The children and staff at Maison de Lumiere, our orphanage, are all too familiar with Stay At Home orders. Beginning in 2018 there were several such restrictions in place across Haiti as political protests threatened violence to anyone leaving home. Schools were closed much of the year last year.
In January we saw light at the end of the tunnel; the opposition party announced protests would be limited to weekends, so that schools and businesses could reopen. Our children were excited to return to school!
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit Haiti, and we find ourselves again under stay at home orders.
Despite the challenges, we are adapting.
Many of our nannies have volunteered to be “live-in” for the foreseeable future, meaning they stay at the orphanage even after their shifts end to reduce the risk of bringing the virus in with them. When staff do report to work, they wash their hands upon entering, wear face masks, and are adhering to social distancing when working in the office.
Some of our staff are able to work from home, and are Zooming with the kids to stay connected.
Praise God we can report that all of the children and staff are healthy!
The children are amazing students, and are pursuing their education even during these uncertain times. We are working with teachers to get lesson plans for homeschooling. Some of our older youth are actually standing at the chalkboard teaching the lessons! We are so proud of how these students are adapting and the amount of resilience and maturity they show.
