Samuel was born on June 21, 2006. He comes from an extremely large family consisting of ten brothers and five sisters! With such a large family, his parents struggled to provide their family with basic needs. Samuel and his sister, Esther, who also lives at Chanje Lakay, struggled to be fed, clothed, properly sheltered, and received little education. Finding appropriate work to provide for so many is nearly impossible in Haiti, so although his parents are still alive, Samuel and Esther are considered economic orphans, a term all to common for the children of Haiti. Knowing they could not provide the type of life they wanted Samuel to have, his parents decide to bring him to Chanje Lakay.

As a parent, making the decision to give up your child is not an easy one to make. However, given the circumstances, and knowing that making this hard decision would literally change both Samuel and his sister’s life forever, his parents had no other option. Thankfully, it was not a goodbye. Samuel is still able to see his parents. In fact, they visit the shelter about once a month. Since moving to Chanje Lakay Samuel has grown so much. He is happy and healthy. He has the sweetest smile and loves to learn!