Haitian orphans just want the American dream
MONTROUIS, Haiti (KTRK) -- This summer ABC-13 went along with a group from a Houston non-profit who traveled to the impoverished and still earthquake ravished country of Haiti to build a camp for orphans.
"You can take a shower with the faucet but the water is running everywhere, it's a cold shower," said volunteer Delia Tibidoux as she showed the bathroom limitations at the Canaan Orphanage. "The toilet, you have to hold the knob down, and hold it and hold it and possibly it may go down."
Tibideaux is a high school educator and just one of the many volunteers with Houston Nonprofit Help For Haiti, Inc. This is her third trip to Haiti in which she is using her skills to help the children succeed.
For about 70 Haitian children - infants to late teens - a warm shower, a home washer and dryer, and a kitchen counter are found in fairytales.
Eighteen-year-old Jenniflor Eliso has spent nearly her entire life at the orphanage. Her father is deceased and her mother sent her to Canaan at age 6. But growing up an orphan hasn't stopped her and her friends, turned sisters, from having big dreams.
"We have a dream that we will start Laundromats - the simple things that we don't have in Haiti," Eliso said.
That's part of Help For Haiti, Inc's mission - to provide hope for those children in need.
"Our whole purpose here is to serve the children here and get them educated so that they can make a difference in their culture," Tibideaux said. "It's like God answered my prayers."
Looking around, she thinks about her classroom in the states.
"I see kids throwing apples and oranges away, milk away, food, and they're getting it free. Not appreciative of getting free school supplies, tablets, pencils. Then you come here and you give these kids that same pencil, that same sheet of paper. They keep it and they are writing with little pencils this size," Tibideaux said.
Eliso wants the American dream.
"These are my books. I love reading. I read 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Left Behind.' When I finish with high school, I want to go to college," Eliso said.
And Tibideaux believes she will.
"It's so emotional because I'm here. I'm achieving not only the dream that I have been waiting for for 15 years, but I'm also achieving my goal as well, as well to reach out to Haitians," Tibideaux said.
The volunteers with Help For Haiti, Inc. say they left Haiti with each orphan etched into their minds and they'll be there until they come back next summer.
Orphanage in Haiti:
http://www.canaanchristiancommunity.com
Local group that travels to the orphanage:
http://helpforhaitinc.webs.com
