When Yonel Ismael spent his first Christmas at the orphanage, he got an orange and some crackers in a plastic bag. No tree. No presents.
“That was what it was like in those days,” he recalls. “We were lucky we got anything at all.”
Yonel was five years old at the time. It was a different organization with a different set of priorities.
Yonel Ismael, executive director, stands proudly next to the orphanage's Christmas tree.
Today, more than 30 years later, Yonel is our Haitian executive director at the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage. And because he remembers Christmas with just an orange and crackers, he takes special pride in making sure the holiday is a hugely memorable event for all 53 children.
