Yaya’s House Update!

Y’all! 😀

The “May We Help?” diaper drive fundraiser was a huge success! Today is the last day, so I wanted to post an update to thank those of you who came alongside Merianne and the kids at Village d’Esperance.

I am beyond thrilled to share with you that there have already been enough donations to not only cover the cost of diapers through the summer (which was our initial goal) , but also enough to cover the cost of many other expenses that Merianne has been struggling with too.

One of which, are the fees that were needed to get some adoption-related paperwork filed. Thanks to your donations, several of the kids in the photo above will now be matched with their forever families so much sooner than anyone had anticipated! Thank you, thank you, thank you for making that possible! Donating and coming alongside Merianne through Yaya’s House may have felt simple, but because so many of you did it, the effect is going to be so significant.

I know from close friends (who speak with her every few days) that Merianne is very, very grateful for the love and relief. She is so very tired, but is always quick to remind everyone that she knows “God sees her” and that He is in control.

I’ll keep you posted as I get updates from Jill and Farrar from Yaya’s House. (In case you missed it the first time around, Yaya’s House is a non-profit organization set up by two adoptive moms (Jill & Farrar) whose daughters came home from Merianne’s orphanage. We were all in the Haitian adoption process at the same time, which is how we “met” them.) Jill and Farrar are still planning to create a monthly sponsorship program so that each of the children have the chance to receive more stable care while they live at Village d’Esperance. Three meals a day, a bigger supply of drinking water, proper nutrition, an education, medical care, etc. those are all things that aren’t guaranteed from day to day down there.

(PS- to keep things ethical according to Hague Convention requirements, adoptive families are not allowed to sponsor their own children throughout the adoption process, so we will be forever grateful to the families who sponsored Steevenson at Three Angel’s Children’s Relief while we worked to bring him home!)

And of course, we’d all love to see more help for Merianne. With the exception of one nanny and her sisters who donate their time when they can, she’s covering all the bases right now (boss, daytime nanny, nighttime nanny, cook, cleaning crew, accountant, security guard, laundry crew, teacher, maintenance person, etc) so times are extra tough and it would be great to see her and her (late) husband’s original vision of a thriving (non-profit) orphanage come to light!

Like I said, I’ll keep you posted as things come together, and in the meantime, here’s another link to Yaya’s House in case you’d like to learn more about Village d’Esperance:

Yaya’s House

Thank you so much for coming alongside such an incredible woman and the group of kiddos currently in her care. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you here again soon!

Layla

PS- If you have specific questions about anything, you can always find Jill and Farrar at this email address: [email protected].