The State of The Country

Following the widely anticipated arrival of the Kenyan troops in Haiti, the political and safety situation has somewhat stabilized but sadly only in the areas around the capital of Port au Prince. The suffering, insecurity and anxiety being experienced by a large section of the population remain. The hope and expectation of these people for liberation from the gangs and their brutality is largely dissipating into despair and hopelessness. The new normal in certain parts of the country is to live under the governance of the local gangs by paying these gangs protection money and use of roadway levies. Members of one of the major gangs continues to try to move into the area where WHCC is located but have continued to be held back by the local militia. The location of WHCC, as all those of you who have visited the site know, would be considered vulnerable, based on conventional wisdom. But, we continue to be covered under the shadow of The Almighty - hearing and reading of all sorts of atrocities, destruction and death but not experiencing any of it. We are secured only by God's Grace - just like the angel of the Lord said to Zechariah, “It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” says the Lord Almighty”! We thank God for His Providence!
We also thank everyone of you for your continued support of this work both through your donations and prayers, as well as for your calls and texts to see how we are doing during this extraordinarily unusual period of time. We very much appreciate all of you.

The State of WHCC Kids

We reported in our last newsletter that our kids did very poorly academically in the second semester of the past school year. The extraordinary stress these kids continue to endure because of sporadic school openings due to gang insurgency and rumours and fears of imminent gang attacks was clearly to blame for this. We are happy to report that all but one of the kids have managed to pass their final exams and are moving up to their respective next grade this coming school year. Following the poor academic performances by the kids, Camille had a series of group talks with the kids (plus one-on-one talks with the 5 oldest ones), to remind them of the importance of education. She assured them that they are safe and that lots of people are loving on them and praying for them. These talks plus the ability of their schools to stay open through the third semester, without interruptions, seem to have done the trick.We continue to covet your prayers for the physical, emotional and psychological health of these kids and for their caregivers as well as for an end to the lawlessness in Haiti.

WHCC Annual BBQ

Thanks to all those who took the time to join us at our annual summer family bbq. We trust you had a good time.    We look forward to having a lot more of you next year.
Continue to enjoy your summer. ☀️

 We are trusting that this newsletter reaches you in good health. We are glad to report that all our children and their caregivers are doing relatively well; this in spite of all the instability and unsafe conditions across Haiti. There is still no de-facto government in the country, just a quasi-prime minister with no real cabinet and no power. The gangs are still running amuck at will - terrorizing people and inflicting fear on their fellow citizens. Kidnappings seem to have subsided but still happening, reports of rape has not stopped, several people have fled their home for the banana groves and the mountains to hide. Commodities are still very scarce and very expensive.
As we start the second week of October, our kids have just now been able to start this new school year because of road blockages in our area. However, many essential services are still lacking. For example, our solar power system which has been malfunctioning for a while now, need servicing but can not be serviced because our area has been cut off from the capital, Port Au Prince, where the service techs reside. Travel is still very restricted and very dangerous. There is what seems to be a serious consideration by the UN to deploy a multi-national force into Haiti to try to quelch this unrest and restore some normalcy. We are trusting God that this will indeed happen and soon.

It’s not all doom and gloom. We have “good news”.

Figure 1: First Day of School this Year  

Even though many orphanages have been literally ravaged, and kids and their caregivers sexually assaulted and sometimes murdered, no such thing has ever come close to happening to our home (Palm 91:7). Thank God. It has really been a very hard three-and-half-year period for our kids being confined in our 1-3/4 acres compound surrounded by 8 feet walls capped with barbed wires. They live, eat, play and sleep in this space, like prisoners. The toll on their mental health has been immeasurable but they have really been very resilient coping! The only time these kids leave the compound has been to go to school when school was open or to go to church when it’s been safe to do so. To keep themselves occupied, they make up different kinds of games to play within the compound and sometimes watch DVD’s and YouTube videos when internet is available. We are very grateful to God for each one of these kids that, in spite of these hardships, they have learned to cope and none of them have been seriously ill or sick in any way out the ordinary.
We are also very grateful that, as an organization, Welcome Home Children’s Centre Inc. has continued to be able to keep the orphanage operational – taking care of all our kids’ needs (school -fees, uniforms and supplies, feeding, clothing and healthcare), payroll for their caregivers and for general maintenance of our property. We thank all of you who have not forgotten us and have continued to donate toward our work in Haiti. Thanks for your steadfastness because without your prayers, donations and the Lord’s help, this work will not be viable. We appreciate your generosity; please continue to give.
Funding for nonprofits and particularly charities like ours, has significantly slumped since covid and we have really continued to be good stewards of the funds that are entrusted to us, stretching every dollar to its breaking point. Things remain tough at all fronts and to make matters worse, commodities are priced in Haiti using the US dollar which means that for every Canadian dollar we receive, we lose 27 cents right off the bat. Please keep in mind that all of the officers of the WHCC board remain volunteers and none receive any form of remuneration but in fact are donors themselves. We are pleading to those of you who had taken a holiday in your giving to please return to help us carry on with this important work.
 
