Yonel and Manita
In 2013, we were delivering solar boxes to people living the mountains in Haiti. Part of our team came upon Yonel and Manita. The picture below was taken at that time.
We learned that Yonel and Manita were brother and sister. They lived in Port-au-Prince when the 2010 earthquake struck. Their father was killed. Their mother had fled with the two children into the mountains. Needing to find work, she had left them with a small church-run orphanage on the mountain. Their mother later passed away. About a year prior to us meeting the children, the orphanage lost the financial support that it had been receiving and closed. They had sent most of the children to live at other orphanages. Yonel and Manita had stayed on the mountain. They were sleeping on the front step of the church and eating whatever food they could get from neighbors. They were staying alive, but they were malnourished and showed obvious signs of emotional trauma. Yonel would not speak at all. Manita spoke, but her language was very limited, although she giggled a lot! After contacting social services for approval, we were able to take Yonel and Manita to live at Kenbe Fem.
It took a couple of months for Yonel to open up and speak. The children recovered both physically and emotionally. Look at the now! Yonel is consistently at the top of his class in school. Manita is smart, outgoing and loves to sing.
