Two Haitian women from the village of Tierra Muscady each share their story on how their lives were transformed when given the gift of a home from a Canadian donor.
Marie Lourde Fontus a single mother of 8, works hard to provide for her family including their education since she did not have that opportunity growing up. Her daily routine consists of preparing the kids for school early in the morning and then go on with her selling activities of rice, beans, plantain, avocado and charcoal to support her family financially. No matter how late she would get home in hope to sell more, the income would barely meet the needs of her family.
Living at her friend’s house where she could not even get a copy of the house keys and adding the issue with space and more would make her ask herself what she did to deserve that. In her hardships, God appeared to Marie Lourde Fontus in the form of the donors who were generous enough to offer her the keys of her own place. Even though she helped through out the construction doing excavation for the foundation of the house and the septic tank, she still could not believe that her most cherished dream came true the way she slept and woke up well rested in her lovely home. Grateful, she sent her deepest thanks to the donor and Food for the Poor for bringing heaven on earth for her and her family.
Alourde Bruny married and her 40s is a mother of 3. To meet the needs of the family, Alourde Bruny would sell rice and oil, work as a maid and peanut roaster upon request, while her husband would work as a farmer. Despite all those hard works and sacrifices, only two of their children were attending school. The other one who did not benefit of that opportunity was helping around the house, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and so on. When it comes to nutrition, her children only eat once a day.
The condition of that house created an atmosphere of worries every time the weather looked bad. When she was younger, although with a lot of dreams and high hope, she would never imagine her life to be like that. She always thought that at her age, she would be living in a decent home with her little family.
She was overjoyed and speechless when she found out that she was chosen for this project and that she will benefit of a decent home. To ease the process, she helped by carrying water, concrete blocks to the job site. Once she finally received the key, she bought beautiful curtains to embellish her beautiful home. “It is important to give value to what one had received” said Alourde Bruny. She thanks God every day for the donors because through Him, her family had been blessed.