Obassen's Story: A birthday that means much more

Today is Obassen’s 13th Birthday!

Obassen was one of our first students with special needs back in 2012. Today, Obassen is an integral part of the myLIFEspeaks family. He is loved and cherished by his family, friends, teachers, peers, and entire village commUNITY. His mom is even one of our most loyal participants at our Bel Ewo (Beautiful Hero) parent support group programming.

But it wasn’t always this way. When myLIFEspeaks first came to Neply, Obassen and children with special needs like him were very misunderstood and looked down upon.

In Haiti, it is common for children with special needs to be sacrificed in voodoo ceremonies or treated horribly under the false belief that they are “cursed” or “possessed”. As a result, children with special needs in Haiti generally don’t have high life expectancies due to the challenges and threats they face.