His name is Daniel “Burnette,” but everyone calls him by his nickname “Daniello.” He is originally from the poor “mud-hut” village of Old Letant. Once when we were visiting there, the people of the village showed us a baby whose parents had both died. They were “trying to feed him anything they could” to keep him from starving to death. They asked us to take him, and we did.

As Daniel grew up, we knew he was different, but we never knew how much different. He never played with the other children, but he was a “one on one” child, who worked well alongside an adult. Thus, as we figured, he had a hard time in school. The teachers here in Haiti do not take time for children who are “different.” As Daniello grew, he began causing problems… he would often “just walk out of class” and disappear. He did not like school and he did not like learning. Once while visiting the school, I found that the teacher had “tied him to a chair” because he kept “leaving!” This happened so many times that I decided to take him out of school and let him “work” alongside an adult. This worked well, but when the children here at our Children’s Home got ready for school, Daniello missed that… and he asked if he could go back to school. So, he is going to try again this year. He is now 11 years old and in third grade.

He is a good worker and a very sweet young boy, he just has “mental problems,” and here in Haiti there are very few places (probably none) that deal with mental health issues. And besides, we would probably get killed by a gang member just trying to get him there. We all love Daniello and hope he does well in school this year!!!

Sherry