Toussaint Daphney and her brother, Toussaint Marc Arthur. Two more promising young people of Haiti.

These are two more recipients of The Haiti Project scholarships. They do not have individual sponsors, the funds come from our General fund. They are brother and sister and live in the village of Garcin very close to our apartment. Daphney is a liturgical dancer at celebrations at church. She also serves as a reader and is in the choir.  She is always smiling. Daphney went to secondary school shortly after we started living in Haiti so she lived in the town all week. I did not get the opportunity to get to know her personally. Currently, the Haiti Project is paying for her to attend nursing school.

Marc Arthur is a friend of Louie Nell’s. He has always struck me as an Eddie Haskell kind of kid. He is so polite when he serves on the alter you would swear an angel from heaven above is serving. But he is mischievous. Nothing that I know of that is really bad, just small things; like tying the girl’s the braids together sitting in front of him, just stuff like that.  Marc Arthur is attending High School. We hope to find a sponsor for his education after high school. Currently, The Haiti Project is paying his school fees.

Jeana is the mother of these children, she is a very important person in the village. She seems to be educated, she has beautiful gardens and produces coffee. Jeana did not accept Bob and me at first but now is a faithful friend. On more than one occasion she has stood up for us. One time she stood up for us when the water committee wanted to charge us a lot of money for our water, and another time while being at the hospital with a friend from the village a nurse kept refereeing to me as “blan”, (foreigner), Jeana corrected the nurse telling her I had a name. Daphney inherited her beautiful smile from her mother.

I explained in my last blog for the students to receive the help they are required to write an essay telling us what problems they would like to solve in their village.

Here is the response from Daphney. She also has a spot in the same CESMED nursing program alongside Ramonia, another one of the students we are sponsoring I will be writing about.  Denise

¨I would like to solve the problem that young people cannot easily stay in their rural communities & make a life for themselves. It is important for them to have good formation & good information so that they can know what possibilities exist for them to contribute to their communities while they take care of their families. I know that we young people love our homes, but it is sometimes difficult for us to stay in the community. I want to make serious study available to more young people, so that they can realize good works in their home communities. I would like to create a network of young people from the same hometown, so that they can support one another & the development of their community. ¨

Here is the response from Marc Arthur.

“When I finish with my classical [high school] studies, I would like to study either agronomy, because I like it a lot, or medicine, because it is useful. But I do not yet have the possibility to go on to university. I believe that my studies are going to enable me to realize a lot of things in my life, especially because they have taught me to always stay positive.”
“I always want for the area around my house to develop, & I especially always encourage young people like me to stay strong in the area of education. I am always telling them that as long as they believe in the power of education, there is nothing that is impossible for them. When I am home, I am always helping children who are younger than me in their school work. I try to make them understand some things they are learning in school. I show them their lessons, I model for them good comportment, & I show them how they should live in peace with one another.”

These young people thank you for giving them these opportunities to build a better community and country. Meci Anpil. You are giving them more than opportunity, you are giving them hope. God Bless you.