HOME
MINISTRIES
DONATIONS
MISSION/VISION
GALLERY
NEWS
CONTACT US
Meet the Girls of
Maison de Lumiere(If you are interested in sponsoring a girl just click on her photo)
Dieunit
Adeline is a beautiful and precious little girl who has had a very difficult life. At a very young age, her family, who is from a small northern Haiti village, came to Port Au Prince because they were struggling financially. Their solution, they felt, was to put their youngest daughter (Adeline) out on the street to beg for money while both parents stayed at home. The pressure on her to feed the family each day was overwhelming. She did this for quite some time but did not like her experience on the street, nor did she collect enough money to feed her whole family. She came to us suffering from malnutrition and deep emotional hurt. She says she is happy now for the first time in her life and thankful that she now lives in a safe environment. Dieunit has a twin brother and is one of eight children. At a young age, Dieunit's mother died and her father, a poor farmer in northern Haiti, tried to take care of the kids. As survival became difficult, Dieunit, her step-mom, and three brothers came to the city to see if they could raise money to help the family. Her mother was able to start selling cookies on the street but was robbed a number of times by street thugs. Dieunit would beg but could not earn much. People on the street were often mean and abusive. She hated having to beg on the street and constantly feared others on the street, getting hit by cars or being shot. Dieunit loves her new home, school and enjoys helping wash dishes and play with the other girls. Her best friend is Chedeline.
Chabine is a very smart, friendly girl with definite leadership skills. One of six children, Chabine grew up in a small village near Cap Haitian in northern Haiti. She came to Port Au Prince to beg on the streets. At a young age, her father went to the Dominican Republic and never returned. This devastated her and her family and caused much pain. Her mother was forced to provide for the family but when it became too difficult, decided to move to Port Au Prince with Chabine and a 10 year old son. They ended up begging on the streets to survive. She is now happyily living in a safe place where people love and care about her. She especially loves school and writing is her favorite subject. She wants to be a teacher one day. Unfortunately, Chedeline has seen much pain in her life. Chedline's grandmother raised her since infancy, due to her mother's mental health. She came from a severely impoverished life in Cap Haitian and found herself in Port Au Prince begging to survive. Her grandmother could no longer care for her. Despite her past, Chedeline maintains a sweet disposition and gets along with everyone at the home. She loves studying God's word and says she wants to be a seamstress when she grows up. Cherline is one of three sisters. Originally from northern Haiti, Cherline moved to Port Au Prince with her mother and sisters. When her mother became very ill, Cherline began to beg on the streets to collect enough money to send her mom to the hospital. Before moving to the orphanage, she lived in one of Port Au Prince's worse slums called Cite Solie. Her mother did not want her begging on the street any longer and wanted her in our orphanage. Since coming to Maison de Lumiere, she has been very happy, loves school and hopes to one day have her own a bike. Renise came to the Port Au Prince from northern Haiti with her sister to beg and raise money to help her poor family. Life on the street, however, turned out to be more difficult than she thought and she experienced much trauma. She tends to stutter, speaking only one word every few seconds, when she gets excited or upset. She does not speak of specifics in her life or what she has experienced. She claims to have forgotten most of what has occurred over the last few years. She is a precious little girl who glows when someone hugs her and shows a true interest in her. She loves school and her best friend is Chedeline. Our youngest resident at the girls home is four year old Cendy. Her mother intended to abandoned her by leaving here in one of Haiti's worse slums. Cendy is a very sensitive and sweet girl. Quiet and somewhat withdrawn, Cendy has stolen the hearts of all of our workers. She is really doing well in our preschool program and is laughing and enjoying her new friends. We love having her at the home and look forward to seeing her grow up to be a young lady after God's own heart.
Mikerline has also had a very difficult life. When her mother's newest boyfriend decided he didn't want Mikerline living in the house, she was sent away. Her entire life is one of being sent awawy to live with people who don't want her and eventually throw her out. She and her sister Cherley were homeless when we met them and the home offered them safe refuge. Mikerline is a quiet, soft-spoken and mature young lady. She is attending school now where she is doing very well. Cherly is Mikerline's sister. She also was sent to away at a very young age. Living with an aunt, she received money from her mother to attend school where she did well. One condition of her staying at the aunt's house was that she was to be the servant or "restevec." Her aunt has a large house and Cherley was responsible for keeping it clean. At 8 years of age this was a tremendous responsibility and pressure. She came to Christ at a crusade and her new relationship with the Lord helped her endure. Today, she loves her new life, learning about Jesus and attending school. Isquerda has had a traumatic life. When her father was shot and killed in Port Au Prince, she and her mother were forced out on the streets to beg. Her days consisted of running through heavy traffic, begging for money, while her mother sat in the side of the road begging as well. Moving into Maison de Lumiere was like a dream for Isguerda. She found new joy in her life. She loves school and math is one her favorite subject. One day, she says she wants to get a job where she can travel and see the world. Fara is the sister of Patrick, one of the residents at our boy's home. Since she was very young, she lived with and helped her invalid, crippled mother. She would run to the market for her, carry things for her or help her get things. There was not a lot of time to be a kid. She also cooked and cleaned clothes. This was difficult for her. She tried to attend school at one point but got an eye disease and had to quit school. Fara is a very sweet girl who loves her new life at the girls home. She loves school and all her new friends at the orphanage as well. Love-Mita's father died and her mother had severe mental illness. Because her mother was not able to care for her, she was given to an aunt. Unfortunately, the aunt had trouble supporting herself and two of her own existing children. She tried her best to help Love-Mita but could not always feed her. She would go long periods of time without food. Fortunately, she had a sister that loved her very much and would visit and help her. Her sister found out about Maison de Lumiere and sought a place for her here. Katiana is a very serious, bright and charming young lady. She, along with her sister Katrina, where brought to us after the family experienced a horrible tragedy resulting in the death of an older sister. Although her family was shaken up considerably, she is a very strong and resilent young girl. An excellent student, she loves school and hopes to one day attend a university. She enjoys playing outdoors, riding bikes and is pretty competitive. Daphne was brought to us by an aunt who has cared for her since both her parents died. The aunt, who was very poor and had 7 children of her own, struggled to care for Daphne but could not adequately provide for her. Because of malnutrition, Daphne is very small for her age, weighing only12 pounds. She was very sad and withdrawn when she first arrived at Maison de Lumiere but now she has blossomed and is well-loved by all the staff and other children.
Katrina is a special little girl who came to Maison de Lumiere with her sister Katiana. Although they both experienced some very difficult things in their lives, Katrina seems less effected by the events. Very animated and active, her curious and outspoken little personality make her a lively part of any gathering. She loves to play with the other children and has energy to spare. We love Katrina and look forward to watching her grow up to be a godly young woman. Oline is one of the neighborhood children whose mother recently died. She was alone and had no one to care for her so we took her in to the girls home. Oline was immediately welcomed by the other children at the orphanage.. Today, she is doing wonderfully. She is healthy and very bright, being one of the better students at her school. She loves having so many new sisters and a real home where she can see and feel the overwhelming power of Jesus every day. Please keep Oline in your prayers as she adjusts to her new life at MDL and grows in her faith in Christ.
