Haiti’s Heroes: ‘Never Stop Being Courageous’
By carakay | January 17, 2010 at 3:50 pm
“Never stop being courageous.”
These were the last words I wrote to my sponsored child, Anne-Cherley Amilcar, in a letter this week after hearing about the earthquake in Haiti. Anne-Cherley is Haitian and although she lives nearly 30 miles north of Port-au-Prince, we continue to wait with bated breath for word of her safety. The entire country, already in peril from abject poverty, has been hurled even further into a miserable horror that threatens every human being within its boundaries. Though no one is unaffected, the greatest vulnerability belongs to the Haitian children. Prior to the earthquake, the number of orphaned children in Haiti was estimated at nearly 450,000. It is unconscionable to even try to contemplate an increase in such a number, but the post-quake increase is certain.
Fortunately, many organizations, such as Compassion International, have been attempting to assist the needs of Haiti’s impoverished children over the course of many years and have done so with much success. It was through C.I. that we found our Anne-Cherley and it is through them that we will continue to offer our support. They are going to need it. There will be childhood development centers that will need to be rebuilt and sadly, staff and volunteer positions that will need to be refilled. For those who are longing to offer some kind of support to Haiti, this is a notable organization to consider.
Of equal standing as a highly effective and reputable outreach to Haitian orphans is a non-profit called Danita’s Children. The organization began more than 10 years ago when Danita Estrella spontaneously traveled to Haiti with nothing more than a strong sense that she was supposed to go there to offer help. She had no idea how to implement her desire, and after a year of wandering from volunteer position to volunteer position, she was still unsettled. There was a haunting sense that she was not walking out the level of service that was rooted in her heart.
But the ambiguity of her journey vanished on a day she’ll never forget.
She was sitting at an outdoor café table eating her food when she suddenly felt the imploring stare of a malnourished boy. She looked over and lifted her hand to signal that she saw his need and wanted him to wait for her. Her intent was to order him food and then take it to him; however, a man who saw this interchange became enraged at the boy. He took a whip and began to strike the child. Estrella, busy ordering the food, heard his screams and instinctively shot up from the table and ran to the child’s rescue. She grabbed the brutal man by his collar and shook him with all her might and then ran to the boy, picked him up, comforted him and bought him food to eat. It was then that she knew her purpose. She decided right then and there that she would open an orphanage for abandoned children.
What began with a small plate of food for a hungry frightened child has developed into three homes that house 75 orphans, a school that provides education to nearly 600 children and a meal program that feeds 17,000 each month. As successful her efforts have been, Estrella refuses to rest. Right now, her organization is in the midst of building their very first children’s medical center. It is without a doubt that when that mission is completed, Estrella will continue to create even more paths of provision for Haiti’s children.
It’s because of the bravery of people like Estrella that I was able to write words of strength to Anne-Cherley. Heroes have great courage and I pray for our little girl to hold onto hers.
The courageous will find each other.
To find out more about Compassion International and Danita’s Children, visit:
