Last Orphanage in Haiti: The Architect

Haiti still needs a lot of help to rebuild their country and seeing a lot of these kids wanting to be a part of the solution was endearing. The streets are still filled with ruins from the earthquake and even though a lot of local workers are trying to clean up the mess. they need all the help they can get. This kid, just like all the kids we met in Haiti, had the biggest smile on his face at the thought of being able to live a fulfilling life.

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Haiti à besoin de beaucoup d'aide et voir que la plupart des enfants veulent participer à la reconstruction de leur pays était émouvant. Les rues sont encore pleines de ruines du tremblement de terre et malgré les efforts des habitants de Port-au-prince qui essayent de nettoyer ce "désordre" tant bien que mal, il reste beaucoup de travail à faire. Cet enfant, commes tous les enfants que nous avons rencoontrer pendant notre séjour à Haiti, avait un immense sourire à la pensée de vivre une vie enrichissante.

Teacher, Port-au-prince

These four kids were the cutest future teachers. They already taught us a lot while we were there by bringing so much positive energy in front of the camera and smiling as if they had won the mega million...or whatever they play in Haiti. Each of them could barely hold the notebooks under their arms because they were all very young, but they already know they want to educate kids in the future, because they know how hard it is to not be able to go to school, socialize with friends, and get basic education...

Ces quatre enfants étaient les plus adorables futurs professeurs. Ils nous on déja beaucoup appris en ammenant une telle énergie positive et un sourire contagieux pendant la session de photos. Chacun d'entre eux pouvait a peine porter les gros cahiers sous leurs bras, mais ils savaient déjà qu'ils voulaient travailler avec les enfants du futur car ils savent bien ce que c'est que de ne pas pouvoir aller à l'école afin de se faire des amis, de s'enrichir et de se cultiver.

The Happy Engineer

The kids from this classroom were full of life and had the most contagious smiles. This kid wants to be an engineer when he grows up. I looked at his drawing as I was editing his picture and loved his outlook on life: When he grows up he's just going to hang out on a rooftop, smiling and looking at the sun that will be smiling back at him. I'm not sure if the plane in the back is to show that he wants to travel, but he already knows that he wants to enjoy every moment and that he will get to the top.

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Les enfants de cette école etaient plein de vie et avaient des sourires contagieux. Cet enfant veux devenir ingénieur quand il sera grand. J'ai regardé son dessin pendant que je travaillais sur sa photo et j'ai adoré sa vision du future: Quand il sera grand il se délassera sur un toit, en train de sourire et de regarder le soleil qui lui sourira aussi. Je ne suis pas sûr de savoir si l'avion représente ses envies de voyager, mais Il montre qu'il sait déja qu'il veut profiter de la vie et qu'il ira loin.

Haiti Day #4: Two Cops

NEW AND IMPROVED:
I will now blog both in English and French so that our followers in France can understand.
Je vais mainteant blogger en Anglais et en Francais pour que vous puissiez  nous suivre plus facilement....Malheureusement ce sera sans les accents.

- Port-au-prince, Haiti -

The kids at the school already had a lot more confidence than the kids at the orphanage and they loved to be photographed. These two futures cops were the "cool kids" of their class. They were definitely leaders, and a lot of the kids around them looked up to them. I guess it will be easy for them to play the good cop/bad cop routine in the future if they end up working together. It was great to see all of them acting out their dreams for the camera.
Hopefully next time they can wear the entire police uniforms and keep plastic badges.

Note: We did not bring the Von Dutch shirt with us as part of our costumes...she already had it

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Les enfants de cette ecole avait deja beaucoup plus de confiance en soi et ils adoraient etre pris en photo. Ces deux futurs policiers etaient les"chefs de bandes" de leur classe et beaucoup des autres enfants les regardaient avec admiration. Ce sera surement tres facile pour eux de jouer au bon et au mauvais policier pour resouder leurs enquetes s'ils travaillent ensemble dans le futur. C'etait emouvant de les voir jouer leurs roles repectif pour les photos.
Avec espoir, la prochaine fois les enfants pourront porter l'uniforme entier et meme garder des badges en plastique de policier.

Note: nous n'avons pas apporter le T-Shirt Von Dutch dans nos costumes....elle le portait deja.

Haiti: The airplane pilot

Photo by Sebastien Roche-Lochen

When we started receiving costume donations from some amazing supporters of the project, we mentioned them to some of the people who were already working with organizations in Haiti. We had a few contacts before going to Haiti, and since we had never been there before, we listened to every tip and critique we had about the project. One of our contacts, who worked with an organization helping kids, told me that she didn't think it was a good idea to bring costumes such as the astronaut or the pilot because the kids would never think of it if they didn't see the costumes and it would be unreachabe for them. Since I agreed that we wanted the kids to set a goal they could reach, I listened to her and left these costumes at home. So it broke my heart when one of the kids said he wanted to be an airplane pilot when he grows up.