Annual Christmas Fundraising Dinner
We are restarting our annual Christmas fundraising dinner since the pandemic and we invite you all together with family and friends to join us for a fun evening of Christmas songs and music and of course turkey and ham dinner.
Date: November 25
Location: Gellert Community Centre
10241 8th Line, Georgetown, ON. L7G 4S5
More info about the dinner to follow.
Please reach us by phone: 416-648-0040 by email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Haiti - A Paradise Destined for Extinction?

 Photo courtesy MSAADA

This photo of a despondent young man dramatically captures the hopelessness and frustration of the Haitian people in light of the current situation on the Island. Once the crown jewel of the Islands of the West Indies, Haiti has become anything but and every passing day seems to take the Island farther and farther from its prior glory. Due to gang violence, Hospitals are not functioning, food is scarce and when available, delivery systems are hampered. Gangs are setting up road blocks and extorting money from drivers and passengers alike – to use roadways while the police and the “government” are outgunned!

Haiti needs a coordinated international intervenon NOW or it might be too late. Please continue to pray for its people and our WHCC children.

As part of a global faith community, however, we know that all is not lost in Haiti! There remains a remnant of faithful supporters and volunteers who continue to do whatever they can to help, sometimes with great detriment to themselves. These include members of the local police force and volunteers including missionaries and aid workers who put their lives on the line every day to help some of the most vulnerable, notwithstanding the danger all around. We must help such people – through our prayers, lobbying and giving. Just a few weeks ago Doctors Without Borders, one of last meaningful providers of healthcare in the country were forced to shut down operation in the capital city of Port Au Prince due to violence and lawlessness. This is quite significant. Read more:
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/haiti-violent-clashes-force-temporary-closure-msf-hospital-cite-soleil

At Welcome Home Children’s Centre, we have been blessed through your prayers and your donations to continue our work. Thank You all so much! We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to WHCC’s House Mother, Madam Pierrette, who, in spite of an ever-changing staff, continues to be very creative in doing whatever she can to keep our kids safe, fairly well fed, and supported in their education (taking them to and from school daily and helping them as much as possible with their homework). Our children are all well, thank God, but anxiety is high all around. Even the younger kids are keenly aware of how dangerous life has become. This anxiety has negatively affected their academic performances. They all performed below normal in the last semester.

 Dinner time at the home

Fuel and food continue to be very scarce and pricy in our area. $40 / gallon for gasoline had recently been reported in a few places but in our area the price is down to roughly $7 / gallon. Prices for rice and beans, staples of Haitian diet, are at an all-time high. Meats as a whole, has become a rare commodity. The stress gets to us, over here in Canada, as well. We worry about the kids a lot, especially as we are not able to see them in person in Haiti. Nonetheless, Camille speaks to them regularly, through WhatsApp.

Up-coming event:

It has been 3 years since we had our annual open house family barbeque. Now that the pandemic is largely a thing of the past, we are excited to announce that we are again resuming this. You are invited to please join us on July 22, 2023, starting at 1:00 pm. Location: 34 McCullough Crescent, Georgetown. ON.

You can help us by:
• Praying –
a) For continued protection of our kids and their caregivers.
b) That we find reliable and dedicated support staff for Madam Pierrette, WHCC’s House Mother.
c) For Divine intervention in Haiti.
d) That, one of our 12-year-old boys with a severe learning disability, who has long been waiting for medical help, will get the help he needs soon.
• Please continuing to support WHCC in your giving to our work and to advocate for WHCC and for Haiti.

