The Story of Mme Soliette

Her Story… 

Mme Soliette is the inspirational leader behind the orphanage on La Gonave.  She is not a “professional” social worker.  She simply saw a huge need that no one was willing to fill and did her best to respond personally.  Eventually her response became the overwhelming focus of her life.

Having grown up on the island of La Gonave, Mme Soliette was well aware of the desperate needs of the orphan children.  For years she appealed to the government to provide some kind of care, but nothing ever came of it.  Seeing the malnourished and sickly orphans in the streets continued to break her heart.  Later, as a young woman working on the mainland, she decided she must do something about it herself.  She saved some money, moved back to La Gonave and rented a house.  She took in her first eight orphan children and began caring for them. Although she originally named the orphanage the Splendid house, sometime last year she renamed it the Jesus Home for Children of La Gonave. 

That was in 2007.  Today she has rented a larger house and cares for over 70 children.  She has become a devoted advocate for these children and carries an unimaginable daily burden to provide food, shelter, healthcare and clothing for the little ones no one else would care for. Although there are 74 children at present, there are many more in need. This motivates us to develop the capacity of the orphanage as Mme Soliette turns needy children away regularly. In addition to the basics of food, water, clothing and shelter... Mme Soliette dreams of providing a solid education, proper medical care and vocational training with a vision to see these children raised up as future leaders and productive citizens of Haiti.