Gonaïves – Stanley in his thirties has a college degree. Originally an “adoptive child”, then an associate of the Archdiocesan Charity Olomouc in Haiti and now a fresh graduate of the University of Law and Economics. “On behalf of all students and students who are in the Distance Adoption program, I would like to thank you – Czech donors. Think of us and help us,” Stanley says.

Stanley’s birthday is on January 1st, on this day Haitians celebrate their independence. It was proclaimed in 1804 as the first originally enslaved people in the world. Stanley lived with his father in the capital of Port-au-Prince, where he attended school. But his father died, so he moved to his mother in a village of Baie de Henne. Thanks to the Czech adoptive parents, he finished elementary school there, then continued to high school in Gonaïves. In his studies at the university he was supported by the Archdiocesan Caritas Olomouc. In return, he helped her with the Child Sponsorship Program project, as well as with the Caritas missions in the Caribbean.

Collaboration with Stanley has started years ago by former Charity employee Kristýna Lungová. “He was always willing to help and advise me, regardless of the reward. He was always on hand in my monitoring trip. He differed from others in reliability, great humility and punctuality,” recalls Kristýna.

That Caritas paid Stanely’s study was very important to him. “Thanks to my university education, I can get a job better. It is scarce in Haiti. Thanks to Caritas I can support myself and my family,” explains the young man why he wanted so much to work with Caritas. Promoting education is important for Haitians. “Public schools in Haiti don’t work because the state doesn’t pay teachers. The children come to school, sitting there for 8 hours, but the teacher is nowhere. Why? Because he didn’t get a paycheck,” Stanley describes. And there are more problems. Haiti produces almost nothing; it is dependent on imports. Many people work in agriculture, but they do not grow anything because there are no seeds in Haiti to grow other crops. “We have a lot of fields, but we no longer have irrigation channels for soil irrigation, which is another problem,” Stanley adds. Stanley has fulfilled his dream and is proof that supporting Haitian students makes a lot of sense. Thank you…

Karolína Opatřilová, Archdiocesan Charity Olomouc