How We Got Our Start – Our Call to Action

Helping Haitian Angels was founded by 4 friends and family members from the northern Virginia area. Half of the founders unexpectedly met 40 homeless orphans on a mission trip  in the summer of 2008 to Cap Haitien, Haiti. The 40 orphans were homeless, covered in scabies, sick from malnutrition and desperate for help. After an emotional return to the states Debbie Harvey (one the volunteers) decided she must do more then just mourn their misfortune. Debbie decided to share their story with her friends, her church, her family with anyone that would listen. After just a week she  reunited with the  volunteers and in just a month they raised enough money to provide the kids medical care, shelter and food. Debbie and her recruits created what is now (just one year later) a 501(c)3 non-profit christian organization raising funds nationally for the care of the Kay Anj  (Angel House) Orphanage of Cap Haitien, Haiti.

A letter from Debbie Harvey..

I was apprehensive about going to Haiti with my husband (he has gone 6 or 7 times). I had our kids to worry about, school, work etc. I had made excuses for years. I finally decided it was time for me to go with Bill to Cap Haitien, Haiti. I was amazed at the work he and his group had done for the people. They brought water from the top of a mountain (a mile walk straight up hill) down to the village via PVC pipe. The Haitian people cried when they saw the water pour out of the pipe inside the cistern that the guys built to hold the water.

It was my 2nd day in Haiti when a woman begged us to stop by and take a look at the children at the Beree orphanage. It was on the way to the orphanage we had been working at so we said ok. I will be forever changed by what I saw at Beree. Most of the children were under 10 and were starving. They hadn’t eaten in two days when we saw them. They all had worms. Their hair was turning orange and their skin was getting lighter as a result of protein and iron deficiencies. Many had dark soars (some still raw and open) from drinking contaminated water. They steal this water from their neighbor. They all sleep on a hard, cold tile floor with no blankets, towels, pillows. One adorable 2 year old boy hugged me and I noticed blood dripping out of his ear. We learned from a pediatrician that it was from a staph infection and that many of them have staph infections. Dr. Ray (the pediatrician) told us that even for Haitian standards, Beree was horrific. We take a $10 antibiotic for the same infections that will kill these children. Then something amazing happened—the children from ages one to eighteen all sat in their seats and sang a song to us. They could hardly hold their heads up because they were so weak but they sang to us!

I walked out so that they wouldn’t see me crying. The next hour was spent holding them, hugging them, singing with them and loving them.

These 40 angels are living in a building that does not belong to them. They are being evicted effective October 1st , 2008. Our friend Patrick (a Haitian) has located a building to move the kids into but it will cost $10,000 a year to rent. It will cost $750 monthly for food and powdered milk. A night watchman, at $125 a month, needs to be hired to protect the children and guard the food. We would like to pay the neighbor $100 a month for the water that he’s “donating”. Medical supplies and a local pediatrician to check on the children monthly will cost $100.

You can protect these profoundly poor children from their nightmares.

Since my visit we have sent toothbrushes, toothpaste, vitamins, shoes, clothes, and some blankets to the children at Beree. (Thanks to friends and family that have cleaned out closets etc!)

We are just a regular group of people with a desire—a desire to save the lives of 40 angels.

Winston Churchill said “We make a living by what we get…we make a LIFE by what we GIVE”.

“…whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” – Proverbs 14:31

Any and all gifts are greatly appreciated!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

Debbie Harvey