Meet Widna

Meet Widna Doisir-

Widna is in the 1st grade class at our Mission school here in Bercy.

This huge bag is filled with gifts from the ladies at St. Matthews Baptist Church who sponsor her.

Did you notice that Widna is not wearing her school uniform?

Her mother died last week.

The little black dress she is wearing will be a uniform of sorts for her for the next year. Women and girls in Haiti wear black dresses for a year to show they are mourning the death of a family member. The little dress Widna is wearing was stitched roughly by hand as the family had no money to have one made and no sewing machine to stitch on.

Her father came to visit me yesterday. He asked me to accept Widna into the orphanage. I questioned him about his family and circumstances after telling him how sorry I was that his wife had died. I was immediately struck by how young he looked. He told me he was 31 and his wife just 30 years old at her death. He said she died from " sickness of cough and fever." She probably had pneumonia. Widna is one of 6 children left behind. When I asked who else lived in their home, I was told that his mother also lives with him. No one has steady employment.

This is one of the most difficult tasks I have to do in Haiti. To look someone who is suffering so much right in the eye and tell them that as much as I would like to help them, I cannot. This child is receiving meals, vitamins, and an education, some medical care, school uniforms & shoes through our program, but because there is family to care for her, we cannot accept her into the orphanage. My heart goes out to this young man and his family as they struggle in their grief.