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HFC – The School

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I went to Haiti to document the work of Hope For The Children of Haiti. Their Mission is this: Hope for the Children of Haiti is called by God to give Haitian children, particularly orphans, the opportunity to become well rounded adults who are self sufficient in Christ. One of the keys to fulfilling this mission is giving these children a quality education. And so HFC has started a school that teaches not only the orphans who are part of the Pension, but many other local children as well. Here are some images from my time at the school…

When we first arrived at the school that morning, the kids were in the middle of recess, and were playing all over the place. And MAN do the they love the camera!!! I was instantly mobbed! Since I’m supposed to be documenting life at the school, I was getting a little frustrated because this was not a day in the life of the school – this was mob the photographer day :) But, come on, look at how cute they are! Who can stay frustrated for long?



Of course, not all the kids were interested…


Finally, recess was over and everyone went back to class.
This teacher was totally embarrassed that I was taking his picture (in fact, they all were), so I had to crouch outside the door and try to be incognito. Not too easy with my 80-200mm f/2.8 lens on, but it worked somehow :)


The girls taking rigorous notes on the Haitian Revolution


And one of the boys listening attentively


The little ones couldn’t concentrate that hard. Nor could they see very well. We happened to show up the week the generator died, and there was no power at all during the day. Many of the classrooms, like this one, didn’t have any windows and were almost pitch black. But, school continues…




These poor teachers! Every time I walked by the classroom, the kids went nuts trying to get me to take their picture. Kids were coming out into the hallway, getting out of their seats, and totally freaking out. It was a little funny, but the disciplinarian in me wanted to tell them to go sit back down and listen to their teachers! :)


A teacher going over homework in the light from the hallway since her classroom is windowless.


I love this shot of a teacher going through a book in class. There’s something about the way she’s holding the book and the pages that is just beautiful to me.


Lots of answering questions on the chalk board


even when there’s no light to read your work…



Thankfully, the generator has since been fixed the kids have light to read by again! Lack of power in Port-au-Prince and the cost of running a generator is one of the MANY reasons that HFC needs your support!! If you can, please think or pray about supporting this important ministry, so these kids can get a good education and grow up to be self-sufficient adults that make an impact on the future of Haiti!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

HFC – Life at the Pension

Here’s a little peak at life at the Pension (that’s what they call an orphanage in Haiti)…

They have two main buildings. The main building is the school, girls’ dorm, and space for another adoption agency. The other building is across the street – it’s the boys’ dorm, and it’s called Woodworth’s House (I can’t remember who Woodworth was and why they named the house after him…). Here’s a view of the boys’ house, from the main building. It was laundry day :)


I found this hanging on the wall in the girls’ room. It was incredibly humbling to think of how much this passage must mean to the girl who tacked it on her wall, and how much I have to learn about it’s meaning…


A regular ritual of braiding each other’s hair.


One of the most difficult parts of the trip for me was visiting the babies from the adoption agency. It’s comforting to know that almost all of them will get adopted, most by American or European families. But, seeing their life as it is now… was heartbreaking.


These babies sit in their cribs all day. all. day. There’s a woman in the corner of the room “watching” them, but mostly sitting around. These kids are sitting in wet diapers, stimulating themselves by banging their heads on the mattress, and some seem to have given up and just lay there. The teenage girls from HFC like to play mommy and come get some of the babies a couple times a day – but they don’t take all of them, just the ones they like. I got a few out of their crib and played with them, but I couldn’t take them all out, and it killed me. If you’re even thinking of adopting a child – please consider adopting a child from Haiti or another 3rd-world country. This is the alternative until a family comes along to care for them…


Some of the toddlers from the same agency. It cracks me up that a 3-year-old is braiding the younger one’s hair! Most 3-year-olds can’t tie their shoelaces, how are they gonna braid hair?!


This is one of the little ones from the agency. She followed me around all over the Pension. She wouldn’t let go of my leg, or stop touching my camera, and was just always there. She’s pretty cute, huh? I had to try really hard not to bring her with me…


One of the fabulous cooks at the girls’ dorm. I’m not exactly sure what she’s making there, but I do know that I had to eat it. If you know me at all – you know I’m very picky. A bowl full of mush is not my idea of dinner. But, it’s all they had, and they shared it with me. And I ate it, gratefully.


The view from the dorm. This is practically all these kids see of their community. They live in a really bad neighborhood – very dangerous and violent. They are fiercely protected, and therefore don’t get to play out in the streets or spend time with neighbors. But, they are safe…


This is what teenagers look like at Sunday School… a little bored, and trying not to get in trouble for talking :)


Dinner at the boys’ dorm


The boys’ house-mother


One of the beautiful things about the kids at HFC is that they really are a family. A gigantic family of 60 kids, but a family nonetheless! I love this picture of Wislandy, the youngest girl with her arm around one of her big brothers. It just tells you so much about these kids.


