If the world only relied on news headlines, then we would only know Haiti to be the bleak and troubled country that the media wants us to see. With all this noise, it can be easy for anyone living elsewhere to believe solutions need to come from the people and groups in high places. But in reality, hope is manifesting in low, indigenous places for Haitian families striving to care for their children in the midst of great challenges.
This hope – a culmination of unseen, relational, and empowering work – is all happening through the local church. The Global Orphan Project (GO Project) has spent years building a vast network of church partners, walking alongside them to serve their own children, families, and communities with local, family-style solutions. So when adversity threatens to break a family apart, a network exists, right in their community, ready to offer help.
Poverty and devastation from the most recent earthquake pushed the Ceide family to the brink of breakdown. Their local church, a partner of GO Project, invited them to join a family strengthening program called Father’s Family where parents learn job and relational skills, how to manage finances, and gain spiritual healing. With the knowledge and help of this strong support group, the Ceide family now has access to nutritious food, a bed to sleep on, and a roof over their heads. Father’s Family is rolling out to churches all across Haiti, with over 200 families participating.
Other partners are serving local children by preparing older youth for the responsibilities of adulthood. Vincent Claudine is a recent graduate of GO Project’s Transition Academy, a two-year discipleship, life skills, and vocational-technical program. Students learning the trade of either agriculture or sewing are prepared for the final INFP exam which sets the government standards and proficiency in their given trade. Since graduating from the academy in 2021, Claudine is now employed and using her skills to sew uniforms for kids in the villages. “The experience at GO Transition Academy has allowed me to think differently and to be independent,” she says. “I’m able to take care of myself and I’m going to do my best to give back using all the knowledge I have gained.”
Earning a livable wage is essential to keeping families safely together, especially when more than half the Haitian population lives below the poverty line. Liberating workers from poverty and empowering families to care for their kids is why GOEX Apparel was created. A simple t-shirt purchase ensures jobs for workers like Viedès Toussaint who cleans the GOEX production facility in Haiti so that it is a safe, enjoyable place to work. He says, “I feel comfortable and proud to do my job. There is no stress, and my salary is good and fair. It helps with my family, my wife, the schooling of my kids, and my rent.”
Beautiful unseen miracles are happening every single day to make caregivers and local churches in Haiti the heroes to their own children. With neighbors caring for neighbors, we are realizing our mission of breaking the orphan cycle, one family, one child at a time.
Join us in caring for the world’s orphaned and vulnerable children at www.goproject.org.
This blog was written by The Global Orphan Project