Family Preservation: Paying it Forward in Haiti
Maryse George’s mother took in three teen-aged girls in Haiti year ago. Now that Maryse lives in New York, she is paying it forward by assisting one who now has a family of her own.
“Since the children were born, Georges has deposited $100 a month in the family’s bank account, sent two or three packages full of supplies each year and covered the family’s rent.
Some of the money is used to send the boys to a good school in Carrefour. Their mother ensures they study hard, attend church and write thank-you letters to their benefactor.”
After the earthquake, “Georges helped the family find a temporary tent shelter. Last Christmas, she, her husband and her two grown kids decided to forgo presents so Jules and the two boys could move to a more stable home, and pay one year’s rent – about $700, double what they were charged before the quake.”
One can estimate that she preserved this family of three along with providing very good housing and education for approximately $1750 per year pre-earthquake and $2250 post-earthquake. Taking the total cost over a decade, it would be the same or lower than just the adoption process and travel fees to internationally adopt one child from Haiti.
Maryse sums up her expectations well. “The only thing I want from them is that when the boys are older, they do the same for another child.”
[New York Daily News 1/16/11 by Christina Boyle]
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