining of the Christian faith with Voodoo and other cultural influences.
• Unique Challenges
  One challenge unique for implementing church partners in Haiti is how to set up their budgets in order to address children’s need for formal schooling. In Haiti, 5 percent of schools are public and 95 percent are private, meaning the cost of schooling is higher.

  Another challenge for church partners is sanitation. Often the church infrastructure is not sound. Also, the government does not provide health services. Therefore, we are obliged to use about 20 percent of sponsorship funds for health and the physical aspect of development in the Child Sponsorship Program and 30 percent for the Child Survival Program.

• Contributions
  Implementing church partners take care of the facilities and the maintenance of the buildings. They are responsible for the construction costs for any needed facilities. They also contribute to the health care of children from the elementary schools associated with the child development centers.

  Some denominations in the southern and northern areas of Haiti and the city of La Gonave have medical centers, which provide health care for children in need.

• Partner Development Activities
  Compassion Haiti develops partners through training, regional conferences, facilitation, and networking.

Child Survival Program

• Caregiver Literacy
  Through Child Survival Program, we evaluate the literacy level of the mothers. In response to this, we establish each mother in an implementing church partner literacy class.

  These classes include writing, reading and simple math skills. The classes are held twice a week.



• Income-Generating Skills
  Generally, we organize sewing, cooking, and craft classes for mothers twice a week for two hours.
• Health Care
  For the prenatal period, mothers go to the hospital for a consultation and laboratory tests. Twice a year, each child development center organizes a mobile medical clinic with a pediatrician, an internist and a medical practitioner or an obstetric doctor. Most of the mothers deliver at a small local hospital.

  For special health cases, we recommend them to a specialized medical center. The child development center staff covers the expense, and then the Compassion office reimburses 80 percent of the expense on a monthly basis.

  For immunization, children receive some vaccines from the State Health Department for free. But other vaccines, such as hepatitis B, typhoid, pneumonia 23, and meningitis, are provided by us, as they are expensive but crucial for safe child development.

  For health screening, we have a health implementer who received training from the Child Survival Program specialist and from the State Health Department. The health implementer is responsible for monthly health screenings and submits reports to the Child Survival Program specialist for appropriate follow-up.



• Nutritional Support
  Once a month, each mother receives a dry food kit containing rice, beans, sugar, milk, oil, spaghetti, etc. Most of these moms live in a family of at least seven people, so this kit only lasts for two days.

  Because of this we have established income-generating activities for 20 Child Survival Programs in order to help provide food to these families and help them become economically self-supporting.



• Involvement of Fathers
  In general, fathers participate in the graduation ceremony, training on family planning, annual spiritual retreats and birthday celebrations. In some cases, if the mother isn’t available to participate in regular activities, the fathers will attend meetings.
• Transitioning Out of the Child Survival Program
  Implementing church partners evaluate the development of each child based on the four areas and indicators of the Child Survival Program manual. This information is submitted in a report to the Child Survival Program specialist for appropriate follow-up.

  Based on this evaluation and on three years of accomplishment in the program, we decide whether or not they will graduate. Then, the Child Survival Program implementer fills out the appropriate form and sends it to our office for follow-up. After this, the mothers and children participate in a graduation ceremony.

• Areas of Expansion for the Child Survival Program
  We will open additional Child Survival Programs throughout areas of Haiti that are more prone to flooding, hurricanes and earthquakes. Also, children in these areas are vulnerable to potentially fatal but preventable diseases, such as malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, intestinal parasites and tuberculosis.

Child Sponsorship Program

Your sponsorship of a child in Haiti provides a variety of benefits.

