Seven years ago, Shednaylove Honoré entered Lazarus Academy Haiti as a quiet, uncertain child. At just 3 years old, she lost her mother when she passed away suddenly. Without a father in her life, Shednaylove was taken in by her grandmother, who already had a full household to care for.

Mayela, a 17-year-old from a small village surrounded by green mountains, lives with her grandfather. God has gifted her with a heart full of dreams and a deep passion for nature. Her educational journey began at Lazarus Academy, where she not only gained theoretical knowledge but also developed values that shaped her as a person. Upon graduating high school, Mayela knew her story was just beginning. She decided to enroll in a forestry program, determined to help preserve the environment of her beloved homeland.

What if the strongest voices of faith in a home didn’t come from the parents, but from the children? At just four and five years old, Sabas Armando Guifarro and Marlon Caleb Vásquez are already making an incredible impact—not only in their classroom but also in their homes.

Body functions and noises, quite taboo or unsophisticated to discuss in the US, are a fair game topic of discussion when doing development and humanitarian aid work it seems. Especially in the two thirds of the globe that does not benefit from many of the amazing luxuries that we take for granted in the western world. What’s even more alarming than discussing your body functions and noises is that more people die every year from diarrhea than from AIDS. And, a large part of that diarrhea could be prevented if people had two simple things.

Mariela Would Be a migrant, but she’s NOT. What Would Be your situation today if someone hadn’t made a sacrifice for you? Or, what Would Be your situation if they didn’t see something in you that you perhaps didn’t see in yourself? Maybe it was help in a tough moment, maybe it was a teacher who in-spite of being overloaded and exhausted they didn’t ignore the Spirit’s urging to invest in you. Perhaps that “someone” didn’t give you anything more than an opportunity.

Imagine walking for three years through foreign lands with different languages and different cultures. You’re not part of a reality show nor part of a forced foreign military campaign, but you were indeed forced into this journey, you are traveling against your will, as if you’d fallen in a raging river, a river of poverty, and you’re being swept downstream.