Haiti in Focus

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Kristen:

Kristen  traveled to Haiti with a humanitarian group in 1990 and while there realized the great need for the people in Haiti.  It was while walking through the streets of City Soeil, the poorest city in the Western Hemisphere, that a mother handed Kristen her infant daughter and ran away. Later, after being caught, this mother told Kristen in her native tongue, Creole, that “she knew this American girl could give her daughter a better life in America.” From that moment on, Kristen knew that she would be closely helping those in this impoverished nation and later in life adopt a little Haitian girl.

In 1999, Kristen along with friend and co-worker Curt Edwards, established Haiti For The Kids, a non-denominational ministry specializing in short term American Missionary teams teaming up with Haitians to work in orphanages, hospitals and schools. Over the years, Kristen developed relationships with individual students with whom she and the teams would teach conversational English in Haitian schools. Through that experience the obvious need for further education among high school graduated became evident. “ I recall seeing parents sacrifice their families meager food supply to send their eldest son to high school, yet upon graduation there was little or no work for these bright students. The need for a college degree or trade school diploma was essential to being considered in the Haitian work force in Port –au-Prince.“ Thus Haiti For The Kids  began the process of interviewing and following leads on bright Haitian students who would be candidates for this new venture called: The Connection Project. Since 2004, TCP assisted Haitian students with full scholarships to local Haitian trade schools, specializing in accounting and computer sciences and further helping these students find jobs and became contributing members of Haitian society. In turn, TCP has seen these same students helping their own family members – often times brothers and sisters through school and using the skills learned from further education to assist them with placement in positions throughout Haiti.

In 2005 Kristen along with her husband Scott started the lengthy adoption process to bring their daughter, Taicha from Port-au-Prince. In summer of 2008 Scott and Kristen vacationed in Haiti in order to be with their daughter, as the adoption was not yet completed. The couple eagerly await the time when the adoption is complete and they will be free to bring their daughter to her forever home.