• Meeting Times
  The child development program schedule depends on the needs for each particular center. Below is a typical schedule for the child development centers in Haiti.
  • 3 to 5 year olds: 1 hour a day, from Monday through Friday, and 3 hours on Saturday
  • 6 to 8 year olds: 2 to 4 hours after school and 4 hours on Saturday, adding up to 6 to 8 hours a week
  • 9 to 11 year olds: 2 to 4 hours after school, and 4 hours on Saturday, adding up to 6 to 8 hours a week
  • 12 to 14 year olds: 2 to 4 hours after school, and 4 hours on Saturday, adding up to 6 to 8 hours a week
  • 15 to 18 year olds: 2 to 4 hours after school, and 4 hours on Saturday, adding up to 6 to 8 hours a week
  • 19 +: 2 to 4 hours after school, and 4 hours on Saturday, adding up to 6 to 8 hours a week

  

• Nutritional Support
  When attending child development center activities, each child receives a snack, such as sandwiches and juice or milk, during the week, or a hot meal, which consists of spaghetti or rice, beans, vegetables, meat and juice.

  Often, children come to the center without having eaten, so we feed them to help them learn well. Some centers provide hot food during weekly activities, some don’t. That depends on the financial capacity of the each center. We have a special nutritional approach for malnourished and the neediest children.

• Vaccinations
  We make sure that each child benefits from basic vaccines given by the State Health Department. Unfortunately, the implementing church partners can’t afford all of the expensive vaccines for the children, such as hepatitis, typhoid and meningitis.
• Extracurricular Activities or Community Service
  There is a special program held during the summer in which groups of children from different centers participate in a knowledge competition. We hold spiritual retreats during Carnival and Easter time.

  We also have spiritual decision day on special occasions and have musical bands perform for the children at special events, such as graduations, funerals, etc.

• Vocational Activities
  Student clubs are held each Saturday from 9 to 12 or 1 to 5 p.m. Vocational activities available are based on the local child development center. These activities can include painting, crafts, sewing, computer, music, photography, videography, cooking, foreign language classes, etc.

  The choice of programming for adolescents depends on the resources available in the community and in the interest of the children.



• Child Sponsorship Program Alumni Activities
  The alumni group has existed since August 2000. Members are involved in our ministry doing things such as talent shows, knowledge competitions and art contests. They also help with disaster recovery, regional training and conferences.

  Many alumni helped in the disaster recovery process in Haiti after hurricanes and after the January 2010 earthquake.

• Parent Involvement
  Once a week we have parenting classes, parents’ club, and income-generating activities for the neediest parents.
• Areas of Expansion for Child Sponsorship Program
  We would like to expand in the northern, western, southern, and central plateau areas of Haiti. These are the neediest areas and we have many potential partners in these regions.

Leadership Development Program

• Types of Universities
  The students attend both private and government universities.
• Location of Universities
  The universities are located in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
• Working Students
  Students do not typically work, but sometimes those who are about to graduate have a part-time job.
• Service Opportunities
  Many students go back to their child development center to serve the children and give technical assistance to center staff. They also make special visits to hospitals, prisons, and camps for disabled people.
• Leadership Development Program Meetings
  Usually, the larger Leadership Development Program group meets at least three times a year.

  This includes an annual retreat, camp and conference.



• Specialty Curriculum
  We cover the following topics based on the Haitian reality: infectious diseases, vision, mission and dream setting, change management, and planning and setting priorities.
• Mentors
  When necessary, we help students find mentors through networking, mentor referral, mentors’ meetings, dinner, or face-to-face.

Complementary Interventions

Our core child sponsorship program, while comprehensive, does not address all obstacles to a child’s healthy development. The Complementary Interventions program was created to work with our holistic child development model to provide additional services, such as our AIDS Initiative, Bibles for all children, disaster relief and water projects.

Some of the Complementary Interventions we offer in Haiti are:

• Education
  Nonformal education, vocational training for the Child Sponsorship Program, and pre-university training for Leadership Development Program
• Health
  Educational sanitary training, health care and prevention, and water wells purification and treatment
• Recapitalization
  Micro-credit, small retail trade, pig or goat distribution, and hen houses
• Infrastructure
  Computer laboratory centers, osmosis inverse water system, school buildings, and latrines

Highly Vulnerable Children

In our context, we have educational and vocational training for the needs of highly vulnerable children. In order to meet these needs in a sustainable manner, we intend to create a semi-industrial center where the children can learn to produce goods for the market and we will find new markets for them.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Before the sun rose on a small Haitian mountain community, Ismene Alexis got up, took the water jar, and headed to the village pump for water.

