Bringing Hope and Joy to Orphans in Haiti

More than 24,000 children under the age of 5 die every day, mainly from preventable causes.* Charity Remington, a doctoral student in Regent’s School of Business & Leadership, is working to change that.

Charity has been helping with service projects in rural Haiti for eight years. As part of a nonprofit organization, The Mission Haiti, she has been able to connect with many Haitian orphanages that struggle to meet the needs of their children.

“Some have more than 100 kids, as well as lists of children waiting to get in,” Charity explains. “We help connect them with food, medical, and school support and train Haitian orphanage directors in effective stewardship and management.”

In addition to local orphanages, the organization partners with Haitian pastors and ministries like Samaritan’s Purse to complete both long-term and short-term projects. The Mission Haiti also routinely conducts medical clinics in rural parts of Haiti.

Charity says all that she is learning in Regent’s Doctor of Strategic Leadership program has equipped her well to serve in a foreign country.

“In a place like Haiti it can be hard to find the balance between respecting cultural leadership differences and the non-negotiables of Christian leadership. My SBL studies have helped me learn how to discern the differences in cross-cultural situations, along with assisting me in leading teams more effectively.”

Her studies have also allowed her to help design and implement new strategies within the ministry to encourage community development through education. “Where we work in rural Haiti, education is often just a luxury for a few privileged children and it is estimated that only 50 percent of Haitians can truly be deemed literate,” she explains.

Without access to education, families become trapped in poverty unable to own land, find a career or participate in political processes.

To foster education, the organization established a scholarship program that matches severely impoverished children with willing partners in the Americas who provide money for a child’s tuition, uniforms, books, shoes, tutoring and a daily meal for an entire year.

“For many children, their daily school lunch is the only meal they will have all day!” Charity explains.

Helping meet the needs of orphans has been life changing for Charity. On a trip to deliver donated toys to a small group of kindergarten students in the tiny village of Labadri, Carabret, she was reminded again of the impact Christians can have in the world once they get involved.

“Not a person in Labadri had ever been to school, and most of the children spent their days without clothes or food,” Charity recalls. “Thanks to the vision of a local Haitian pastor and the kindness of our partners in the United States, we were able to erect two small kindergarten classrooms, hire three teachers, and provide clothes, supplies, and daily meals for the children. Seeing such progress in such an impoverished community was very moving and encouraging. It made me so grateful for God’s kindness in my life and for His willingness to use even someone like me to work with His precious people.”

* Source: UNICEF