Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 1

Background: I recently heard of an organization called Be Like Brit.  Be Like Brit was created by Britney Gengel's family.  Britney was a fellow Westfield State Alum.  She to Haiti to do some missionary work in an orphanage.  When she arrived, Britney spent a full day at the orphanage and in a text to her parents wrote, "They love us so much and everyone is so happy.  They love what they have and they work so hard to get nowhere, yet they are all so appreciative.  I want to move here and start an orphanage myself."  The next day Haiti was hit by the earthquake.  It took Britney's family 33 days to recover her body.  In memory of Britney, her family started the organization Be Like Brit and built the orphanage she dreamed of.

I have been following the blog of and have written to Jon Lamare, the director of the orphanage.  Jon is originally from Plattsburg, NY and has a Master of Social Work from Tulane University.  The mission of the organization and the orphanage is to serve the children of Haiti by establishing a safe, nurturing and sustainable orphanage in an environment where they grow, learn, and thrive.

I have learned that this orphanage is for all of the children of Haiti.  The challenge currently is that they only have space for 33 children at once.  I asked if all of the children were there because their families became deceased in the natural disasters.  I was told that some families were deceased.  However, because of the tremendous amount of poverty in Haiti, some children are being dropped off at the front gates because their families cannot afford to keep them.  Sanitation is extremely poor.  They cannot afford to feed, cloth, get them proper medical treatment, and some are living in tents.  For example, there is a little boy who was living with his mother and grandmother.  The mother was going to Port-O-Prince.  She never returned.  The grandmother was forced to give this little boy up because she could not take care of him.  The children of the orphanage attend the Mission of Hope School.  This school is up the road and the orphanage must pay for each child to attend.

During the next few weeks I hope to learn more about the schooling for these children.

Hearing the stories of poverty in Haiti saddens me.  It immediately made me want to get involved and advocate for these children.  I hope that with the nurturing they get from the orphanage and education, they will help Haiti start to decrease the poverty level.  It is so important to learn about the community, locally or globally.  Teachers need to make the commitment not only to serve as a resource and provide assistance, but educate others about poverty and what needs to be done to start to erase it.