Lidwige speaks bittersweetly about Haiti. Born in Port au Prince, she grew up with 9 siblings, 7 boys and 2 girls. She liked school and went to college for accounting before taking a job as a school secretary. She also lived through the terrible 2010 earthquake that destroyed so many homes and lives and devastated the Haitian economy. She stayed for the recovery, but with so much violence engulfing her country, she finally fled.
Lidwige has temporary protected status (TPS) and came to Rhode Island this past June to live with her mother, aunt, and cousins. She immediately enrolled in ESL classes at Dorcas International and the necessary paper work to bring her daughter here is in process.
When her case worker told her about the opportunity to learn about American workplace culture at Beautiful Day she jumped at the chance.
Already she’s become a vital and delightful part of our team. We all think she’s terrific. She’s kind, hardworking, cheerful, and clearly a people-person. She’s also a motivated student, taking every opportunity to ask questions, practice English, and jump into every aspect of our work, from production to gift-packing. Through all the pain of leaving home and starting life all over, Lidwige is looking forward.