Next up, a look at the school at HFC!

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Hope For the Children of Haiti – the boys

So, you’ve met some of the girls from Hope For The Children of Haiti – now meet a few of the boys…

Mikenlove hanging out on the porch at the Boys’ House


stuck inside on a rainy day



oh, forget, let’s just go play in the rain! Boys don’t mind getting wet and dirty, right?



they sure love football!



I can’t get over their view from their football field!


Rejoicing over a goal :) This is back at the orphanage where they were playing football with a plastic bottle. It was rather impressive.


One of the things I love about boys in other cultures… They hold hands with each other! It’s precious.


Jefthe looking very serious


studying hard


Richecarde smiling for the camera


and this kid was laughing so hard he fell down :)


The boys were a totally different set of characters than the girls. Much less camera-shy. Some even went out of their way to pose for me – too much even. :)

They were also a really fun group of boys who laugh a lot – which is always a good thing, especially in a place like Haiti!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 6 Comments

Hope For the Children of Haiti – the girls

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I went to Haiti in May/June to document the work of Hope For The Children Of Haiti. I’ve held off on blogging about it because I wanted to focus on getting the first few weddings up first. That, and I’ve got like a zillion pictures I’d like to share, so I had to take the time to narrow it down a bit.

I’m finally ready and I thought I’d start with the girls at HFC. There are about 30 of them, ranging from 8 -17 years old. It took a while for them to warm up to me, and to stop running away from my camera, but it was really fun getting to know them. And it was a great reminder that teenagers are teenagers, no matter what country you’re in :)

Here are a few of my favorites of the girls!

waiting to be introduced to the visiting photographer …


hanging in their room – giggling and having fun



Aw, Debbie, she’s such a sweetheart. And would you get a load of those eyes!! Gorgeous!


Wislandy, the baby of the crew. Such a cutie!


Listening intently to a sex-ed talk. Their eyes aren’t glassed over or anything ;)


Chrystel… Little Miss Attitude and the woman in charge (if you ask her). But, I found her in this nice moment doing chores where she was all alone, and let her guard down a bit, and I almost got a smile.


Fabiola hanging out the back of the Tap Tap (it’s basically a pick-up truck with a metal cage on top to keep the passengers safe, or dry)


And, last but not least, Nerline. This girl ran and hid from my camera the ENTIRE time I was in Haiti! On the last day, I had had enough, and I stalked her relentlessly until I got a couple photos of her before she saw me. Somehow, this made her love me dearly. Go figure :) So, here we are, right before I left to go home. She couldn’t stop hugging me and even cried when I left. That’s what I love about teenagers… they’re totally unpredictable.


I wish I could share more with you all, and tell you stories about each and every one of the girls – but there just isn’t enough time in the day! :)

If you’re interested in supporting Hope For The Children of Haiti, and helping these girls get the care and education they need to make a difference for their country, please click here.

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

Get Drenched

This post has been a LONG time coming! With all of the traveling, eSessions, and now weddings – I’ve been a bit behind on my personal work. But I just had to get this one done this week! I couldn’t wait any longer :)

On Easter Sunday of this year, my church held a baptism service both in the morning at Hope Christian Church, and in the evening at Genesis. Before getting baptized, each person got up and shared their story and explained why they decided to make this commitment. It was very powerful to hear their testimonies and both services were just amazing!

In the morning, we had 3 boys from the youth group get baptized. Our Youth Pastor, David went into the water with them and prayed over each boy. It was really cool to see how confident and excited these guys were that morning!




It was especially cool to witness Sarah’s baptism. Her father had the honor of stepping in to the water with her. It was definitely a special moment for both of them.


Later that night, some of my friends at Genesis also took the plunge. The testimonies were very real, very emotional, and very powerful that night. My brother-in-law, Michael is our Pastor and he was so excited to pray for and baptize each of them. It was such a blessing to witness!



This is one of the girls in my LIFEgroup, Elyse. She’s just amazing, and I was so proud of and happy for her that I could totally not keep from crying. Even now, I’m tearing up!




And this is my girl, Meaghan, yo! ;) She’s also in my LIFEgroup and is getting ready to go on staff with Campus Crusade. I am still praising God for the impact this night had in her life and in the life of those around her!! (If you’re interested in supporting Meaghan in her ministry, let me know, or click here)



What a wonderful way to celebrate Easter! Check out the slideshow for more…

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 6 Comments

Back From Haiti!