A Haitian girl brings water home to her family.

Although it was still dark, Ismene had no trouble finding the pump. She’d walked these streets a thousand times. On returning, Ismene found her grandparents awake. Grandma was cooking breakfast.

“Good morning, Ismene,” Grandma said, smiling.

“Good morning, Grandma. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, although I had an odd dream. You and I were working in the garden. I looked up and saw a man standing at the gate. I greeted him, and he told me he had special news. So I invited him into our house for tea. While we were sitting together, the man started to say something about you, Ismene, but then my dream ended,” said Grandma.

“That is an odd dream,” said Ismene. “What do you think he was going to say?”

Grandma shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Pondering her grandmother’s dream, Ismene swept the floor and straightened the blankets on the straw pallets that served as beds. When she came to her sister’s pallet, her sister was still sleeping.

“Get up, Nicole!” Ismene said, pulling her sister’s pillow out from under her.

Thwap! Ismene thwapped Nicole over the head before Nicole jumped up and grabbed the pillow from her. Giggling, the two girls wrestled for the pillow until Grandma told them to finish their chores.

Nicole went outside to feed the animals with Grandpa while Ismene finished making the beds. Grandma set breakfast on the table and the family gathered around to pray. After thanking God for the meal, Ismene and Nicole gathered their schoolbooks and left for school.

The sun was rising now, spreading golden light on the huts and houses. Nicole and Ismene chased each other between the houses until they arrived, breathless, at their school. After catching their breath, they went inside and sat down.

Ismene loved school. She loved learning how to work math problems. She loved learning how to combine letters together to make words. She had been so excited the day she read her first sentence.

Classroom in Haiti

But Ismene was worried. Her grandparents might not make enough money to buy food and keep her in school. Then either Nicole or Ismene would have to quit school.

I’ll enjoy school as long as I can, Ismene thought, then banished the thought of having to leave school. The girls sat down on the floor just as the teacher, Miss Lillian, entered. Then the rest of the students arrived and took their places. Miss Lillian prayed to God for a good school day, and class began.

When the sun was high in the sky and boiling hot, Ismene and Nicole trudged home from school. When they arrived home, they found Grandma working in the garden. Nicole took Ismene’s books inside while Ismene knelt and helped Grandma with weeding.

“How was school?” asked Grandma.

“I loved it,” said Ismene. “I got an A in math.”

“Very good,” said Grandma, tugging at an especially deeply rooted weed.

For a while they pulled weeds in silence. Ismene was about to say something when there was a polite “Ahem!” from the gate. Looking up, she saw a man standing at the garden gate.

“Grandma,” said Ismene.

Grandma had seen the man, yet she wasn’t getting up to greet him. What’s wrong with her? Ismene wondered. Then she realized this was just like Grandma’s dream!

“Grandma!” said Ismene, a little louder. Her grandmother got up and went to the gate.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Is this the home of the Ismene Alexis?” asked the man.

“Yes,” Grandma said. “I am her grandmother. Do you need to speak with her?”

“I have some special news for Ismene.”

“Come in then,” said Grandma, opening the gate. “I’ll make some tea.”

Grandma and the man entered the house, and Ismene followed. All Ismene could think was, Maybe now we’ll know what the man was going to say about me! Ismene went in and found Nicole. When the tea was ready, Grandma, Nicole, and Ismene all sat down at the table.

“Now what’s this news about Ismene?” asked Grandma.

The man, who introduced himself as John, answered, “You know that Ismene is a child of Compassion International, right?”

Grandma nodded.

“A family in the United States wanted to sponsor a Compassion child, and they picked Ismene,” said John.

