when you think of smiles, think of haiti

By Georgina Sanchez, Program Manager, Global Partnernship Program

“An’n souri pou n ka briye plis,” means “we smile so we can shine brighter,” in Haitian Creole. This positive mantra served as the inspirational theme this past season for Kan Etwal, our SeriousFun Global Partnership Program in Haiti, in partnership with Worldwide Orphans Foundation Haiti (WWO), Saint Damien Hospital, and Gheskio Hospital. For the 75 children in attendance, all of whom are living with HIV, the experience provided them with the opportunity to smile and shine brighter.

Stella (pictured) had the chance to show her talents at the camp’s Stage Night show. Her illness causes her to have a chronic and disruptive cough, which makes her self-conscious and shy. She is often too exhausted to participate in daily activities. But at Stage Night, Stella overcame her fatigue and self-consciousness. She bravely got on stage in front of all of her new friends and sang a beautiful song. The smile on her face lit up the room and cheers filled the air.

While fun was a core ingredient for camp, programming also focused on developing life skills. Alex, one of the camp’s activity leaders, taught the children about basic hygiene, which many had not learned about before. The camp’s medical team used a fun role-playing game to help the children understand the importance of taking their medication regularly. Campers also learned how to make carbon out of recycled paper scraps that they can actually use for cooking fuel and to help heat their homes and how to make beautiful beads with only the help of a toothpick and small strips of paper.

In addition to coping with HIV, most of these children live in poverty and come from broken homes. Many of them lost everything they had during the 2010 earthquake and had not received any kind of psychosocial support until coming to camp. Still, they have the same hopes and dreams as any child in the world. They want to help their families, make friends, and be successful in whatever course of life they choose. They have the same desires to laugh and play with peers, to sing and dance to music, and to be loved.

Thanks to supporters like you, we are able to deliver SeriousFun across the planet, so children in places like Haiti can shine brighter.

To learn to more about our Global Partnership Program, and to find out what “Kan Etwal” translates to in English, visit the Global Partnership Program section of our website.