Haiti: My new friend Wendell

Our first full day of filming was great. I was able to spend more time with some kids, playing, talking and trying to encourage them. My biggest regret on previous trips has been that I have spent too much hiding behind the camera lens and not nearly enough loving on children.

Wendell, 13, is incredibly smart with an edge of sarcasm that endeared me to her from the start. She is the child of an unwed mother who made the decision to keep her baby instead of having an abortion. Pastor LaFleur used his own money and helped her mother get an apartment. He helped her care for her child and became her godfather.

Now, Wendell lives in Port Au Prince where she attends school. It’s important to note that all schools in Haiti are private. If you want your child to attend school, you must pay to send them there. Combine the fact that many of the schools were destroyed in the earthquake with an estimated 90% unemployment rate and you erase any option that the majority of children have. Conduit Mission and Restoration Ministries, through the charitable donation of people around the United States, they are able to pay the school fees for nearly 150 children. It’s barely a scratch on the nation as a whole, but it makes all the difference to that one child.

I can’t imagine not being able to afford to send my children to school. In Haiti, education is one of the cornerstones on which the foundation of a New Haiti will be built. Please check out restorehaiti.com and considering partnering with them.

Wendell, thank-you for letting me peek into your life. I am a better person because I know you.

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