Francoise is a single mother of three. Hers is a sad story, but also is a story of God's grace.
(She's wearing the white hat. This is her at work making beads at The Apparent Project)
She was sent to Port-au-Prince by her mother at age 5 to live with her aunt. Her mother had several other children to take care of and could not afford another mouth to feed. As is sadly the case in many Haitian families, her father abandoned his family, leaving her mother with no money to live on.
Her mother thought that her sister would take care of the child and send her to school. Instead, Francoise became a “Restavek”, a child slave to her aunt. She got up at three in the morning and sometimes worked until 10 PM at night fetching water, helping in the kitchen, washing and doing the hundred other jobs that children can do in a country with little running water, electricity or appliances.
When she was old enough, she ran away from her aunt's house and lived in the streets. Having never had the love of a Father or a Mother, she soon fell prey to a handsome Haitian man who promised her the world... but never married her. He was happy after she bore him a child, but after the second one he blamed her for getting pregnant again and they began to fight. By the time their third child came along, had already left her for another woman. Francoise has already experienced more hurt and rejection in her 24 years of life than some experience in a lifetime.
Francoise became depressed. Here she was with three children and no way to feed them. She didn't even want to feed her baby. But she said she kept going to church and eventually snapped out of her depression. However, things did not improve for her and then her 2 year old got burned on the foot from boiling water.
That's when she brought him to our house asking for help. I took him to a clinic and paid for his care and medicine. But it was a second degree burn and needed daily care. So we got to know her and her son, Emmanuel.
Then the earthquake hit and we invited her and her children to stay with us for a week (This is when we also invited two other families to stay with us, including Sophia & James family.)
We started to see her come out of her shell a little by helping around the house. Then we helped pay for her and her children to return to Les Cayes on the South coast so they could live with her mother.
But Francoise came back to Port-au-Prince a few weeks later, leaving her 3 children behind. Her Mother sent her back telling her to find a job and send money back to her for the children. But Francoise could not find a job – until we suggested she try and make beads for a Christian friend of ours who started a jewelry company to help Mothers be able to keep their children instead of giving them up for adoption.
At first Francoise came back day after day saying that it was too hard and she could not do it. Then when one of her friends, Sophia quit, she was tempted to quit as well. But she persevered and kept at it. Now she is doing a good job and is earning enough money to go an visit her children.
We are hoping to be able to help her and Venita find a place for them to live with their children close to where they work. Please pray that we will be able to find a place they can afford that will be big enough for 2 women and 5 children under 7!
