We invite you to join us in giving a small monthly donation of $10 - $25 so that we can continue to serve as official guardians for our girls and staff in Haiti. The situation in Haiti continues to be terrible, and the reality of what our girls are dealing with is grim.
In addition to the rampant inflation (over 30% annually), the corrupt government system has led to major instability in everything from transportation, gas and food availability, to daily gang territorial warfare. People must be constantly vigilant when out in public about the threat of kidnapping, about being caught in crossfire from gang fights, or about the violence of sporadic street protests against the status quo. Electricity is never consistent during the day, only available, if at all, from 10pm - 6am. Haitians are determined to see that a semblance of the aspects of normal life - work, schools, services - are somehow maintained through all of this chaos.
Our girls are blessed to be in a safe haven. Life at the orphanage and Le Maison, our house for the older girls, has continued to provide a regular routine of daily food, school, prayers, and life together. Both households are secure with locked gates and doors, opened only for friends. Our twenty girls in elementary and high schools are driven daily to and from school in our small school bus. Our intrepid staff driver, Lochard, makes sure it is safe before anyone steps off the bus. He keeps in touch with each school to be aware of early closures due to street unrest. Our ten girls in higher education get to their various universities on public transportation and have learned to be cautious about which taxis or taptaps are safe. Our staff knows when stores and businesses are open and have food or other necessities available to maintain a clean and healthy household. When adults leave the houses, they seldom leave alone, and they make sure someone there knows where they are going.
This way of life is taking not only a physical toll on the girls and staff, but a mental and spiritual toll as well. Although our administrators, Mama Gina and Jean Wesley, work to support the girls’ mental and spiritual needs, several of the girls in our bi-weekly Zoom meetings have said that they don’t feel safe during the day, even when in the secure homes with trusted staff members.
The Hearthstone Village Board is working diligently to keep this safe haven there for the girls. We make sure that the girls and staff have a secure home environment, including a routine of education, daily good nutrition, and medical assistance.
This is a monumental task and we need help from our community here. Financial support has come to Hearthstone through our wonderful on-going education sponsors and the loyal supporters of our fundraisers. We are so grateful to the individuals who donate in these ways, as well as those who donate on a regular monthly basis. We realize the significance of these smaller monthly donations.
With your help, we would like to build on our current system of small monthly donations, inviting supporters to become Hearthstone Village Community Members. If 100 members commit to a monthly donation of $10-$25, our General Fund can pay for food, water, staff salaries, and internet access with more certainty. As part of this Community Campaign, we will reestablish our bi-monthly newsletter keeping all informed about how the girls and staff are doing.
Please consider committing to a monthly donation. It’s easy. For the price of a weekly coffee you can make a significant impact of the lives of the girls and their caretakers.