Justine Telfort – Dumas
Justine Telfort lives with her sister Rosenie in Dumas located in rural northern Haiti. These two single mothers are raising 5 children between them. The fathers of the children partially pay for tuition and provide food sometimes. Day to day, the responsibility is all on Justine and Rosenie.
Prior to moving into the new home, they lived in a rental house. Finding funds for rent was a perpetual problem. As Justine told us,
“We lived in house we rented. We had to pay every six months and never got it completely. We had to hide sometimes when the owner is coming, or we had to confront him badly. That was a very bad and heartbreaking experience.”
When rent draws funds away from food, and education the whole family suffers. This impacts the children in an especially harsh way. In the Telfort household, Wenbendy is the oldest at 10 years old. An aspiring doctor, Wenbendy is in 4th grade and very good in math. All the other children are much younger. Wisterly is 5 years olf and in 1st grade. Loudmaylie and Paul are both 4 and in kindergarten and little Wisendy is just 2 years old.
When Justine and her household moved into their new home it changed the trajectory for the entire family. She recalls, “The first day we got into the house, we said, we don’t have to pay rent anymore, or confront the owner” This relief and change of circumstances was expressed well when she told us,
“The best moment we lived in this house was the first day, we overslept, as we were comfortable, happy with no worries.”
Both Justine and her sister are members of the micro loan program (Bakola) and work to develop their own businesses to support their family. Now all of what they earn can go to provide for the needs of their family. Their family also benefits from the potable water at the water plant and the medical clinic in Dumas sponsored by Hope for Haitians.
Wilna’s Story
Wilna – Pistere Wilna is a 36-year-old mother of five children living in the village of Pistere in Northern Haiti. The home her family lived in was described by one of her children in this way, “Our house was really deplorable. She was leaning, some side was...
Siliane’s Story
Siliane - Dumas Siliane is a resident of Dumas in northern Haiti where she lives with her four children ages 2-13. Prior to encountering Hope for Haitians, Silane was renting a home. The property, like many in the area, was in poor condition with a leaky roof. This is...
Rosena’s Story
Rosena – Dumas Rosena is a 64-year-old widow with great responsibilities. As the mother of 6 children and grandmother of 4 grandchildren she is devoted to caring for family. Like many in her village of Dumas she and her family lived in inadequate and unsafe housing....