Back in late 2009 I had the privilege of visiting the island of Haiti on a buyer's trip. I have to say it was one of the most amazing islands in the Caribbean (and I was lucky enough to visit quite a few of them over the years)
While we were there we visited the homes and market places of artisans who did amazing work, like this life size sculpture.
The hotel we stayed in had all these incredible sculptures scattered around the grounds.
Outside the hotel grounds though, the island was poor, and the people struggled to etch a living for their families.
Just a month after my visit, Port-au-Prince was flattened by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter of which was only 16 miles west of the city. This is how that beautiful hotel looked afterwards. 220 died there. That could have been me!
Can you even begin to imagine how these already poor people endured afterwards? How many children lost their parents? My heart goes out to the Haitian people.
One small thing I wanted to do was sponsor a child's education.
This is the 4th school year we have sponsored Edine to go to school, and she now dreams of being a nurse. School in Haiti has thirteen grades, so if she continues to do well, she will graduate in five years. When she does she will have accomplished what only 2% of Haitians ever get the chance to do.
2% !!!!!! Can that statistic be true?
If this young girl wants to work hard to achieve her dreams, then I will do everything I can to help her. Click here to see the video she sent to me this summer.
If you would like to sponsor a child to go to school this year in Haiti I highly recommend http://www.themissionhaiti.com and check out this thank you video here.