Ways to donate:
• By check (Welcome Home Children’s Centre Inc. 34 McCullough Cres. Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. L7G 5N5)
• E-transfer ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
• PayPal
• Canadahelps.org

Remember these words of Christ in Mark 9:37 (NIV): “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

You can visit us: https://www.welcomechildren.org

Email us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Phone: (416) 648-0040

State of the orphanage

As we celebrate 13 years of operation, our commitment to every child we accept into our care has never been greater.  Our commitment to our kids is all-encompassing.  In addition to providing a stable home, we fund the education of all our kids.  And unlike other orphanages in Haiti, we’re proud to be able to fund higher education for our kids who are over the age of 18 and who demonstrate a commitment to learning by –

1.  Remaining in school and passing their courses;
2.  Following our house rules;
3.  Helping our staff and contributing positively to our home environment; and
4.  Respecting our housemother and staff.

Instilling within our kids a respect for each other, our housemother, and our staff is paramount.  As some of you know, Berline and Christella recently left our home after deciding they wanted more freedom than our house rules allow.  We also said goodbye to Loveson, who recently left the home after refusing to follow our house rules.  Naphta also recently left the home to live with relatives after behavioral problems.  We continue to pray for each of these children and wish them God’s favour in everything they do.

The long isolation and stress resulting from the pandemic, we believe, directly or indirectly contributed to some of the issues leading to these departures. To help spark a little joy, we  purchased a couple of hens and a rooster. The kids are enjoying caring for our growing flock.  Next, we plan to add some goats!

A group of the chickens feeding and Fredson and Dmitri

State of the country

Thank you all for your unfailing support! It is precisely because of it, together with the blessing of the Lord, that we have continued our work in Haiti in spite of these unimagined circumstances. It has been 3 years since any of us from Canada or the USA has been able to visit Haiti for obvious reasons but we are virtually daily contact with the home. Food availability and cost are still a huge challenge and concern. For their safety, the kids are still confined within our compound except to go to school and to church. It continues to be hard on them but at least they are healthy and safe for which we thank God.

Schooling

All our kids, except for one of the little boys, have again made it through to higher grades. Moving to a higher grade is not automatic in Haiti. Each of of our kids had to have a combined score of at least a 60% to move to the next grade. Another exciting academic news is that Frankie has made it through high school and passed the national exam to start the baccalaureate program this fall.  We are very thrilled! The 2 oldest girls -- Emulita and Osline will follow suit next year, God willing.

Unfortunately, Kedler will need to repeat his classes.  Although he's come a very long way from the malnourished 18 month-old who was dropped off in our care, he needs an education assessment to help identify and address his learning challenges.  Help for Kedler is urgently needed! Any suggestions or offers are welcomed.

The oldest boy and the 2 oldest girls

New kids

We had launched an expansion campaign which unfortunately did not get much traction because it coincided with the onset of the pandemic. We did, however, in spite of the pandemic and thanks to the generosity of a patron couple of WHCC, convert the gathering space on the second floor into a bedroom for at least 3 bunk beds. This has allowed us to separate the older boys from the younger ones. We had 11 boys in one room prior to this renovation work.

The current situation in Haiti has exacerbated the proliferation of displaced and orphaned children and because of gang activities in the country, some people who had contacted us for assessment and possibility to take in kids have not been able to come in because of safety concerns and transportation issues. We have, however, recently taken in a couple of girls -- Angeline (aged 8) and Lovina (aged 5). Like the kids before them, they are already settling-in in their new home where they can be kids and have a shot for a bright future.

The two new kids admitted to WHCC
 
Annual Christmas fundraising gathering

After a 3 year hiatus because of the pandemic, we were planning a resumption of in-person Christmas gathering this year. We have at the last minute, however, decided against it because of the rise in the highly transmissible omicron variant and for the safety of our patrons. We have instead decided to gather on ZOOM instead. Date: November 19. Time:4:00 Easter Time.(USA and Canada). Please watch out for the formal invitation and please join us and please make a donation. Suggestions as to what you want to see at the zoom are welcome.
 
Our Many Thanks
 
Thanks again to all of you who through your generosity in prayers and giving, have been with us all these years. May God continue to immensely bless you! Your support has allowed us to continue to help these children of Haiti. Please remember that as bad as things are for us over here, they are multiple times significantly worse in Haiti where no social safety net of any sort exists! So we continue to respectfully ask for your financial support and prayers because our very existence depends on it.
 
