Torrance, CA (June 16, 2016): Almost as soon as Bishop Montgomery’s spring semester ended, Lauren Turner ’19 was at LAX with her father Ryan Turner, boarding a plane bound for Port-au Prince. Turner, who previously visited Haiti in November 2015 with her dad, was heading back to the Caribbean island to continue serving the Haitian youth she had met there in the fall. During her first trip, Turner saw first-hand the poverty and lack of resources that affected almost every citizen of the depleted third-world country. “It was really mind-blowing to me-- that’s really the only word that comes to mind-- because Haiti is just so impoverished,” she says. “Everyone is so poor."
During that stay, Lauren and Ryan bunked with family friends, the Johanssens, who were in the process of adopting two Haitian children from the Chances for Children orphanage and crèche in Kenscoff. The Johannsens, who moved from Fresno, California to a rented home in Haiti to be with siblings Caleb, age 5, and Chloe, age 3, until their adoptions are finalized, live just a twenty minute walk from Chances for Children.
The Turners brought diapers and toys for all of the 60 children living at the orphanage, and Lauren spent much of the trip playing with them and leading them in outdoor games. On this second trip, Lauren and her father again stayed with the Johanssens who were one step closer to finalizing the adoption of Caleb and Chloe.
Though Lauren’s visit to Chances for Children was uplifting and her help was well-received, her visit to another orphanage in Dourette brought the realities of Haiti’s poverty and economic turmoil into sharp focus. “The orphanage in Dourette had no power, no bathrooms… not even running water,” says Lauren. “These kids had nothing-- I mean, nothing.” To help the orphans, Lauren and Ryan shopped at the local grocery store in Dourette and brought food to the children. With scandal and greed running amok in some of the country’s orphanage management, they wanted to ensure that the food would get into the hands of the children in Dourette: “We brought it directly to them and gave it to them. Otherwise, we couldn’t be sure [the children] would actually get it.”
Although the Johanssens will soon be returning to the U.S. with Caleb and Chloe, Lauren knows that she will always have a place to stay at Chances for Children while in Haiti. “They have a guest house where they will let me stay while I’m there helping,” explains Lauren. Given her strengthened connection with the children of Haiti, Lauren looks forward to returning in the next few months and possibly bringing some of her Bishop schoolmates along with her. “I’m just kind of in love with the kids there, and I want to help them,” she shares. “I really just want to find ways to make their situations better.”