Challenges and Opportunities
The situation on the ground in Haiti is challenging, but we are working hard to address issues & build capacity while continuing to empower, support, and advocate for the children, families, and communities who need us most.
Photo by Fransnel Francois.
Hunger in Haiti
Haiti is in a state of overlapping crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic, political and economic instability, an increase in violence, and the effects of climate change has resulted in a dramatic increase in food insecurity. The number of children under the age of five who face acute malnutrition increased this year to 217,000. Another 86,000 children don’t have enough food to live.
LFBS is working hard to adapt to these crises. We have increased our COVID-19 prevention activities and our agronomy and livestock programming, as well as expanded our focus to community health. We provide nutritional support when it is needed across all of our programming areas and initiatives, while also working to empower families and communities with the means to become self-sufficient and food secure on their own. As always, we are continuously working to reinforce and expand the capacity of social services and local authorities so that they are better equipped to react to those who are in the greatest need.
Recent Activities
National Day of the Child Activities
June 13th was the National Day of the Child in Haiti. This year's theme was “𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻". Each year, alongside IBESR we do many activities in celebration of the day, working to educate children about their rights and make sure those rights are fulfilled. This year, we included information and training on COVID-19 prevention.
COVID-19 Prevention Training
The COVID-19 pandemic in Haiti is unfortunately getting worse. In Haiti, social distancing and lockdowns are not an option for most families, and the healthcare system does not have the capacity to react to a widespread health crisis.
Throughout the pandemic, we have been working to provide information and supplies to vulnerable children and families in order to prevent COVID-19. Our nurse Mauna has been integral to our outreach and preventive efforts. In the weeks leading up to the National Day of the Child we ramped up our training sessions, this time focusing on the orphanages in the Sud department. In collaboration with IBESR and other partners who are part of the GTPE Child Protection Network, Mauna and the LFBS team reached over 97% of the orphanages in the South to provide education and training on COVID preventative measures as well as children’s rights!
Photo by Fransnel Francois.
Annual Street Child Meeting
Each year LFBS hosts our Annual Street Child Meeting. On June 9th, in collaboration with our partners IBESR and Overture Outreach International, we invited all the street children in Les Cayes to a meeting to speak with them about their rights and encourage them to reunite with their families.
At the event, our nurse provided education about COVID-19 to ensure that the children were well-informed about the pandemic. We emphasized the importance of social distancing during these times, which can be particularly difficult for street children. Each child was provided with hygiene kits, which in addition to personal hygiene products, allowed them to practice all the precautions they were taught like wearing a mask and washing their hands.
This year, out of the 19 kids who attended the meeting, 9 children who attended decided that they wanted to leave the streets. We are in the process of following up to arrange family tracing and supports so that they can be reunited!
New LFBS staff shirts! ‘Proteksyon Timoun se priyorite nou’ or ‘Protecting children is our priority’.
You can read more about all of the activities that LFBS has been doing to celebrate the National Day of the Child here.
Day of General Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care
The LFBS team has been working on contributing to the OHCHR Day of General Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child is a UN body of independent experts who are responsible for reviewing progress on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year, the focus is on the unnecessary separation of children from their families and appropriate ways to respond to family and child separation in cases where it is unavoidable.
Throughout May and June, we have been conducting workshops and facilitating surveys with youth who have previously been separated from their families (mostly through the orphanage system) and who have been reunited by LFBS. We have translated the Committee survey from French to Creole to make it more accessible to the children we are working with.
We can now report that we have had 61 children participate in the workshops (33 boys & 28 girls) from three communities across the Sud Department and Grand Anse!
Eluxon, our Child and Youth Mentor (who formerly went through the orphanage and restavek system himself), has been the main facilitator of these workshops. Thank you to Eluxon, and to the entire LFBS team in Haiti, for ensuring that these children’s voices are heard and represented in this very important discussion!
Success Stories
Since March, we’ve worked with over 350 beneficiaries! Here are just a few progress updates on the status of the children and youth we’ve been supporting and empowering through our programs.
