She was the first name I memorized.
Naphka.

Unfortunately for her, she is the shyest girl in the orphanage. I would sing out her name every chance I had and she would cringe and hide her face everytime I did it. I would chase her around and hug her and dance with her. Day after Day. Week after Week. Visit after Visit.
Tenacious.
Relentless.
I wanted to connect with this little 7 year old soul who had dark eyes that had already lived three lifetimes filled with more guts and horror than any adult, let alone child should ever circumnavigate.

We gave all the girls at the orphanage new dresses and then asked them to draw themselves in the dresses.
Naphka’s painting depicts two faces on one dress and both faces are crying.

Recently I began demanding kisses. I would point at my cheek and Naphka would come reluctantly over to me and plant a small kiss on my face.
I wasn’t sure if she loved the attention, secretly. Or if she went to sleep at night praying I would leave her alone.

Two days ago I learned that she loved, loved, loved, LOVED the attention and outreach.
Naphka doesn’t have any parents or family and she had been living out on the mean streets of Port au Prince, alone. Eventually she was brought to the OJFA orphanage where HOPE Art does the majority of its art therapy programming.

The woman who runs the orphanage came over to me late on my last night in Haiti. She said that when I had walked out of the orphanage, for the last time that afternoon and the gate latched behind me, Naphka had burst into tears and thrown herself on her bed. It was one of the precious few moments she showed any emotion at all.

I realized the tears in her painting were tears of joy. Finally someone cared enough about her to want her to look nice, touch her, hold her and kiss her.

I am counting down the days until I can sing out her name.
Naphka

There are 40 girls (and 1 boy) that make up the OJFA orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Here are just a few of their beautiful faces and their names. These kids are all just a few weeks away from getting a boatload of new sundresses (and more!) that the HOPE Art team will deliver in early January. Stay tuned to see photos of that happy event.

Fifty pairs of shoes arrived yesterday, courtesy of our friend Charlene Sandlin.

It came to our attention on Day 2 of working with a girls orphanage that the girls shoes were really, really bad. Falling apart, too small. 25 pairs of flips being shared amongst 40 girls on rotation.
On Day 3 one of the girls flip flops completely broke and we had to carry her through the streets of Port au Prince to get her safely to art class. At one point I was carrying her, in the mid day heat (about 100+ degrees not counting humidity) when I spied a used shoe saleswoman across the street.

As soon as I deposited my group of girls into art class I hoofed it back to the used shoe saleswoman. For 125 gourds (about $3) I picked up two pairs of Hello Kitty flip flops. I wasn’t sure of the girls shoe size, but I hoped one of them fit. Upon returning to art class I pulled her aside. She thought she was in trouble. But really I didn’t want to start a stampede from the rest of the girls who equally needed new shoes.

When she received her new shoes, Jenni said she kept touching her chest and head in disbelief that she had received a new pair of shoes. She said thank you over and over again. To the point where I felt GUILTY that a child should be so grateful over a pair of cheap rubber flip flops.

So Charlene, you can rest assured that your generous donation of 50 pairs of flip flops will be so enthusiastically appreciated, overly appreciated, from a group of children who have nothing and have likely never been given anything. We thank you so much for your kindness, generosity and care.

If you would like to donate to HOPE Art, please give our Wishlist a look through.
Thank You!

-ms

20 months have passed since the earthquake and little has changed in Port-au-Prince.  Try to imagine living in a tent, on the street, for almost two years, through hurricane seasons and trying to raise your family there.  Struggling to find enough for them to eat, to wear, to have.  In a world where an empty soda bottle becomes a toy and filling pot holes with rocks for tips becomes self-employment, you would expect to find people to be scowled and grim.

On the contrary, it is actually one of my favorite things about walking the streets of Port-au-Prince; saying “Bonjour!” to anyone on the street will always be returned with a Bonjour!, a big toothy grin and a wave.  Women doing their laundry in a basin on the road, shy children in rags and car tinkering men will always, always smile and seem amused by the exchange with the blan (white person).

Haitians resilience and strength is admirable, they have adapted to their new lives as a means of survival and they are survivors.  I hope that what our project brings to Haitians is proof that there really is something to smile about; the joy of not just surviving but beginning to live again.  Value in not just food, water and medicine but also in preserving the art of a culture, the creative learning in a student and the whimsy of just being a kid!

Thank you to all of our supporters and sponsors for making this project possible!

500+ children played with
30 pounds of rice and beans consumed
6,000+ photos snapped
30 sets of watercolor paints thoroughly used
250 bean seeds germinated
Countless CleanWell hand sanitizers sprays
and more smiles than we can count.

Thank you, as always, to our donors, for making these trips down to Haiti possible.