Wilner’s Story: A Forgotten Orphan Asks
That We Remember the Others

First do no harm. Wouldn’t it be great if that were the international creed honored by adults on behalf of the world’s children? Maybe some day this oath of responsibility and integrity will reign but today, sadly, it does not.

Ten years ago, Wilner was 13 and barely surviving on the streets of Haiti when he asked the question so many young adults ask: “Why do I exist?” Unlike our children who pondered their existence in the comfort of a philosophy classroom, Wilner was hungry, beaten down and tired of feeling forgotten in the city Port-Au-Prince. What preceded the question for Wilner was not a teacher’s prodding remarks but a lifetime of betrayal and pain.

Wilner was two when his parents separated and his mother left. He was four when his father died and his Uncle, who was favored by Wilner’s grandmother, laid claim to him… not to honor and protect, but to exploit. Wilner moved with his uncle to the countryside where he was treated like a slave. Wilner didn’t attend school so that he could tend to the farm animals, house and kitchen duties. When the fruits of Wilners’ labor were deemed less-than sweet, he was severely beaten. After 7 years of the devil he knew, Wilner ran away and took to the streets where he was starving, robbed and beaten.

Wilner insists that he was forgotten but not forsaken. Perhaps it was this distinction that made all the difference and fed his belief in God, His plan and Wilner’s purpose. Wilner remained good and kind, never fought back and surrendered, as he saw it, to the will of God. Three years into his life on the streets, at age 14, Wilner encountered the first of two devils he did not know.

He thought he caught a break when the Texan showed up and offered him shelter at his local orphanage. Wilner accepted and, for the first time in his memory, was properly clothed and fed. Wilner looked after the younger children. On the surface it appeared that the Texan was motivated by goodwill but then the visitors showed up to have sex with the children. Wilner recognized the Texan as a “Lion dressed as lamb” and fled only to meet another.

The Mid-Westerner had a different method to his madness. He offered to fund an orphanage that Wilner would run. Wilner graciously accepted the start-up funding of $1,500. More money came in for a house, furniture, books, a teacher and even someone to cook and clean for the children. The Mid-Westerner, just like the Texan, used Wilner’s soft face and hard story to illicit funding through a carefully marketed web-site. Money poured in from unsuspecting do-gooders like you and me… people who thought, at the very least, the adults in charge would do no harm.

Wilner saw to it that the children were fed, housed and educated. On weekdays, they learned and thrived. On weekends they played soccer and attended church.  Perhaps this was the answer to Wilner’s question: “Why do I exist?” That would be the fairy tale ending to Wilner’s Story but unfortunately, for Wilner and so many others in Haiti, not many stories end in an exhale and kiss on the head.

In the midst of such apparent goodness at the orphanage funded by the Mid-Westerner, things went terribly bad. The Mid-Westerner changed the routine and started to make unreasonable demands. He asked that the children skip church on Sundays and, instead, go to the beach. Soon after, came the request for photos. “He wanted nude photos of the children.” Wilner was confused. “Did he want to see that the children were healthy and fed? I didn’t know. So I took the photos.” Wilner was suspicious. The Mid-Westerner’s next request was met with gut-wrenching clarity: Wilner was no longer confused. He argued with the Mid-Westerner and refused his requests. Wilner said to him, “No I will not. This cannot be good.” All funding was withdrawn which left Wilner and the orphans without shelter and food.

A pastor  showed up and offered his mountainside property for Wilner’s orphanage and this is where it stands today. Most of the children followed Wilner up the mountain, “Where only the water in a nearby stream was free.” The other children went their own ways, preferring city streets to the unknown of remote living.

At last, this pastor, unlike the previous two contributors, was a lamb dressed as a lamb. Together they‘re working with a team of people on a mission to help this and other orphanages in Haiti become self-sufficient through their own cottage industries and donations at web address.

Just this past month, 5 years after Wilner and the Texan parted ways, he was spotted at another orphanage in Haiti. The Texan was identified as a known and registered U.S. sex offender who is still at large. It easily begs the question: How is it that known sex offenders in the U.S. are prohibited from coming within yards of playgrounds and schools, but in Haiti these same sex offenders can own orphanages?

Mother Teresa said that, “If you can’t feed 100 children, then feed one.”  Wilner can’t protect 100 children, but he can protect 18. The rest is up to us.