Christmas has always been a happy time for me. Whether it is calm or storming in life but this Christmas 2016 was the happiest ever. You might wonder why? I was not on a happy note when hurricane Matthew went to Haiti it destroyed the southern part of Haiti and the pictures were alarming. Jeremy was not in good shape. This is the place where I use to go on vacations as a young child and all the memories that I have from that place are so vivid. I remember their way of cooking on three rocks that hold the pan. The food fruit trees such as avocados, mangoes, and bananas were sweet, juicy and delicious and easy to reach; the resounding babbling sounds of the rivers and the ocean. I can still recall the odor of the flowers and the vetiver (plant use for making perfume and oil), the creek, the white rock that contrasted the orange soil. I still remember the majesty of the palm trees and the animal that I got to be up close to. The people who teamed up together to get the work done, the songs they sang helped them along the way until the time to eat together during break-time in at the fields. I never fought with the children that I use to play with and I never witness them fighting each other. The children were polite. Adults greeted each other politely, tipping their hats along the way to greet people. They use to care for each other in a compassionate manner.

In Port-Au-Prince where I am from, the sun never caught my attention as it does in this vacation place when it was going down and its reflection on the morning due on the leaves with their crystal look. I also remember the beautiful sound of the birds and their beauty my favorite was the wings speed of the Wonganegress with so many vibrant colors, along with the cricket concert at night and other creatures. The roosters chant that waking up the farmers at the same time every morning like a clock. The remnant of pieces of china plates and other things such as houses that have been abandoned suggested some kind of people used to live in this place long ago.

So many childhood memories just surface in contrast of what Hurricane Matthew left from its passage. The thought of this saddens me. Then my sadness became heavy when I think about the limited resources these people have and how now Hurricane Matthew has made it worse. I could not close my eyes to sleep for many nights – thinking about a solution. How can I help? What can I do? God, what should I do to help them? Then one night a thought came to me; I can organize a Haitian Christmas Dinner to benefit the people of Haiti. It was it like a light bulb going off inside my head. All I need to do now is make it happen.  And now how is it going to happen? Once I woke up, I got in touch with a friend, Mr. Robert hill, whom I met less a year before, he was cheering for the project “You can do it, you should do it he said, go for it!” He helped me to find a place for the event, with the generosity of Dr. Sylvia Tisdale, who runs a Kitchen Soup for the homeless and is the Pastor of Epps Christian center, she graciously donated and generously gave us not only the church but also her time, ensuring the success of that fundraiser.

Next, I gather all my Haitian friends, asking them to cook some Haitian meal for the dinner. Finally, we were able to have a wonderful Haitian Christmas Dinner for the people affected by Jeremy. The dinner was successful with 60 people in attendance, raising more than $2,000.00 from those who attended and other friends who could not make it to the dinner, all this in addition to all the nice clothes and shoes, plus more were donated to send to them to Haiti. The donations were sent to Haiti to make sure these people have food to eat, water treatment tablets to purify drinking water, toiletry bags filled with personal care items, and small amounts of money were also distributed to them, so they could purchase other essential for their families. The children were able to receive toys and be happy around Christmas with their families. We were able to draw smiles on the faces 80 of recipients with this small act of kindness. At the end, it was me that had a smile. This has encouraged me to keep going, to keep bringing smiles to these children and their family. As this Christmas story continues, our goal for the school year 2017-2018, is to send back to school some of who lost the school year 2016-2017 because their parents lost everything. I humbly ask you, will you become a donor to the continuation of this great story.