Baraderes, Haiti

I met Bibie Damier during Vitamin Angels’ distribution at the St. Helene Primary School. Bibie is five years old and is in the first grade. She and her mother live alone since her father left them. Her mother has difficulty finding the money to buy food, so Bibie is often hungry.

Bibie loves first grade, and is grateful that friends of her mother helped to buy her a uniform so she may attend the school here. She also loves to read, although she has no books at home. Her mom can’t afford them. She feels lucky that some of her friends at the school share books with her, so she is able to read in class.

Despite her meager diet, Bibie said she felt healthy and enjoys her time at school. She has been receiving vitamin A at six month intervals, which helps to build her strength and resistance to the infections and illness that plague many of the other children here. Although Bibie is very thin, she has a radiant smile, bright eyes and a playful demeanor that have obviously won her many friends, including three little girls who giggled and held hands with her while we talked. 

Our thanks to Sharon Dressen of Rainbow Light for capturing this story while on a distribution trip with Vitamin Angels.