Prayer Request
 
1.  Restoration of Law and Order in Haiti

2.  Protection of our kids and caregivers

3.  For reliable and stable staffing

Blessings!

To donate, please use:
(a) E-transfer ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
(b) Mail a check payable to Welcome Home Children Centre Inc. Address below.
(c) PayPal
(d) Canada Helps

Welcome Home Children's Centre Inc.
34 McCullough Crescent
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
L7G 5N5

Greetings to all of you, from all of us at Welcome Home Children Centre. As 2021 draws to a close, we want to thank you all for your very generous support of our work in Haiti, through your prayers and donations. Your support has allowed us to continue to care for the children in the centre in the areas of, intellectual growth, spiritual growth, and physical growth. Notwithstanding the pandemic and the unrest in the country, we are happy to report that they are all healthy and that all but one, passed their final exams and were able to move up to the next grade level this fall. This is encouraging to us, and we trust, to you, as well. Your investment in these kids is indeed yielding dividends. Glory be to God!

Some of our kids on the first day of school this fall

Haiti Today

A lot has happened since our last newsletter. Following a period of political instability in Haiti, the president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated in July (the perpetrators have yet to be brought to justice) and just over a month later, the Island was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake. Since our last report to you, Haiti has largely fallen into a state of chaos with no bona fide government in charge. This political instability has resulted in the breakdown of law and order leaving gangsters in control of some of the cities and communities. They inflict fear on people by committing, without repercussion, brutal atrocities at will. Kidnappings - especially of aid-workers and people they believe can afford to pay ransom, is keeping people unsafe and perpetually on edge. The latest crisis is a nationwide fuel shortage caused by gangs seizing access to the fuel supply terminals in the Port-au-Prince neighborhoods of Carrefour and Varreux. All these developments are making life very difficult for the average person in the country. Food prices continue to rise exponentially and there is a shortage of common staples. The cost of gasoline, when you can find it, is as high as $20 USD a gallon and cost of cement, we are told, has gone up 60% from its price just over a month ago.

 How we are doing

In spite of all of this, we have been able to keep our operation going on a very tight budget. We are also eternally thankful for the safety and well-being of our Children and staff. The Lord is faithful! We have had to literally place our kids and staff “under The Shadow of The Almighty”, as declared in Psalms 91. The result has been as stated in the 7th verse, namely that “A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you”. So, we continue to bask in God’s providence. People have been calling to see how our kids are doing and we are very appreciative of that. The truth is that it gets hard and discouraging sometimes but our resolve has never wavered because we continue to trust in the Lord in this mission to Haiti. The hardest thing for us in all of this, is that we have not been able to visit the kids in 2 years even though, thanks to WhatsApp, we are in touch with them every day. The other truth is that during difficult times like these, it is the children that suffer the most because times like these usually create more orphans and more street kids, the same subgroup that led to the creation of Welcome Home Children Centre. Like the saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. We are “tough”, we must acknowledge, only because of God’s grace and strength and by the support we get from benefactors like you all.

Our Annual Christmas Fundraising Campaign is in full swing! We are counting on your generosity to help us reach our $50,000.00 annual operating budget goal. To quote Denzel Washington in one of his inspirational and motivational commencement speech, “the most selfish thing you can do in this world is help someone else. Why is it selfish? Because the gratification, the goodness that comes to you and the good feeling that you get from helping others, nothing is better than that”. We have been doing a lot with very limited budget and we would really like you to come through for the Welcome Home Children as you have done in the past. Our model has not changed: all funds coming in to WHCC are used strictly for running the orphanage – taking care of the kids’ daily needs, their schooling (tuition, uniform, books and transportation), general maintenance and salaries for the Haiti staff. Officers of the WHCC board, are not paid.

You can donate by:
(1) Using INTERACT e-transfer through   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(2) using Check payable to: Welcome Home Children’s Centre Inc.
34 McCullough Crescent, Georgetown, ON, L7G 5N5.
(3) Through Canada Helps (receipt will be issued from Canada Helps directly)
(4) By PayPal (through our website – www.welcomechildren.org under “Donate”)
Any issue, contact us at (416)-648-0040 OR by email –   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Prayer Needs
Continued protection for our kids, staff and property and for Haiti and her people for the return of civility and normalcy.

May we take this time to wish you all a Joyous and Merry Christmas; a wonderful and
Healthy New Year! Be Blessed!