Dominique de Broqueville’s trip to Haiti (August 2019)
At the beginning of August, Dominique de Broqueville went to Leogane for a week where she was able to soak up the atmosphere of the orphanage during the children’s summer holidays.
In addition to the children living in the house, Ti Gout Dlo also welcomes another 30 or so local youngsters to join in the lessons of the day, which are led by a team of volunteers. These range from gymnastics, arts and crafts, games, first aid administration, sustainable living and local conservation projects. The children really enjoy mixing with others of a similar age and having a taste of external life.
During her stay, Dominique met Julien Deroy and Andre Jacobs - two Haitian agricultural engineers who run a farming school in the northern city of Port-de-Paix. Together they have created a partnership between the training school and Ti Gout Dlo which will not only insure that the vegetable garden at the orphanage flourishes, but the children also. The quality and abundance of fresh produce will improve the children’s diets, and they will also learn themselves how to grow vegetables from seedlings and properly tend the soil. This could hopefully lead to future employment opportunities for the children when they are older, and also means an extra source of income as any surplus produce can be sold to neighbouring villages and towns alongside the eggs from the chicken coop.
The farming school will send an intern during the school year to supervise the development of the vegetable garden as well as teach the residents how to tend to it. A future project will be building accommodation for them so they can stay on site and really feel like a part of the family.
Two young girls left the home in 2018 and after a period of adjustment have settled comfortably back into family life.
Deciding on a future course of studies is a difficult decision for any child, but with the support and guidance of Danielle and Gregory, the children are able to make a choice best suited to them.
During her week in Haiti, Dominique also witnessed the preparations that were being made for another two young girls who will be leaving the orphanage in July 2020. All of the children must leave the house when they turn 18 so Danielle and Gregory work hard to make sure they have opportunities in place for them once they leave.
Their Belgian sponsors play huge roles in ensuring that the children can continue their studies after leaving the orphanage.
Dominique returned to Belgium feeling very enthusiastic about her time in Haiti.
The children are flourishing, school grades are generally very good, and the vegetable garden project is on the right track thanks to the input and partnership with the farming school.
