Leaving Hamilton to help raise orphans in Haiti

Judy Mackenzie always wanted a big family.

This year, the 50-year-old will see her dream come true in a really big way as she becomes Mom to 25 children in Haiti at the end of January.

The Catholic Children’s Aid Society case manager is giving up her north-end apartment, uprooting herself from her native Hamilton and moving to the coastal town of Montrouis, where she will be the house mother and administrator at the Bon Samaritan’s Dare to Dream Children’s Home.

“I’ve always wished that I could have a big family with lots of kids because I feel very maternal and very nurturing, but I also feel I’ve got a lot to offer and teach. And circumstances didn’t work out that way,” said Mackenzie, who has a 27-year-old daughter.

Mackenzie was looking for a career change when she learned about the need at the Haitian orphanage, where the children have long been without someone to consistently care for them and are looking after each other. She decided to fly to Haiti at the end of August and visit the children, ages two through 18.

That two-week trip showed her how many things people in Canada take for granted, and she was touched by the way the orphans were so grateful despite their difficult circumstances.

“So in a way I feel like I’m being a little bit selfish because I’m going to feel very gratified being down there,” she said. “The conditions are horrible … but (with) the benefits down there, I’ll feel like I’m a millionaire — being fulfilled while at the same time helping them become self-sufficient and self-reliant.”

The Hamiltonian flies out Jan. 31 to live with the children in a temporary location. The original Dare to Dream Children’s Home is by a river and was flooded last May.

Mackenzie’s position is unpaid. Her friend and coworker, Joanne Cuff, is heading up the fundraising initiative in Hamilton to cover the children’s food and school supplies as well as electricity, basic repairs and fencing at the damaged orphanage.

Cuff, 57, accompanied Mackenzie on her trip to Montrouis and plans to visit Haiti a couple of times a year.

“I think once we met the kids, I’m thinking: If Judy doesn’t do it, I’m either going to have to do or find somebody to do it because we looked at each other and thought, OK, we’re toast,” Cuff said. “We can’t just leave here and not do something.”