Ismene jumped up and screamed. Then she started laughing. Grabbing Nicole, Ismene and her sister danced around the room.

“Now I don’t ever have to worry about being taken out of school!”

At last Nicole and Ismene sat down, and John asked Grandma to sign some papers. Then John told them what Compassion would do for Ismene.

Compassion International is a worldwide organization that enables people to sponsor children in poverty-stricken countries. When children are sponsored they can go to school, received healthy food at their child development center, and get medical care if needed.

When the shadows began to lengthen, John said goodbye and left Ismene and her family.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you,” said Grandma to Ismene after John left. Grandma spread her arms and hugged the two girls.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Ismene whispered to Nicole that night as they lay on their straw pallets. Grandma and Grandpa were already asleep, but Nicole and Ismene were talking about everything that had happened.

“No, of course not,” said Nicole. “I’m not jealous. I’m happy for you, Ismene. Now that Compassion’s paying for you to go to school, Grandma and Grandpa will only have to pay for me. I’ll be able to stay in school too. It works out for both of us.’

“Oh, good,” said Ismene. “Good night.”

“Good night. I love you,” whispered Nicole.

Ismene turned over on her side, said a quick prayer of thanks to God, and fell asleep.

A week after first being sponsored, Ismene received her first letter from her sponsor family. The family’s name was the Dodges. They asked her about how she and her grandparents were, what her day was like, and if she had any siblings. Along with the letter, the Dodges sent a photo of their family. There was a mother, a father without much hair, and two dark-haired girls.

L to R: Jasmine (adopted after Ismene was sponsored), Liz, Danielle, Brent and Yani

I hope I get to meet them face-to-face one day, Ismene thought.

Ismene

When Ismene finished reading the letter and inspecting the photo, she got her own paper to write back. The Dodges wrote once a month.

It took a long time for the letters to reach Ismene because they first had to be translated and then delivered all the way to her mountain village. It took a while for her letters to reach her sponsor family too.

When the other families in the village heard that Ismene had been sponsored, they, too, signed their children up for Compassion International. Soon many more children got sponsored.

Two Years Later

Folding up the letter, Ismene took it to the special box where she kept all of her letters from the Dodges. Grandpa had built the box for her and by now it was getting very full. The lid could hardly close.

“How many letters do you have now?” asked Grandma as Ismene returned to the table.

Ismene smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know. Lots and lots,” she said.

“The Lord has been so good,” said Grandpa as he held out his hand to Ismene.

The whole family held hands and bowed their heads while Grandpa thanked God for another letter from Ismene’s sponsors. He prayed that her sponsor family was in good health and that God would watch over them and bless them.

Thanks, God, so much for all your blessings, Ismene prayed silently as Grandpa spoke.

“Amen,” Grandpa finished.

“Amen,” the rest of the family echoed. Grandma got up and went to the stove to start cooking dinner.

“Girls, please collect the chicken eggs,” Grandma said. “I need another egg to make dinner.”

The girls went to the chicken house and gathered the eggs from the nests. As they were starting back to the house, Ismene thought she felt the ground shake. It was a tiny tremble, so Ismene thought she’d imagined it.

“I’ll race you back to the house and we’ll see who’s really the fastest,” said Nicole.

Ismene burst into a run but she’d only taken a few steps when another tremor shook the ground hard enough to make both girls fall.

“What was that?” asked Nicole, picking herself up. “Oh, my eggs broke.”

Ismene stood up and looked around.

“I think it might be…an earthquake,” she said.

“We need to get home then,” said Nicole.

The two girls took off running. Ismene expected another tremor to shake the ground any moment and knock them down again.

“Are you all right?” asked Grandma when they rushed back to the house.

“We’re fine,” said Ismene. But in her hand her own eggs were broken. She’d been so frightened she hadn’t even noticed.

“I’m sorry, Grandma,” she said. “All the eggs cracked.”

“That’s all right. We can make do with one less egg,” said Grandma.