Madeline
Madeline* is a university student who LFBS has been supporting to attend medical school. We are very proud to share that not only did she pass her most recent exams – but she was the top student in her class! Out of around 100 students, she had the best grades on very gruelling exams. We have a doctor in the making!
Esther
During an outreach trip to facilitate family mediation, LFBS staff identified a young girl named Esther* with hydrocephalus and disabilities. They were eager to take her to Tous Ensemble, a physical therapy clinic we often partner with to provide specialized physical therapy for children with disabilities, and moral as well as technical support for their parents. For several months, our staff have returned to visit this girl every single week to ensure that we take her and her mother to physical therapy sessions. Our staff are thrilled to share how much change they’ve noticed in the child’s ability to walk and even in her language and interactions! Her mother has even sent her to school!
Samentha
LFBS was introduced to Samentha’s* family in 2012. One of her sisters had been in an abusive orphanage – and trafficked as a restavek – before finally being reunited with their mother. Shortly after reunification, the girl’s mother approached LFBS about another one of her daughters who was very sick. That little girl was Samentha.
Samentha was diagnosed with a case of very severe tuberculosis. After months of hospitalization, Samentha seemed to be getting worse. We were able to transfer her to a clinic in Port au Prince called Ti Kay that specialized in treating patients with HIV and tuberculosis. After several months at Ti Kay, Samentha eventually recovered from TB.
However, the illness had left her with a damaged heart. Ever since, our nurse has followed Samentha very closely and taken her for regular visits to cardiologists. Samentha is required to take medication every single day of her life due to her heart condition. When she doesn’t take it, she feels weak, can’t breathe well, and her legs swell up. At times Samentha would skip her medication – despite the serious consequences – because she didn’t have enough food to have a meal with her pills. LBFS quickly realized that it is important for us to not only provide her with the medication, but to supplement it with nutritional support.
In addition to supporting Samentha’s mother through our small business start-up program, we now provide Samentha with extra nutritional support. She is now a healthy weight, and although still on medication, is a beautiful and happy young woman, attending school and working towards her future.
Odyanne & Adrina
Many of you will recall Odyanne, a young woman supported by LFBS since 2011 after leaving an exploitative orphanage. Odyanne has become an advocate for vulnerable children and contributes to LFBS' work. In 2020, Odyanne participated in the Canadian government’s Spur Change Youth Champion Program. She was the only participant from Haiti. Although the program’s international conference was cancelled due to the pandemic, the program opened doors for Odyanne and her writing has since been published, including by the Northern Council for Global Cooperation.
This year, another LFBS youth has been accepted into the Spur Change Youth Champion Program! Adrina is a young woman who lived in the same exploitative orphanage that Odyanne did and has since been reunited with her family. Like Odyanne, Adrina is a leader and advocate for vulnerable children. Currently, she is tutoring one of the children in the girls’ safehouse. Adrina will be participating in the Spur Change YLP this year – and Odyanne has agreed to help mentor her!
Photo by GBP Creative.
For more success stories about LFBS beneficiaries, including an update on Louis* & Miguel*, click here.
News
Not About Me
Not About Me premiered at NorthwestFest in Edmonton in May, and in Whitehorse in June.
Not About Me was runner up for the Audience Choice Award in the Canadian Feature category at NorthwestFest, and was in the top 15 for overall streaming views! Thank you to everyone who attended the screenings and who streamed the documentary online. Please stay tuned for future Not About Me release dates & follow the Not About Me Facebook page to be the first to know where it will be available next. We can’t wait for you to see the film.
LFBS in the Media
Morgan has participated in a number of important interviews over the past few months with various media personalities including Lauren Neal, James Pierre, PJ Kwong, and Sandy Laborde. This outreach work raises awareness about the importance of ending orphanage tourism, as well as the important work that LFBS is engaging in on the ground in Haiti.
Check out our Media page or visit the Little Footprints Big Steps Youtube Channel to catch-up on these inspiring and illuminating conversations!
Get Involved
Coffee with our Co-Founders
LFBS community- we want to hear from you!
