let there be light… and books!
On past trips to Haiti, Jenni Ward worked with the girls of OJFA (Organization for Young Girls in Action -in French), an amazing orphanage and program run by directors Nadine Dorelus Francois and her husband Sadrack Francois. In addition to running OJFA, Sadrack is an attorney whose main goal is to fight for changes in the current restevek (legal child slave labor) laws in Haiti. Many of the girls at OJFA were resteveks or had been brought in off the street. With Nadine and Sadrack’s support, they have the opportunity of education and a bright future.
On the most recent trip to Haiti with her family, Jenni used sales from art hearts to bring solar lights and books to the girls. We knew that electricity was spotty at best in Port-au-Prince and that the orphanage often uses a generator to keep a few light bulbs going but what we discovered when we arrived is that the orphanage hadn’t had any power in 2 months! The girls were falling behind in their school work because they didn’t have any light to read by at night. We brought them 20 Luci lights (amazing solar powered compact lights from Mpowerd) and books in Haitian Creole, French & English. Now the girls can keep studying and reading their books long after the electricity has gone out. Our friends at Action Santa Cruz have been working to fund a new building for the girls, please visit their website to learn more.