Just as Ismene had finished washing the egg off her hands, another tremor shook the house. Everyone gathered together on a straw pallet. Grandpa started to pray for their safety.

While he was praying, Ismene prayed silently: Please, God. We know that you’re the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Will you watch over us and protect us from this earthquake? Please keep our family — no, our village — safe from harm.

Tremors kept on shaking the ground, great big tremors that knocked things off the shelves. Pots and pans clattered to the ground. The water jar fell on its side and broke. Chairs tipped over. The table shook and Ismene and Nicole’s schoolbooks fell off.

Ismene shut her eyes and tried to calm her fear. She mentally quoted a Bible verse that she had memorized just that day. Psalm 23:4. “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”

Gradually the tremors began to decrease in strength and ferocity.

At last Grandpa said, “I think its over.”

The family quietly stood and began to clean up the house. Ismene grabbed her broom and swept up the remains of the water jar. Nicole sat the chairs up. She gathered up their school books and put them back on the table.

Then the family went outside and visited their neighbors to see if they needed help. Over the next few days news trickled in about the earthquake. It turned out that the center of the earthquake’s destruction had been in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Whenever Ismene and her family gathered to pray at each meal, they prayed for the people in Port-au-Prince.

As the months passed, the count of those killed by the earthquake rose higher and higher. The death toll was as high as 316,000. The injured and homeless were even more numerous.

Earthquake devastation in Haiti

Compassion International families who sponsored children in Haiti were all frantically writing letters and sending emails, trying to find out if their children were all right. When the Dodges received a letter from Ismene, they were so relieved to know she was safe.

Although relief workers flooded Port-au-Prince, the healing of Haiti will take a long time. Yet there is much to be thankful for even in the face of this darkness and death. Both families –Ismene’s family and the Dodges – are thankful to God that through Compassion International, Ismene has an opportunity to succeed in life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Danielle Dodge is 13 years old and wrote this story when she was 12. Danielle’s semi-fictional story won second place in her local library’s annual writing contest and first place in VisionForum’s webinar, “Mrs. Morecraft’s Ps & Qs of Proper Writing.”

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Forty-year-old Jesula was a homeless woman who slept each night at a church in Delmas, Haiti. She became pregnant by a man who abandoned her before her son’s birth, and she could not even afford to visit a doctor because she had no money.

Jesula felt desperate about her situation, but she could not find a way out. During the day, she wandered the streets of Delmas or visited old friends in the hope of getting something to eat. Usually she was disappointed in her search. In the evenings, she would head for the New Jerusalem Church where she slept using a pew as a bed and rags for blankets.

Having no one to turn to, Jesula grew more concerned for herself and her soon-to-be-born child. In her situation of hardship, she felt she was going to lose her mind.

While staying at New Jerusalem Church one night, Jesula heard about the Child Survival Program.

Some mothers came to the church to pray that night, and they began sharing powerful testimonies about the program and how it was helpful beyond their expectations.

The next morning, Jesula rushed to the Child Survival Program office. She was now in her seventh month of pregnancy.

Jusula’s story of struggle captured the staff members’ attention. Within a few days she was registered into the program, because the staff believed it was the only way to save her and the baby.

Jesula was not a Christian yet, but she was convinced that God heard her cry and in His grace, He made a way for her. Jesula felt she was at the beginning of a wonderful journey.

“I wanted a father that would care for me and for the baby in my womb. The Child Survival Program staff has played such a role perfectly.”

The Survival Program staff found a place to shelter Jesula. She received home visits and regular medical checkups. She also had the privilege of visiting a doctor on a regular basis prior to childbirth. Thanks to this assistance, Jesula had a successful childbirth.

Through the Child Survival Program, Jesula learned how to read and write. She attends a cooking class and hopes to use this skill in the future to earn money.

Jesula feels that her mind and spirit are uplifted through the Bible stories she learns, as well as the songs they sing during meetings with the mothers, learning about good manners and other cultural and social activities the program holds every year both for the children and their caregivers.