Well, I’m officially back from Haiti and back to work! It was a great trip and I’m really excited to go through the 4,200 photos I shot! But, first things first – I’ve got engagement sessions waiting for me. So, I guess you’ll all have to wait a little while too…

To tide you over, here’s a shot of Bolosse – the area of Port-au-Prince where I spent most of my time.


More to come!!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Out of the country!

Well, it’s about 4 hours before I have to leave for the airport, and I still haven’t packed for my trip to Haiti! But, such is life :) It’ll all get done somehow, even if it means I don’t sleep – at least I’ll sleep on the plane that way. haha!

I’ll be in Haiti until late Monday night, June 2nd. Please pray for a good safe trip. Pray that I would stay healthy, and that this picky eater would be able to eat whatever is put in front of her ;), and pray for some awesome photographs that HFCH will be able to use to increase their ministry in Port-au-Prince!! Thanks for taking this journey with me. I can’t wait to come home and share some photos with all of you!

I will be without email & internet access until Monday (eek!), so if you don’t hear back from me, that’s why :) I’ll do my best to respond to all emails when I get back to work next Tuesday.

and because posts without photos are lame… here’s a shot from my very first missions trip to Mexico back in 2002…


Have a great week!!

Posted on by Krista Guenin · 2 Comments

Hope For The Children of Haiti

One of my portrait clients is on the board for an organization called Hope For the Children of Haiti. Well, they’re not just on the board – but they’ve adopted 3 teenage boys through the ministry! To say that Hope For the Children of Haiti is a big part of their lives would be quite an understatement.

A few weeks ago we started talking about the possibility of me going down to Port-Au-Prince to document the ministry’s orphanage & school – and of course, the kids. Well, yesterday we bought our tickets and it’s official! I am so excited about the opportunity to work with HFC, and for the chance to visit Haiti for the first time! I have many friends who have visited Haiti, and this orphanage in particular, so I’m really looking forward to seeing it with my own eyes, and bringing that back to all of you. I’ll be heading down there at the end of the month, so stay tuned for photos and stories from Port-Au-Prince this summer!!
Posted on by Krista Guenin · 1 Comment

Peterson

I wasn’t sure what to post after my 30 Favorite images of all time. I mean, that’s kind of a hard act to follow, you know? So, I decided to share one of my favorite people.

When I met Ryan Keith of Forgotten Voices International, he told me the story of a boy named Peterson. Peterson was born with HIV. When Ryan met him, Peterson was a 7 year-old boy living with his mother and his 4 year-old sister, Prudence in a rural area of Zimbabwe. The very same day Ryan met them, Peterson’s mother died from AIDS. Before she died, she asked Ryan to promise to take care of her children – and he did. And that is basically how Forgotten Voices was formed – from a promise. The story continued as Peterson was left to live alone with and take care of Prudence, who was also born with HIV. Prudence had never learned to walk or talk and was basically given up on by her community. But Peterson took care of her – he carried her on his back to school and to physically therapy at the mission hospital nearby. She began walking, and talking, and was even given the job of chasing the monkeys away from the garden. But, one year after their mother died, Prudence died as well. And then Peterson lived alone…

It was after hearing this story that I knew I needed to go to Zimbabwe. And the entire time we prepared to go, I just kept looking forward to the day I would get to meet Peterson too. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew this was a kid I needed to meet.

When we arrived at Peterson’s home, he was a bit shy to meet all of us.


We were thrilled to find that Peterson was no longer living on his family’s homestead alone. His aunt had moved in to care for him, and had hired a farm-hand to help out and take over the chores that Peterson had done. And in January he was supposed to move to his Grandparents’ farm to live with them and the rest of his extended family. What a blessing that his family has been able to step up and take care of him!


We were all surprised and thrilled to watch Peterson running and playing with his friends. He seems to be in great health and having so much help around has freed him up to just be a kid and enjoy life. What an incredible blessing!


He loved Adam’s video camera


and turned out to be quite the videographer himself…


As excited as I was to see Peterson happy & healthy, no one was more glad than Ryan. Peterson & Ryan have spent many days in Zimbabwe together and though they don’t speak the same language, or live lives that are remotely similar, they are good friends.


Peterson & Ryan showed us to the place on the property where Prudence and their mother was buried. He is such a brave little boy.


I am so blessed to have met Peterson. I hope that I will meet him again someday, and I pray that he would stay healthy and get to keep being a kid for as long as possible!

I’ll leave you with the many faces of Peterson…