Children's Respite Home & Outreach Project, Haiti

The respite home, we call the ‘Maison de Benediction’, is a beautiful oasis, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of Cap-Haitian. Behind brightly painted walls it is also tucked away from the general hubbub of the surrounding hospital, and the day-to-day tasks of its many staff.

When you enter the gates, passing the gatekeeper, there is almost always a child looking up at you excitedly, having heard the doorbell and run to see who has come to visit. Your hand will undoubtedly be grabbed by at least one child, trying to drag you in whichever direction they were playing in. Fadley loves to play football. Flora loves you to sing to her. Mitch loves to fall asleep in your arms...or dance! It depends on her mood.

You are instantly captivated, drawn in by the laughter and warmth of the helpers and their unconditional love of the children. They are clearly loved by the people around them and freely show that love themselves. It feels like a true home.

I think of a particular time I visited where I was watching some physiotherapy taking place with some of the more immobile children. They were absolutely loving it! Children who couldn’t make much sound at all hummed in contentment as Miss Caline and Bethany worked on their stiff limbs. When they were set back down on the mat, the physios told me that they don’t have the positioning aides to help the children sit and lie correctly when they weren’t working on them. I thought about how, despite the excellent work the physios were doing, it doesn’t have maximum benefit without the extra support of equipment like specially moulded foam blocks, specialised pillows and personally fitted wheelchairs. Unfortunately these do not come cheap.

Thankfully The Walkabout Foundation recently delivered a batch of special wheelchairs for the Maison kids so big improvements have been made to their wellbeing thanks to this special equipment. But there’s a lot more needed to deliver the kind of care a disabled child would expect to receive in the UK. 

These concerns I had could be eased with the provision of this kind of equipment, along with training for the helpers and physiotherapists on how to maximise the use of it. Good positioning and maintaining movement is key in improving and prolonging the children’s quality of life, and can help them reach developmental milestones.

As I left that day I thought about the potential housed in that place. All the gorgeous smiles, laughs and hugs that I had shared, and this simple thing that could make a big difference to these children’s lives.

The ‘Maison’ is blessed to receive visitors and volunteers from around the world who work to enrich and improve the lives of the kids. But understandably not many children their own age get to visit, so we looked for a way to start some communication with children in the UK.

This summer, a class of 5 years olds from a school in West Yorkshire in England exchanged some pictures, photos and information with the kids at the Maison. The groups of kids in both the Maison and in the UK were just thrilled to make the connection.

Kervens and Mitch (in the photo) are looking at the huge scrap book of pictures and drawings sent from the UK. Although they seem worlds apart, there is something universal about the way that kids can empathise with one another and communicate despite the language and distance barriers. We hope that this friendship will last long into the future.

We are also working to build bridges between UK schools and other schools we support in the Uganda Refugee settlements for example. This new project will aim to raise some specific funding for refugee school improvement, but also be a resource to help children in the UK understand more about the lives of children in East Africa and Haiti.

Thank you so much for your support.