Dedication of House #55:
Pictured: Siltamene and family
Siltamene is a single mother of six children and two grandchildren. For decades she lived in a house made of pieced together tin and tarps just up the hill past the newly constructed World Wide Village medical center.
Siltamene sold produce in the market until she became ill several years ago. With no income, she lost nearly everything. Life became a struggle. She often didn’t know how she would feed her children.
“She can’t smile because she’s hungry,” Siltamene said of her 6-year old daughter, Wosdona when we first met the family. A child should never be too hungry to smile.
Praise God, this is not the end of Siltamene’s story.
Thanks to you, our faithful World Wide Village supporters, who give generously to support sustainability in Haiti, Siltamene was given a fresh start. Your gifts helped Siltamene restart her business in the market and she is now able to provide for the daily needs of her children. She received goats that are multiplying and her daughther is smiling because her belly is full. All of her children are sponsored to attend school and are learning to read, breaking the cycle of illiteracy and poverty in this family.
As icing on the cake, Siltamene was the recipient of World Wide Village House #55! Thanks to Byron Jones, a cornerback from the Dallas Cowboys, and many others who have given to the NFL Housing Challenge, Siltamene and her family are now in their new home!
Siltamene’s story is only possible because of YOUR meaningful gifts to support God’s work in Haiti through World Wide Village.
Pictured: Randy Mortensen with Siltamene and her family at the dedication
What a blessing to celebrate and dedicate Siltamene’s new house. Friends, family and neighbors joined World Wide Village staff in praying over and dedicating this home. We are beyond happy for Siltamene, her six children and two grandchildren. To God be the glory!
Do you want to be a part of building House #56 in Haiti?
- Give today to bring this dream to another family in need…
- …Or come to Haiti on a Short-Term Impact Trip and help build!
Pictured below: Siltamene’s house before, during and after.
Google Earth Photo:
Pictured: Google Earth photo of Williamson, Haiti
New Google Earth photos of Williamson, Haiti give a snapshot of what your support of World Wide Village has been accomplishing! This aerial view shows City on a Hill with the well house and cistern, goat pen, medical center, home for the abandoned children, chicken coop, WWV school and Pastor Joassaint’s church, sewing center and the WWV guesthouse! We love to see more and more evidence of a footprint being left by so many of you who are acting as the hands and feet of Christ in Haiti. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Garden Space:
Pictured: City on a Hill land
A new garden space is being planned on a plot of land at “City on a Hill” in Williamson. Haitian agronomists have come to give advice on what crops will grow best on this land and initial plans have been made for planting five varieties of peppers as well as strawberries. Future plans include mango trees, moringa and avocados.
Rosalie’s Success:
Board member, Lori Ackerson, shares a story of one of her most impactful moments from her recent trip to Haiti: “The first was my friend Rosalie running to greet me. I walked to her house with Mada Cadet as my interpreter. I expected to see her shop on the right side of the road as it has been for the years I have known her. Instead she comes running to me from the other side of the road and almost tackles me with a hug. The building she has come from is a small pink sheet metal building on a small piece of land. She has taken the money we loaned her, turned a profit, made a new beautiful store front and has made payments on this land. She also tells me she has gone to a class to learn to make laundry soap and softener. So far she has turned a nice profit there as well! I am so proud of her hard work and beautiful family.”
These are the types of success stories we LOVE to hear at World Wide Village! Thank you to everyone who invests in families in Haiti.
Pictured: Lori Ackerson