Giving to the Children of Cap-Haitien Childrens Home

My main reason for tagging along on the trip to Haiti was to bring school supplies and items for the kids. With the fundraising and donations received I was able to bring about 80lbs of school supplies, toiletry items, and clothing for the kids. When I first arrived to Cap-Haitien Children's Home I brought the two large duffel bags of items for the kids. I then handed them over to Bob Valerius the administrator of Cap-Haitien Children's Home so that he could go through them and figure out how we would pass out the items. Bob is a good guy, he allows some outside children into the orphanage for a hot meal and allows them to interact with the orphans. After sitting and talking with him I learned that the orphans are normally better off than the outside children. While the outside children may have parents they don't have many of the benefits the orphans have. Such as a bed to sleep in, food to eat everyday, clean water, the opportunity to go to school, and the luxury of having generous Americans who give money to support them. With this being said Bob and I decided to let the outside kids have first pick at the clothes and items I brought because they truly need them the most.
This is a picture I took with some of the outside kids.


After Bob had handed out items to the outside kids we finally got down to handing out the gifts to the orphans. We decided to let the kids organize in a line and we brought them in the room two or three at a time. I had became friends with an older boy name Eric that is an outside kid that Bob helps out. Eric was in charge of assisting with helping the kids pick out clothes that would fit. Eric did a great job keeping the kids in order and finding clothes that would fit them. Eric is in the yellow shirt with the hat on.

Giving to the kids was a really good time. We were able to hook each kid up with a tooth brush, a clothing item, and I brought some soccer cards that the kids enjoyed. It was good to see the smiles on the kids faces when they got their gifts. It was a bit like Christmas for them, and I'm very thankful for all of those who donated money or clothing for the kids.


Being able to give to these children and see the smiles on their faces, and see how greatful they were was one of the highest points of my life. Seeing the joy brought to a kids face by giving them something as small as a shirt or a toothbrush is unexplainable. More important than the items the kids recieved is the simple fact that they know people care about them. I asked that each kid write a small thank you on a slip of paper. The kids were happy to do so and wrote a simple Mési. After picking out an outfit and writing a thank you to all of those who donated I took pictures with the kids so my friends here in the states could see the beautiful kids they helped out.

Again I would like to thank each and everyone of my friends who donated money and or clothes to the children of Cap-Haitien Childrens Home.