The devastating Haiti earthquake two years ago left a group of 60 orphans living in primitive conditions in Port-au-Prince until a Newton woman stepped in to help. Filis Casey, founder of Alliance for Children Inc., International Adoption Agency, and the Alliance for Children Foundation, reached out to the families of adoptive children she has placed, and within months raised enough money to build the displaced children an orphanage. Here is the temporary shelter the children will soon leave behind.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
A treacherous, uneven, concrete staircase, with exposed steel spikes, serves as a playground in the current orphanage. On this day, the kids were indoors, untended for hours at at time.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Naica, 3, was bitten by another child. She consoled herself as the children’s caretakers were outside.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
A view of the compound the orphans currently live in.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
To amuse themselves, Dabbens, 4, left, and Fabiola, 7, played with hot coals and sharp knives.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Febrice, 6, has an undiagnosed seizure disorder. There is not enough money to get him a CAT scan at this time.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
The hardest thing for Filis Casey to see was the children eating their meals in total darkness.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
There is one toilet for all 60 children. It is a hole covered by cement which leads to the open hillside behind the house. There is no running water for the sink Kelette, 8, would have to use.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
The children's bedrooms are plywood shacks, and the main living area is covered with tarp. Esmeralda, 8, hangs out on the uneven, rebar-pocked staircase.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
As often happens, the teacher did not arrive to teach for the kids. Dieuvenson, 3, sat in a corner of the classroom, while children played.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Frequently, teachers for the children do not show up. On one such day, the kids ran wild in the classroom.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Stephanie, 8, falls asleep on a desk as other children play.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Elcana, 13, does the kids' laundry in water infected by E. coli.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Roselaure, 10, and Rosemene, 8, whiled away an afternoon in the orphanage.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Naica, 3, is in the pipeline to be adopted.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
The teachers did not show up for school again. Dabbens, 4, played with toys on one of the desks.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
When the teachers don't show up, Naica, 3, plays with toys in the classroom.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Filis Casey, of Newton, saw the house nearly completed for the first time as she greeted Pastor Maxime for the first time since her original trip a year ago.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Filis Casey (left) and another donor, Grace Ciccolo, toured the kitchen of the new house..
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Filis hadn't seen the children since her first visit. She greets Bernadine, 11, with a lollipop.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
The tiles went into the new orphanage.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Kathi Juntunen greets the boys. Her organization, Chances For Children, based in Arizona, has partnered with Filis Casey. Juntunen’s group is building a community center/health center/vocational school next door to the new orphanage. Most of the orphans will never be adopted because of their age, but she will give them skills to help them support themselves when they are older.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Schneider, 12, and Jeanele, 10, carried buckets of rocks after school to build an area for garbage for the new house.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Filis greeted Nadine, 9. She hadn’t seen the kids for a year.
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Suzanne Kreiter/globe staff
Robinson is 14 and quite small for his age. He and the other boys helped to build the new orphanage. Behind him is the actual, nearly complete home for the kids.
