The Heart of "Our Haiti Orphans"

Bonjou! Here's a little background on our founder, Haitian-American Amecia DesRoche.

 

The youngest child of Haitian farmers, Amecia grew up on the island of La Gonave, working the rocky land and attending school. Her parents sacrificed to send Amecia and her sister and brothers to school, knowing that education is the passport to a better future. Amecia moved to the United States for nursing school, became a U.S. citizen and today cares for Seniors while raising a family.

 

Visiting La Gonave one year, Amecia noticed the growing population of street urchins in the main port of Anse-a-Galets and her village of Degoute. "With no money for doctors," she says, "many Haitians will dig roots and boil leaves to treat themselves. Too often they die anyway, leaving little ones behind. Even the water itself can kill you. It breaks my heart."

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Help Against Hurricanes

Amecia immediately began working with the deacon of her former church in Nan Cafe to provide a refuge and what food she could for the orphans. "My father was once the deacon of this church," she says. "So I knew they would help." When Hurricane Katrina struck the island in 2005, the deacon let her know the storm had left many additional orphans at his doorstep. At home, Amecia recruited friends, her church family and local school organizations to lend a hand.

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In 2008 four major hurricanes swept through Haiti, causing mudslides, destroying homes and killing hundreds. On La Gonave, crops and houses were washed away. One child told of watching her mother and baby brother disappear in the swirling waters. Amecia stepped up her efforts.

 

Blessings in the Aftermath

In 2010, Amecia's father died. She was heading to his funeral on La Gonave when a 7.0 earthquake began to tear apart Haiti's capital, Port au Prince, killing thousands."The road buckled under us," she remembers. "Buildings crumbled. We couldn't stand up." Over a hundred friends and family had already arrived at the island from Port au Prince for the funeral, which might have saved many lives. "It was as if my dad were watching over them," Amecia says.

 

She was trapped on La Gonave for two weeks with no way home. During that time, thousands of homeless and injured refugees fled to the island, landing at Anse-a-Galets. Dozens of children arrived alone, dazed and covered in dust, looking for family, for medical care and desperate for food. "So many were injured," says Amecia. "It was a blessing that I'm a nurse and could help, as if God sent me where he needed me most."

 

This is when Amecia realized that, with so many new mouths to feed, she needed to begin thinking bigger.

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Launching "Our Haiti Orphans"

It was in 2016, after Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc in Haiti, that Amecia decided her best move would be to apply for 501c3 charity status, registering the name Orphans of Isle de La Gonave D'Haiti. With friends behind her, she came up with the money, finished the paperwork and had set up a bank account by the time Hurricane Irma arrived in 2017, damaging La Gonave even further.

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As in the past, 100% of every donation to the orphans of La Gonave is spent toward delivering food,  supplies and scholarships directly to the children. Checks for tax deductible donations can be made out to the registered name of our 501c3, Orphans of Isle de La Gonave D'Haiti.

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"Our Haiti Orphans" helps the neediest children – the forgotten orphans of La Gonave, Haiti. With your help, they are forgotten no longer. "Mesi ampil" (that is how we say thank you very much in Haiti)!

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