My name is Sheily Merial and I am a mother to four beautiful children. I have two biological children, a son, Kervens and a daughter, Lindsay. My two youngest children are adopted. I did not plan to adopt or to raise four children as a single mother but the universe had other plans for me. On August 2nd, 2014 I was living in Port au Prince and was taking my trash out to the place where we dump our trash. I heard a baby crying in the trash. I found my daughter Malisha in the trash with her cord still attached. I know the mother must have been desperate and unable to care for her to leave her there. I knew I had to care for her, so I took her home and adopted her.
I had to hire a nanny to watch my three children while I worked. I hired a neighbor who was my friend. She gave birth to a baby girl named Kimara on October 28, 2015. Six weeks later she died from an infection and Kimara’s grandmother could not afford to care for her. Her grandmother begged me to take her and when I looked at her little face I knew I couldn’t say no. So that is how I ended up with four children to care for.
As a single mother in Haiti it is very hard to provide for your family. I would not be able to send my children to school without the support of Nourish Every Child. My children would have days they would go without food but now they eat every day.
Kimara and Lindsay are both sponsored by Nourish Every Child. The children attended the NEC Summer Program and they loved it so much! It is exciting to see my girls learn English. They are able introduce themselves, ask how are you and so much more. Having them fed a meal a day during the summer was such a relief. I want to say thank you to everyone who supports the NEC sponsorship program because it is life saving!