Global Aid Initiative Network

GAiN helps create future for young man at Ca-Ira

Rene, eldest of five, grew up living on a riverbank in a rural part of Haiti.At the age of eleven, Rene’s parents could neither feed him enough food nor pay for his education. As a result, they sent him to the Ca-Ira orphanage in Leogane.

One day, it rained heavily in the countryside and the river next to his parent’s house flooded. As the house started to wash away, Rene’s family quickly escaped.

With no home, his family was forced to rent a house in Gran Guave, which was several kilometers away from the land they still owned and farmed.

Not too long after this unfortunate incident, another unexpected event took place. Within seconds, the January 12th, 2010 earthquake destroyed the house Rene’s family was renting.

Discouraged and upset, 22 year-old Rene shared some of his story with Linda and Waldemar Ewert, Global Aid Network’s (GAiN) Project Managers for Ca-Ira’s rebuilding project.

“Since that day my family now lives in a tent and I need to help them because I love them so much. How can I help them? I need to work to help my family but I need to have a trade,” shares Rene. “But to learn a trade I need money. I don’t know what I can do.”

Unsettled about Rene’s story, the Ewerts decided to go visit his family.

“What we saw didn’t give us any peace. There was a self-made tent two meters by three meters for six people,” Linda comments. “It was very clean and well kept, but the mattress was directly on the ground and two curtains separated the bed. You could see how much they wanted to have a more normal life.”

In the next few weeks the Ewerts looked for a post-secondary school for Rene. However, the underlying problem remained – there was no money for his tuition.

Unsure of where to look next, the Ewerts decided to share Rene’s need with GAiN.

Since GAiN’s desire is to come alongside those at Ca-Ira and help build into each of their futures, GAiN gave Rene a loan for school, food and all of his other needs for the next nine months with the intent for Rene to return to Ca-Ira to work on the site construction once he finishes the program; all the while paying back the loan little by little.

As a result, Rene enrolled in a plumbing program in Port-au-Prince.