In the Haitian capital ruled by armed gangs, where murder, rape and robberies are common, bestselling author Mitch Albom runs an orphanage that takes in the most at-risk kids.
Have Faith Haiti, with its 30-foot-tall walls, barbed wire and guard towers, looks like a prison from the outside. Inside is a haven for 56 children, and the more than 50 teachers and staff employed at the orphanage. Albom, and his wife Janine take in abandoned infants, toddlers with disabilities and children begging in the streets.
“There are a lot of children right on the other side of that gate who are not wearing shirts or pants right now, and their bellies are swollen and they’re not eating. And that’s not fair,” Albom said. “If my wife and I can do anything to change that, even if it’s a drop in the bucket, that’ll be our drop.”
How Mitch Album came to run a Christian orphanage in Haiti
Albom first came to Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake killed some 200,000 people and left more than a million others homeless. The author, who’s Jewish, helped repair a Christian orphanage run by an elderly pastor.
“The pastor basically said, ‘I don’t have any money to run this place and I’m 84 years old.’ And I kind of blurted out, ‘Well, I could probably run it. How hard could it be?'” Albom said.
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The orphanage is now run and largely paid for by Albom and his wife.
“We try to give them a childhood, which is stolen from so many of the people outside,” she said.
Security concerns at the orphanage
It’s too dangerous for international flights to land in Haiti’s capital, so every month the “Tuesdays with Morrie” author flies to Cap-Haïtien instead. From there, Albom boards a helicopter operated by a private security company to reach Port-au-Prince.
From the air, Port-au-Prince is a dense sprawl of chaotic streets and dilapidated houses. Once on the ground, heavily armed guards drive Albom to the orphanage in a convoy of bulletproof vehicles.
Haiti’s government effectively collapsed in 2021, after the assination of then President Jovenel Moïse. As much as 90% of the area is now controlled by gangs and it’s estimated more than a million people in Haiti have been displaced by violence, according to the United Nations.
Security is one of the biggest challenges faced by Yonel, the Haitian director of Have Faith Haiti’s. He was left at the old orphanage 36 years ago when he was 5.
Yonel regularly conducts surprise emergency drills during which kids grab “go bags” and rush to a concrete bunker with steel doors. There is a generator, a month’s supply of food and water, and cameras to monitor outside.
Life inside Have Faith Haiti
Beyond security, Have Faith Haiti is focused on love, faith and education. Most of the children inside haven’t left the 7-acre compound in more than four years. They play, do chores and go to church and school within the walls of the orphanage. Children take classes in both French and English, in preparation to go on to college.
“All children deserve to feel like they have a future and the future is possible,” Albom said.
Not all the kids are orphans. Many were brought to Have Faith Haiti by a desperate parent or family member who couldn’t afford to feed them.
“We try to set the conditions because otherwise it’s hundreds and hundreds of children,” Albom said. “We say ‘only if there’s one parent, not two. Only if there’s no home, no actual structure home, you know, or if there’s a case of sickness or something like that.'”
Bettinie, 17, was brought to the orphanage as a baby. Her father died in the 2010 earthquake and her mother was desperate. Lorvens, 17, was malnourished when he came at 3 years old. Gina’s father gave her up when she was 5.
“I felt abandoned,” Gina said. “I was a little bit scared because there were a lot of new faces and just a lot of people staring and smiling.”
Yonel, who knows the feeling of abandonment well, said almost all the kids at the orphanage call him “father.”
“They need that, you know, connection,” he said. “So I put myself there for them.”
Growing up and giving back
Classes at Have Faith Haiti are small and, if a child struggles, he or she is given a customized lesson plan. Kids don’t have cellphones, there are no televisions and there are no computers for personal use.
“Consequently, we get to see childhood in a much purer form than I think you get to see it in the states,” Albom said. “Their attention span is remarkably long relative to American kids.”
Sixteen kids have graduated from high school at Have Faith Haiti in the last eight years, and all received scholarships to American colleges and universities. But the kids won’t be staying in the U.S. They all agreed to return to Haiti to work in the orphanage for two years without pay as a way of giving back.
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“They’re not going to America to take jobs,” Albom said. “They’re not going to America to do anything but appreciate it and have an opportunity that they can’t have here, and then come back and make their country a better place.”
In December, Haitian college students Widley, Bianka, J.J. and J.U. were among 16 spending their winter break at Albom’s Michigan home. Students said they are determined to turn Haiti around.
“Education is one of the things I would really want to take back, and I will take back in Haiti because you need a better education to lead the government and to get a good job,” Bianka said.
Widley wants to go into politics but acknowledges the turbulence of the Haitian government and the potential risks of getting involved. Haiti has not had an elected government since 2021.
Haiti’s future is uncertain. In September, the United Nations, with U.S. backing, authorized a force of 5,500 international troops to help the overwhelmed Haitian police. Fewer than 1,000 have been deployed so far, and the U.S. has slashed its financial obligations to the country by more than 50%.
It’s also unclear how many of the orphanages’ older students will be able to come to the U.S. for further education. Six are set to graduate this spring. They’ll volunteer for a year of service in Haiti before applying for scholarships to study in the U.S. Even if they get the scholarships, it’s not clear they will be granted visas.
Still, there’s hope to see their potential fulfilled.
“Every child has that potential inside, no matter what circumstance they come from,” Albom said. “If you give them something beautiful and calm and hopeful, they’ll aspire to those things. And that’s what I think you see with our kids.”