Children's Respite Home & Outreach Project, Haiti

We wanted to introduce you to one of the boys we work with. He’s called Sandley, 5 years old, and must be the cheekiest boy at the Maison de Benediction, our respite home for disabled children in Haiti. Sandley is a very lively character. He loves to greet visitors with a huge hug and lots of smiles. He has the most infectious giggle.

Sandley was first brought to the Maison when he was 18 months old by his mum. He was severely malnourished, weighing only 6kgs. He could not walk of talk. Since that day he was left at the Maison by his mum, neither Sandley nor staff at the Maison, have seen or heard from her since. He attends the Maison during the week and at weekends, he is cared for by his foster mother, who was carefully selected by the Maison to take care of Sandley. 

Today, Sandley has developed into a healthy lively little boy and is full of energy and mischief. He receives regular physiotherapy and does his exercises to strengthen his legs and body. He was at first encouraged to start walking with the aid of equipment such crutches and a walking frame. He mastered these very well and was soon able to stand on his own.

Sandley however, was determined to walk all by himself. Now, with continued care, support and confidence that the Maison staff have given to him, Sandley is able to walk all by himself, completely unaided. This is a tremendous achievement and a great testimony to the dedicated staff who work at the hospital and the Maison de Benediction.
Sandley is making really good progress. The difference that the Maison de Benediction and his foster mum has made to Sandley’s life is quite amazing. From a skinny malnourished kid with very little hope and prospects, he is now a happy and delightful boy, walking unaided and participating in school. Despite his disabilities, Sandley is just like any other kid of his age. He has recently been fitted with spectacles and looks more cute than ever. He loves playing football and he will spend hours playing on the handbikes which is one of his favourite toys at the moment along with the cars and the telephone.

Sandley, through the help and care given by the Maison and his foster family, is a very lucky little boy. Sadly, there are many many more kids like Sandley who are not so fortunate. The Maison is at full capacity and regularly has to turn children away, as they simply do not have room or resources to care for more. We have plans to extend the Maison and to open the Maison 7 days a week instead of just 4 so we can touch many more young lives like Sandley. But we’ll need more sponsors to fund this kind of expansion. Thank you for supporting the project. 

Alongside the work at the respite home, we have a small team of Community Rehabilitation Workers (CBRs) who target children with disabilities within their communities and work with their families to improve their lives. Often these families are living in extreme poverty and unable to adequately care for their disabled child. This makes the work of the CBRs all the more important. Without intervention, these vulnerable children can be neglected with families already struggling to care for other children.

One of the children the CBRs are helping is called Willeme. He is 13 years old and was born in an area outside Cap-Haitien called Komin Limonade, where he still lives today. His father left many years ago so he is cared for by his mother.

Willeme’s birth was normal and he did not have any physical problems for the first 2 years. But then Willeme became ill and started to suffer from seizures. All his body became stiff periodically and he still has that stiffness today, his arms and hands held in a rigid position. His hands are permanently clenched. He used to be able to sit upright
in a chair, but is now unable to do so.

His physical problems mean he doesn’t eat well, especially when his mother is absent. He lost a lot of weight as a result of his sickness and as you can see from the pictures, he’s a lot smaller than he should be for his age. He used to receive regular physiotherapy, but this has now stopped as there has been little sign of any improvement in Willeme’s condition for a long time. For the past 2 years, Willeme has not been able to walk or talk.

Our CBR workers visit the family regularly as Willeme is considered a vulnerable child with a high risk of neglect. His Mum looks after 4 other children and sadly the CBR workers often find him living and sleeping in poor conditions. They work hard at educating Willeme’s family in how to take better care of him. This is difficult for the family to do as they do not a regular or an adequate income.

Willeme was recently hospitalised, following a visit from the CBR team. He was sick and malnourished. He received the necessary treatment at no cost to the family and is now better and has returned to his home. His story has ended positively for now. His home situation however has not changed. The likelihood is high that Willeme will end up in the same state in the future, or worse. There is hope though. When Willeme’s mother is able to spend time with him, he is much happier and eats better gaining weight. So the CBR team will work with her to ensure she can spend more time with him. This will be the key to improving Willeme’s health in the long term.

The work of the Respite Home and the associated CBR workers is to help children such as Willeme and their families. Rather than admit Willeme to hospital as a result of his poor living conditions, lack of regular food and medicine, he and his family need a little regular financial support and encouragement to do all they can to give Willeme a better standard of life. 

Thanks to your support, we are able to make a difference for children like Willeme. Thank you.