Through the teachings of the Bible, Jesula accepted Jesus in her life as her personal Savior and commits herself to attending church services and living a Christ-like life. She realizes that the Child Survival Program gave her the most precious treasure in life, eternal security and happiness in Jesus Christ.

A few months after his birth, Jesula’s son Slenth suffered from malnutrition. Again to Jesula’s astonishment, she was asked to bring him every morning to the Child Survival Program center for appropriate nutrition. Jesula also received dry food to take home, including rice, oil, milk, spaghetti and sugar.

Slenth is now two years old and is in good health. Jesula hopes to be able to send him to school next year.

“Really, I don’t know what I would do without the assistance of such a program. My life would have been a mess and my child being sick would not have made it.”

Today, Child Survival Program coordinator Elsie feels satisfied about the physical progress that Slenth has made. Elsie also is impressed by Jesula’s discipline and brilliant mind to learn new skills that help her to be a very good mother for her child. Elsie shares,

“Like Jesula and Slenth’s story, there are many other uplifting testimonies of mothers out there about the survival of their children through the Child Survival Program, and I think this is what gives a real sense of purpose to the work we are doing and also encourages us to keep going.”

After the January 2010 earthquake, Jesula had to go back to sleep at the church, because the home she lived in was severely damaged.

Since she was in the program, she received a wood frame, corrugated iron sheets and nails to build a temporary shelter where she now lives with her child.

Jesula gives high priority to activities with the Child Survival Program.

She tells everyone that through the program she receives all she needs for her child despite the absence of his father.

A Child Survival Program staff member says of Jesula:

“If there is one mother you can expect to see in the Child Survival Program meetings, it is Jesula.

She attends every activity, even the class we have for the little children. She loves to draw with her son when he needs help.”

Jesula believes the Child Survival Program is making a difference in this big neighborhood of about 10,000 inhabitants, where children are mostly vulnerable to diseases like diarrhea, fever and malnutrition and where mothers lack education of all kinds.

“I will never have enough words to express my gratitude to the church here, the Child Survival Program staff and the donor of the program. I consider myself a rags-to-riches lady just because of their love put in action. God has used the Child Survival Program to save my child and my life and to give us hope for the future.”

Ever since the Child Survival Program arrived in the area, there have not been any death reports of young children because mothers receive a solid education and know how to raise their children.

Many mothers now testify to the benefits of the Child Survival Program in their lives, the lives of their children, and their families. With the new skills they have acquired, they exert a positive influence on other mothers in the area who cannot be part of the Child Survival Program.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti caused the death of 62 sponsored children, injured 961 sponsored children, significantly damaged 69 partner churches and damaged or destroyed nearly 20,000 homes of our program beneficiaries.

After this earthquake, one of our biggest challenges was to design a short-term strategy to address the urgent needs for children to resume school activities in a country where only slightly more than half of all school-aged children attend primary school.

In Port-au-Prince, 80 percent of schools were destroyed or partially damaged – a hopeless situation for a country with an already-poor educational infrastructure.

Among Haiti’s child development centers, approximately 60 schools were severely damaged or completely destroyed. Emmanuel, director of the Dufort Child Development Center in Leogane, where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, shares,

“There was no hope when we saw everything collapsed in the earthquake, especially the school building. The Haitian government was overwhelmed by the extent of the damage and could not even provide for itself. We did not know what to do with the children whose education is the only hope.”

School education is one of the top priorities among Haitian parents and children. Parents will do all they can to send their children to school because they believe it is the best way to ensure that their children will have hope and a future.

All 68,000 children registered in Haiti’s child sponsorship program go to school.

About three months following the earthquake, we launched strategies to build temporary shelters for our church partners. As a short-term solution, we provided canopies that could be used as meeting spaces to protect children and staff from bad weather.

We also provided steel containers to house offices and help protect computers, files, supplies, furniture, and other important items.