We made the best of it and he drew a plane on the blackboard. This kid had so much charisma that the pilot hat would have been perfect on him but he made it work with his big smile. I guess he reminded us of what this project was about: hope for a brighter future. The higher these kids will set the bar, the more they can accomplish. So next time I will bring along every single costume that we acquired, because every kid deserves to dream big.

Haiti Day #4: L'ecole des enfants du Village de l'avenir

Pictures by Helena Harper and Sebastien Roche-Lochen

After our first two days in Haiti we moved from the guesthouse where we were sharing bunk beds in dorms to a beautiful little Guesthouse located in Delmas. The owner of the guesthouse also runs a school, an hour away from her hotel. The kids were still on vacation so she asked them to come for one morning just to participate in our project. The school was under renovation but we could see a difference with the orphanages right away. The kids at the school had electricity, running water and lots of toys to play with.

The kids at the school were a little more demanding than the ones at the orphanages, they obviously had seen a lot of different people from various organizations go through their buildings in the past. There was even a photography school across the hall from them created by a woman from Belgium. She helps teenagers from Port-au-prince become working photographers.

When the director of the school walked in the class they all stood up and acted like the nicest kids. then we started explaining to them why we were there. They started thinking about their future and began working on their drawings. A few minutes later the director left the room and chaos started.

Haiti Day #3: Behind-the-scenes pictures

These are some of the pictures that were taken during our session at the girls' orphanage. You can see the girls drawing what they want to be when they grow up and some candid shots of the girls waiting to pick their costume before we shot them.

Haiti Day #3: Girls who want to rebuild the city

In Port-au-prince, all the damages from the earthquake are still visible and there are rumbles and ruins all around the city. These girls have seen hundreds of locals working on cleaning and rebuilding the city and they want to be able to help out in the future.

Haiti Day #3: A miniature medical staff

A lot of these kids want to be helped and rescued. It's no surprise that in return they want to help others when they grow up and become doctors, dentists, and nurses to continue the efforts to rebuild a city and a country in need.

Haiti Day #3: A good mother

This orphanage was full of adorable little girls who were supervised by a few older women who cared for them and cooked their meals. One of the orphans, who was holding my hand from the time we walked through the gates, moved us when she said that all she wanted to do when she grew up was to be a good mother.

Haiti Day #3: Our first Girls orphanage in Port-au-prince

On our third day in Haiti, the pastor who had welcomed us in his orphanage the day before took us to a girls' orphanage in a secluded part of port-au-prince. He even offered to take us to another orphanage right after we were done with our session but after taking pictures of almost 50 young girls, we were too exhausted to even consider it. All the kids were incredible from the moment we walked through the orphanage's gate to the moment we left.

Haiti Day #2: Behind-the-Scene Photos

Photography: Helena Harper

Here are some of the pictures taken during our day of shooting in the first orphanage. The kids were so happy to draw, some were very talented artists too. Their reaction when they received their print exceeded our expectations. They were all laughing and running around with their pictures in their hands.

Haiti Day #2: He just wants to go to school

Photography: Sebastien Roche-Lochen

A lot of us took school for granted when we were kids. We would pretend to be sick to avoid going there, we would sneak out of school during chemistry class, we would never do our homework because we had video games to play, and we always complained about our teachers, the food and the amount of work. This guy wants to be a student when he grows up.

Haiti Day #2: Some kids want to be in the spotlight

Photography: Sebastien Roche-Lochen

A lot of the kids just want to have fun when they grow up. We had a few musicians, soccer player, and one basketball player. That's probably the only way they would ever get to travel abroad and discover the world outside Haiti.

Haiti Day #2: Inspired Orphans

In most instances, kids want to be like mom or dad when they grow up. In orphanages, sometimes they want to be like the pastor who has been helping them. The pastor of this first orphanage is in charge of three different orphanages around town and is the kindest, friendliest person we've met. He cares deeply for each kid who is there. In return, they respect him and look up to him. These kids were so full of life that it was a magical second day in Haiti.

Haitian Dreams in Port-au-prince

Pictures by Sebastien Roche-lochen

The boys at the orphanage had various dreams. A lot of them wanted to help rebuild their country and become architects, arborists and doctors. They were the kindest most respectful kids I have ever met. They were incredibly happy to receive their prints at the end of the day.

Haiti Day #2: Our first trip to an orphanage

Our trip in Haiti is starting out great! Yesterday, the driver we hired ended up taking us to an orphanage that his pastor is in charge of. There were more than 60 kids who made beautiful drawings for us and picked very interesting careers from Construction workers to arborists. The kid actually taught me that word because I had no idea what an arborist was!

Here's the group picture of all the kids holding their print at the end of the day.

Photo by Helena Harper