Summary

Seliane is fifteen years old, and does not go to school She has little to eat, and an unsafe place to live. Her mother is dead, she does not see her father, and she has few opportunities. “I am healthy. I am never sick, but I eat rarely. I eat a slice of bread every morning, sometimes a quarter of can of corn.” Sponsorship level: $12 per month.

Household

Seliane Lestin was born in Cite Soleil 4. She is fifteen years old. Her mother has been dead for eleven years. Seliane is living with her grand sister. She says, “I never see my father. They says he is living. Jeremie my sister has two children. She doesn’t work and also her husband doesn’t work.”

Living conditions

“The life I face is very difficult for me. I cannot eat, because there is no food. I don’t have a safe place to sleep. I pass most of the time to cry. Sometimes I remember my mother. Maybe if she lived I would find food to eat and I would have gone to school.”
General economic situation
I have no one to help me. I ask people for help sometimes. They give $2 Haitian dollars or $5 Haitian dollars (US 29 or 72 cents). That cannot do anything for me. I have my mother in law pay the rent for us. Sometimes she gives us food to eat.
Job opportunities
“We don’t have any option to make a living. We just wait for someone to give us something. The place we are living is too small. We are sleeping on the ground. There is nowhere to put the waste. There is no electricity because we cannot pay for it.”
Education
“I can not read and write because I did not go to school early. I would like to continue my school.”
Health and food
“I am healthy. I am never sick, but I eat rarely. I eat a slice of bread every morning, sometimes a quarter of can of corn.”

Community information

“We drink dirty water. Sometimes we take it from the sea, because we don’t have money to buy it in the tank. At the tank one bucket costs $1.40 Haitian dollars (US 20 cents).”
Education system
“I have a school nearby. The name of the school is Action Chretian.”

Personal qualities

“I am an angry person. I don’t like to play because I am never happy. I’d like to go to school. I cannot. I would like my friend in the US to know I am an unlucky person. I would like to tell them, I love to go to school and help me to get food to survive thank you.”

Life Plan

Immediate needs
“I need food, clothes, and shoes.”
Development
Go to school
“Supplies and rent for my family.”
Dreams
“I would like to be a seamstress.”

Sponsorship

The main purpose of this sponsorship is to send Seliane back to school for one year, as well as receiving a uniform and basic school supplies.
$14 a month for one year is enough to do a lot for Melissa, but it will not solve all of her problems. In addition to sending her to school, there will be money to help alleviate her hunger, by paying for some meals each month. Furthermore, it may be possible to help her family with their living conditions or even to start a small business. A small amount of your funds may be available for this as well.

Interview details

This interview was conducted by Cajuste Jean-Louis.