The most-affected church partners received financial assistance to remove rubble and build temporary shelters. Through a strategy we called “Transitional School Building for Implementing Church Partners,” our partnering churches were provided with basic construction materials such as wood, nails and corrugated-metal sheets in order to erect temporary school shelters enabling more than 15,000 children to return to school.

This transitional building process lasted one month, during which 409 classrooms were built for 60 child development centers. Guilbaud, Compassion’s country director for Haiti, explains,

“It was our goal through this strategy to give, in a short span of time, a sense of normalcy to each child’s life. And the Compassion age-group activities and school education were the best ways to keep the children busy after such a tragedy.”

It was a relief to the church partners to be equipped with such facilities, and the children were excited to see the new construction. Children received school furniture to replace all that they had lost in the earthquake.

Others share their gratitude for the effort to get schools back in operation:

“Today we are back [and] operational and we are so proud to remain as an oasis in the desert for the community in order to continue to carry out child development activities.” – Pastor Menard, Leogane Child Development Center

“We love everything you have done for us after the earthquake, but the most important was to allow us to go back to school. I thank you so much.” — 11-year-old Chinica

“I did not feel well when I could not go to school after the earthquake. When I saw that the school collapsed I felt no hope until you came to provide the church with equipment to build temporary shelters for both the development center and the school. I enjoy my time at school now. And I am learning very well. I especially love the way the school is temporarily built. We know that if ever the ground shakes there is no way to be harmed by collapsed things.” –10-year-old Marie

The Dufort Child Development Center has 344 children registered in the child sponsorship program and 450 pupils attend their primary school. While the center was completely devastated, no one was killed or injured there. One child from the Dufort center, 14-year-old Judelove, was in Port-au-Prince at the time of the earthquake and, sadly, died in the quake.

Pastor Wagnac is senior pastor and founder of the Wesleyan church partnering with the Dufort Child Development Center. He says,  

“We were concerned for the future of the church and the ministry here, but you have [proven] once more that the ministry of Compassion is a partner we can rely on even in the hardest time. You have provided assistance that is helping us to get back up today. All glory be to God!”

Center director Emmanuel adds,

“We are truly indebted to Compassion for this support that allows more than 400 children to go back to school. We realize that, even as a temporary shelter, we definitely have a better school building where children feel comfortable to learn with no fear.”

The Transitional School Building strategy is completed and now our focus is on the long-term school rebuilding effort.

Forty-four earthquake-proof school buildings will be erected throughout the west, southeast and Nippes regions of Haiti, where the earthquake caused the greatest damage. At the one-year commemoration of the earthquake, our team placed the foundation stone in the yard of the Capitol Child Development Center, where a new school building will be erected.

Located in Port-au-Prince, the Capitol Development Center is part of the Wesleyan mission, one of our partners most affected by the earthquake with eight school and church buildings completely destroyed.

The 44 church partners in the earthquake-affected areas of Haiti have worked with a team of engineers to develop custom rebuilding plans that include structures, latrines and clean-water-source solutions. Long-term solutions also include ensuring that a water, sanitation and hygiene strategy is in place at each of the 44 centers that were destroyed or severely damaged by the quake.

“The 44 earthquake-proof school buildings we aim to erect will benefit more than 20,000 children,” said engineer Yves Osias, ministry reconstruction supervisor.

Construction work for the first school began at the Simonette Child Development Center.

“The length of time for the implementation of the overall reconstruction project is three years. Each school that will be equipped with 12 classrooms requires about seven months to be built. Therefore, to meet this deadline, many construction [projects] will be held simultaneously.”

The classrooms will each accommodate approximately 45 children. In addition to the classrooms, each school will include: a cafeteria, a sanitary section, the school administration offices, and the child development center office.

Principal Joseph of the Papette Child Development Center underscores the importance of the reconstruction:

“There is no doubt that the performance of the children will be improved because of such new facilities and better learning environment. It’s an activity that will enhance development in the communities as education is the key of success for children in poor families. And you have offered us this opportunity.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates