At a recent Thankful Thursday service, FFP’s Haiti Project Manager Delane Bailey-Herd shared a story about a little girl from one of the poorest areas of Haiti she’s developed a special bond with over the years. Here’s her story about a life transformed…
“For many years I would go to Shada (a place of deep poverty and misery outside Cap-Haitien) and look for this little girl who had captured my heart. When I first found Bediglia, I was giving out silly bands. She slid under and around the big boys and came under my nose to take as many silly bands as she could get.
As I got to know her, I saw that her family lived in terrible poverty. They didn’t own their own home. They actually shared a place with several other families, which meant that everyone had to sleep in shifts.
From the moment I met her, I saw something special in this kid. I saw in her eyes a willingness to survive, to change her surroundings if she could just get a little opportunity. That day I made a decision to help her.
So every time I visited Cap-Haitien, I would go look for her and bring her goodies.
Last week, I went to Shada again. She was no longer in Shada.
I am proud to say that she now lives in Madras (a village built by the saints of Church of the Nativity, through Food For The Poor) with her mom and sister.
Not only are they out of the slums of Shada, but they now live in a beautiful Food For The Poor home with two rooms, sanitation and a water cistern. They are one very happy family!!!”