Sandra* is one of five children her single mother is trying to raise. Sandra, her 4 brothers and her mother all live together in one room her mother rented. Her mother used to go to a town on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border and buy merchandise to resell in Cap-Haitian. But since the political crisis began in 2022, things became much more difficult for her, and she stopped working. Now Sandra, as the only girl in the family, is put in an even more vulnerable position. She admits to sleeping with both women and married men to get money to get by. She also said that in a dream, an ancestral spirit chose her to become a medium. But she gave her life to the Lord, King Jesus, last year and decided to leave that life. However, she continued to fall back into those practices because of how difficult things are. But she said when SMART Haiti started mentorship in her school, she felt strengthened and encouraged to completely stop having sex for money. Now she feels like she has the support she needs to live for Christ. But her economic situation continues to get worse. For example, she and her family sometimes go days without being able to cook a meal at home and sometimes her mother isn’t even able to give her bus fare to go to school. Sometimes she has to walk miles to and from school. Despite all these challenges, she is in her final year of high school and is determined to complete her studies.

The principal of the school Sandra attends spoke with a Smart Haiti Mentor and described how much the students love the mentorship program: “They carry their manuals to school every day, not just when they have mentorship. And during their breaks, I always see them in the classrooms debating among themselves using the manuals. This program is really helping the students.”

 *Name and photo changed for privacy