Alana’s joy: Meeting her Haitian sponsored child

By Alana, Haiti Child Sponsor

At 9am I was on the road to the PACODES project where my sponsored child, Fabiola lives. I was chatting with World Vision staff about life in Haiti and enjoying the bumpy roads of La Gonave, the Island off the coast of Haiti. Fabiola’s village is very remote and we drove for 2.5 hours to reach her community.

We arrived by 4WD at the World Vision Office. I looked up from the car and saw Fabiola and her Mum waiting there for me. I walked up the stairs and said “Is this Fabiola!?” and she stood up and nodded her head. “It’s so lovely to meet you both, I am so excited” I said.

Having Fabiola warm to me and show me that she cares and showing me off proudly to her village were unforgettable moments for me. We spent the next five hours together, walking around and exploring her community with World Vision.

She is 10 years old and it was hard for her to understand that I don’t speak her language, Creole (because her village is so remote).

 

The experience of actually meeting her is hard to put into words. Seeing your sponsored child (someone you have conversed with for years over letters and photos) is truly an unbelievable moment.

 

I asked her how she would like our day together to go. She said that she would love to take me to see her village, to her school, to show me her school book and to collect her sister to come for lunch with us. I loved these requests and together with World Vision we made her requests happen.

I felt pure joy seeing Fabiola’s face, her smile, her laugh, her family, her school and her village. I truly felt like the luckiest person to be able to sponsor and support this amazing little girl from afar.

We shared hours upon hours of conversation, but the most important conversation I had was when her mum and I spoke about life for Fabiola. I asked close to 100 questions about her health, friends, village, her goals and more.

The answers made me cry with joy but also made me cry with sadness. I feel that I truly learned a lot about life in La Gonave and what it means to be a young girl growing up on such a poor island.

 

 

The translator told me everything Fabiola was saying. All the sweet, little conversations we had about her hair, her siblings, her best friends, her favourite animals and questions about the presents I bought for her. The World Vision team did an incredible job of making this possible for Fabiola and me.

 

Meeting Fabiola through the sponsorship program has changed my life; there is no doubt about that.

Seeing World Vision’s work firsthand really made me aware that my monthly contribution to Fabiola is so much more than a donation. Once the sponsor’s money for that project is consolidated, the difference that it makes for the families and children in the community can be life changing.

At the end of the day when I was leaving, Fabiola’s Mum and I were crying saying goodbyes. Fabiola and I hugged and she whispered to me “I will give the teddy bear that you gave to me to my sister because I want to share some of my happiness with her.” I couldn’t stop crying at this … I told her how beautiful she was for being so amazingly generous, kind and thoughtful to her little sister.

 

 

I learned about Fabiola’s happiness and sorrows. I learned about their daily struggles for food and water, to have enough money for her to gain an education and to see a doctor when she is ill. Her sleeping pattern is 6pm – 6am as they don’t have electricity. I was overwhelmed with her way of life, but also felt such gratitude and humility that I’m able to support her through World Vision.