Welcome Dieula and Moise to the U.S.
The 509 Foundation was able to walk two more extraordinary students through the U.S. college application process with great success! In July of 2024, Dieula and Moise both received their F-1 visas through the U.S. Embassy (in the Bahamas) in the knick of time!
Moise Majuste was accepted at Hope College in Holland, MI, and was awarded the highly competitive Hope Forward Scholarship! He will study biology/veterinarian medicine with a fully-funded four-year tuition scholarship. His room and board, books, health insurance, and personal expenses will be provided by The 509 Foundation.
Dieula Estival was accepted at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. She was awarded a significant international student scholarship and she will study nursing. The remainder of her tuition, as well as her room and board, books, health insurance, and personal expenses, will be covered by The 509 Foundation.
I want to give you a little glimpse into the miracle upon miracle that took place to get them to the States. I’m certain you will be encouraged and inspired by this story! Here is the brief version:
After Moise and Dieula were accepted into college with scholarships, we learned that the U.S. Embassy in Haiti would remain closed until 2026, and the DR would not allow the students into their country for an interview at the U.S. embassy, so these students had no realistic way of obtaining their student visas. All hope seemed lost.
This is when we were advised by an attorney to pursue an appointment at the U.S. embassy in the Bahamas. What seemed like a crazy and complicated route to take was our only option. First, these students had to find an interview date within their small window of opportunity. Second, we needed the Bahamas to issue a travel visa for them to enter the country, which was no small feat.
Both of these things miraculously happened with the hard work and persistent prayer of the 509 team and partners!
Third, they needed to travel to the Bahamas to interview but there is only one airline that flies one day a week, and their original flight was cancelled due to weather. They were rescheduled on a flight that arrived just 12 hours before their interviews!
Now it was time to be interviewed and approved at the U.S. embassy. Once again, God made a way. Both students received their F-1 Visas on July 2nd and JOY erupted! Meanwhile, friends of The 509 Foundation had a personal connection at the all-inclusive Breezes Resort in the Bahamas which fully comped the stay for both students. Generosity and goodness abound!
Both Moise and Dieula are now in the United States preparing to start college in August 2024!
We have witnessed God’s provision in abundance and we are so excited to see what God has planned for them! Will you partner with us as we assist these two extraordinary students who desire to pursue a life of impact?
Update on Kesnel | Summer 2024
Last year we introduced you to Kesnel - you can read his story here!
In 2023, Kesnel’s dream came true when he was selected to partner with The 509 Foundation to apply to college in the United States.
The 509 Foundation guided Kesnel through the entire college application process, and Kesnel was accepted at Hope College in Holland, MI. He also received the highly competitive Hope Forward Scholarship, which is a fully-funded four-year tuition scholarship with a pay-it-forward approach!
Kesnel traveled from Haiti to the United States in the summer of 2023 and just completed his freshmen year with great success!
The 509 Foundation helped Kesnel move to Holland, MI and acquire everything he needed to begin attending Hope College in the fall of 2024. The 509 Foundation also introduced Kesnel to a local family in Holland who could serve as a host family for him.
Kesnel is a beloved student on campus who is studying Biochemistry. He is a member of the men’s intramural volleyball club and holds a job on campus. He is also active in his church community and spends a great deal of time with his host family, Rick and Mary Lyons, with whom he has developed a strong and loving bond.
Kesnel is the first sponsored student through The 509 Foundation and we are immensely proud of him. He has navigated the challenges of college life (and freezing weather!) with grit and joy and gratitude.
Though your generosity, we can continue to support Kesnel at college AND provide this same experience to more Haitian young adults who have big dreams, a strong faith, and extraordinary potential! You can change a child’s life by equipping them to live a life of impact with a pay-it-forward mindset.
Please partner with us, and witness your generosity have a profound ripple effect!
MEET MOISE
In September 2004, when I was only four, my hometown was hit by a deadly hurricane. My family lost everything, and my mother, who was trying to care for ten children by herself, could not provide for us without a significant other to help. Soon after the flood, my mother learned about Danita’s Children’s Home and she saw this as an opportunity to give me a better future.
When I first arrived at Danita’s, I knew it was a special place. It was filled with joy, love, and God’s presence. I grew up as a leader at Danita’s and participated in many activities. I was a house assistant at several homes on campus for younger kids. I was also one of the leaders for the Sunday school and the Wednesday family night service on campus.
Growing up, I was always gardening, and rescuing and caring for animals on Danita’s campus. At the age of 18, with a donation of $500, I created a small business called Roots of Hope. Ten young men under my leadership worked hard to make this farming business a reality. This project helped me discover my passion and increased my knowledge of agriculture. It taught me a great deal about managing a team, growing crops, and caring for livestock. I gained experience in entrepreneurship and agriculture.
I graduated high school in 2021, and I’ve been dreaming of attending college so I can gain the knowledge and skills to have a large and well-sustainable farm in Haiti that can produce food for Haitians and reduce the amount of production imported into Haiti. I know my desire to change the agriculture system in Haïti will be challenging but with the right education and training, I know I can drastically change lives for the better in Haiti. I am praying for financial support from generous people so I can attend college and make this dream a reality!
