through a trash pit, through some plantain fields and then down a ridge through a river (once huge you can tell from erosion over time – now more of a creek). From there you hike up and as children run barefoot next to you with gallon containers in hand full of creek water, you try not to slip on your hike up a hill that some may call a small mountain to get to where Pepite lives.
Her siblings are more than a dozen, however there are some who have passed away due to illness. Pepite accidentally rolled on one of her siblings when she was sleeping as an infant and with adequate medical care being unreachable due to both distance and circumstances – Pepite once told me it was her fault one of her sisters was gone. We want her to know that this isn’t true. We used to do family dinners where we invited neighborhood kids on Friday nights at Shernando Hotel and made a big meal – Pepite was the smallest (not even five years old), but would always eat almost the most! Sometimes she would be sick afterwards – she ate the most because she didn’t know when she’d eat again and was trying to fill up on all that she could. We have dreamed for her. We have loved her feisty personality and wondered what God could do for a daughter that he sees but that the world does not. Even in her own family, with so many siblings and so little resources she can go unseen.
Years later, we are now thrilled that Pastor Jackson is involved in Deniese’s life in Cabaret. He knows her family and passionately told us her story as he helped us update a picture for a profile we were sending out with prayers for a response of someone wanting to sponsor Deniese and offer to be the opportunity to be a part of her new future.
And someone was the answer to those prayers! Deniese now gets a uniform, books, and the opportunity to be educated and have a different outlook for her future than her parents were picturing before! She also will get moringa – nutrition – from her Timoun la Gras club that will disciple her and the other sponsored kids in her community. Lastly, she will get medical check ups at least once a year…that’s a big deal when her source of water is the dirty creek and she can get hurt just walking home. We are SO excited for all of the things that Deniese now has the opportunity for!
We were heartbroken years ago for a girl who ate more than she could because she couldn’t eat again. A girl with so many siblings, her mother struggles to keep up to care for them all. A girl who would have had long term problems for a simple medical problem if we hadn’t taken her to a clinic. In this heartbreak, we weren’t sure what to do. Even with abilities to help in some moments like with family dinners – those were just short term solutions and they were not building into anything or changing a system. Now Deniese is connected with Pastor Jackson, a local church, and leadership with a passion for children. She is connected with a church family that knows her story and is doing life with her. She is not getting just physical help – instead, the spiritual side of the cross has crossed to the physical as Pastor Jackson has planted a church, reached out to families, and then connected Deniese to CPR-3’s sponsorship program.
Thank you so much, Rochelle, for sponsoring “Pepite”. We believe that this is changing her corner of the world through God’s movement in Haiti!