Please join us for a (virtual) coffee with LFBS co-founders Morgan Wienberg and Sarah Martin on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 02:00 PM Eastern Time
This is an opportunity for our incredible community of LFBS supporters to have a chance to hear directly from Morgan and Sarah, ask questions, and give feedback about the work that LFBS is doing.
Please register here.
Photo by GBP Creative
Ride for Refuge
Join our team. Have you always wanted to get more involved with LFBS but didn’t know where to begin? Now is your chance!
LFBS is participating as a partner charity in Ride for Refuge on October 2, 2021 and you are officially invited to join our team- or start your own!
The Ride for Refuge is a covid-safe, family-friendly fundraiser held on Saturday, October 2, 2021 that supports charities working with displaced, vulnerable, and exploited people everywhere.
Ride for Refuge is a bike riding / walking / freestyle fundraiser event, and the funds we raise will go toward the work LFBS does to support families and communities in Haiti. The Ride is the perfect opportunity for you to raise awareness and have fun while supporting LFBS.
To sign up or for more information visit https://littlefootprintsbigsteps.com/ride-for-refuge
3 Homes in Haiti
To mark the release of Not About Me, we are raising funds to build homes for three families!
Over the last few months we have told you about Samuel* and Joseph*. Samuel has already been reunited with his family, but we have identified that his family’s level of vulnerability must be addressed through housing. Joseph is a little boy who was formerly in a restavek situation (modern slavery), and who has become an inspirational leader among the youth that we work with. We are preparing Joseph for reunification with his mother, but must also address their housing situation. You can read more about Samuel and Joseph here.
Peterson* is a third child who we are working with, whose family is in need of permanent, safe housing.
Children living in corrupt orphanages, the streets, or the restavek system are all easily exploited because they have been separated from their families. To truly make a difference we must not only reunite children with their families, but also address the issue that caused separation in the first place.
With your support, we have already raised $10,000!
Please help us reach our goal of $20,000 so that we can provide permanent, safe housing to these three families, and work to empower them to build a self-sufficient future. Every dollar counts!
Fransnel Francois
In March, we told you about Fransnel; a former LFBS beneficiary who is now a talented photographer. All of the photos for our 3 Homes in Haiti campaign are taken by Fransnel, and we often hire him to take photos for many other LFBS initiatives. Many of the photos in this newsletter are taken by Fransnel. We are proud and inspired by his dedication and skills!
Other ways to support LFBS in June & July
The Great Giving Challenge
From June 1 to 30, every $1** you donate to LFBS through CanadaHelps instantly enters us for a chance to WIN $20,000 with the Great Canadian Giving Challenge. You can donate here.
The winner will be drawn on July 1, 2021!
**Minimum $3 donation
July Bonus Day
On Wednesday, July 14, starting at 9:00 a.m. ET, our partner GlobalGiving will match donations*** of $100 USD and up while funds last using a tiered matching structure. The higher the donation, the higher the match!
The campaign is fast-paced and the match is available while funds last, so it is important donations are given as soon as the campaign begins at 9am ET on July 14.
Donations must be made via Global Giving in order to be eligible. Donate here or here on July 14th at 9am ET!
Would you like a reminder that the campaign has begun? Email us at info@littlefootprintsbigsteps.com to let us know!
***LFBS is eligible to receive a maximum of $3,000 USD in total Matching Funds.
Volunteer Opportunities
We are looking for a Fundraising Volunteer to join our amazing volunteer team!
The role is a virtual / work from home position that can be completed from anywhere in Canada. Check out the job posting on Charity Village for more details.
Photo by Fransel Francois
Thank you!
Thank you for being a part of our incredible community of supporters and donors. While the situation in Haiti remains complex, because of you, we are making real, impactful, and lasting changes in the lives of children, families, and communities. You are a partner in this work and we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for your interest, support, and caring, and for being a catalyst for change.
Thank you for your shared commitment to our vision that every child in Haiti grows up in a safe, loving, and self-sustaining family.
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of our beneficiaries