MEET DIEULA
My name is Dieula Estival, I am 22 years old. I was born in Ouanaminthe, Haïti, where I am currently living. I was welcomed into Danita’s Children’s Center in 2004, when I was 2 and a half years old, after my mom and dad passed away. Growing up at Danita's Children Center, I was blessed to receive an outstanding education at Hope for Haiti School, where I was encouraged to dream big and hope to be an agent of change in Haïti.
I graduated high school in 2021 and I began assisting the Field Director, working alongside her to help with the organization's operations, while I waited for an opportunity to attend college. I’ve also worked with the wonderful disabled children who live on campus and I’ve volunteered at the malnutrition program at the hospital on campus. I’ve also led the Sunday School Program for the kids at our church. My relationship with God gives me the desire to serve and lead others.
Now I am praying that God will open the doors for me to attend college in the US. I have dreamed of going to college for as long as I can remember but it was only recently that I learned about Hope College when one of my brothers from Danita’s was accepted in the fall of 2023. I dream of joining him at Hope College because I want to study nursing, and they have an excellent program! People in Haiti are suffering from all kinds of diseases, and unfortunately hospitals are not offering great medical care to the communities.
I hope to become a nurse so I can return to my country and work with medical organizations to benefit Haitians. I dream of being part of something bigger than myself, and with your support, I can strive to improve the lives of Haitians through excellent medical care.
MEET KESNEL
I was three years old when I was brought to Danita’s Children’s Home in Ouanaminthe, Haiti. They were celebrating something significant to them. Their house was decorated from the inside out, but I was amazed by the tree in their living room, dressed in strings of colorful lights that were so little but so bright, with an angel at the top that shined as bright as the sun. There were a bunch of kids singing songs in a language that I didn't know, as I only spoke Creole, but they were singing in English.
I wondered if this was not an accident but a way for me to find a new home. It was my first Christmas Eve at Danita's Children’s Home, an orphanage where I would spend the next seventeen years.
Even at such a young age, this experience stands out as a moment when I consciously realized my life had changed. My life before my first Christmas Eve was a stark contrast from the coziness and comfort I found in my new home. For weeks, my mother pushed me around in a wheelbarrow, searching for doctors. A piece of metal had cut my knee, leaving it hanging by a thread while I sat in my blood and infection. Coming from a low-income family in an undeveloped country such as Haiti, she was too poor to afford a hospital and searched for any doctor willing to help. Finally, an American missionary named Danita saw me and was moved to help us find a doctor. The doctor said my leg was already infected and would probably need to be amputated. I woke up inside a hospital with a little toy motorcycle as a “get better” gift from the missionary. My leg was still there, and I was told I would go live at a children's home where my needs could be met. That is how I came to Danita's Children's Home.
I have often reflected on how this new home experience, which brought a sense of belonging and hope, shaped my future and character. At first, it wasn't easy for me to open up to this new life. It took me weeks to try and take my first step, but the love and the hospitality they showed me there were overwhelming.
God brought us together from hardships to be chosen children with the opportunity to be educated and given hope that we can make a difference. I slowly began to believe that I could be something more significant. I began to have a great vision.
I started participating in sports such as soccer, volleyball, and basketball, and I accepted the leadership qualities within me.
I wanted to be the first to graduate high school in my bloodline, so I was always among the top 15% of my class. I was also voted president of my class. I then gained favor in the eyes of the school administration and the entire student body so that in my final year, they voted me president of the student government. Even after graduation, I was honored to be the high school volleyball coach and share a trophy with them. Growing up in a house different from my mother’s meant my family expanded. I was given a chance to fulfill a dream, and although the process was painful, I feel so glad to be where I am now.
The missionaries I grew up with provided me with a great education and I am so grateful. But I didn’t want to stop learning. I wanted to pursue my dream of an excellent college education in the U.S.
This is where The 509 Foundation comes in. They helped me apply to Hope College in Holland, Michigan so I can achieve my educational goals, develop stronger character, reach my full potential as a leader, and serve my country with the skills I acquire.
I was accepted at Hope College and, after a rigorous and highly selective application process, awarded the Hope Forward Scholarship, a college funding model based on generosity and giving. This means my tuition is fully-funded up front, and I will then pay it forward, committing to donating to Hope College after graduation so future students can have the same transformational experience I am receiving.
Then, through generous givers to The 509 Foundation, my room and board, as well as my living expenses, will be covered for all four years. This is a huge opportunity for someone like me who has great potential but very limited resources. I needed a helping hand, and The 509 Foundation gave that to me! I am studying biochemistry to help bring good medicine to my country, and to provide what I couldn't find in my moment of need in that wheelbarrow so long ago.
In closing I would say I have found yet another part of my family at Hope College in the new people I have met. I love Hope College! And God has given me a family in Holland, MI with a couple named Rick and Mary Lyons. I am so grateful for their love and daily presence and mentorship in my life. They have made such a huge difference in my life. And I wholeheartedly hope to see similar opportunities extended to my brothers and sisters at the orphanage who are praying and waiting for an opportunity like the one I’ve been given.
When you give to The 509 Foundation, you are giving my brothers and sisters at the orphanage an opportunity to become all God intended them to be! You are protecting them from a life of poverty and propelling them into a life of purpose.