Marly M.

Marly M. has been working as a tutor in the Koukouy Sen Kle (Fireflies of St. Clare) Early Childhood Development Center since 2015. This program welcomes children from the neighborhood around Louverture Cleary School, and other areas around it, whose parents cannot afford to send them to primary school. The program was originally initiated by Christina Moynihan to support neighborhood families and stop the practice of giving children up to orphanages—a practice often enticed by those who run orphanages.

Marly is also very involved in the community life unfolding at LCS. She participates in daily Work Hour, is present at night to help the junior staff keep an eye on students during study hours, participates in work projects on weekends, and whenever there is a celebration at the school, Marly is always present to help the Koukouy Sen Kle dance group to prepare for their performances.

A woman with great dreams, Marly is about to earn her license in administration with a minor in tourism management from university. Her first dream is to create a koukouy program in her neighborhood. For Marly, "There should be a Koukouy Sen Kle in every neighborhood in Haiti.”

Marly Morland (right) with children from the Santo 5 neighborhood. — *Marly M. (right) with children from the neighborhood around LCS.*

Marly believes that such programs can help her neighborhood have lower juvenile delinquency, a lower infant mortality rate, keep families together and less child abuse. According to Marly, since her education helped her escape from certain situations that are likely to seal the fate of young women from her neighborhood, she wishes to offer the same opportunities to more children, especially girls from communities like hers, to have a better future through education.

Thanks in part to the Koukouy Sen Kle program that has been the inspiration for two of her biggest dreams, Marly is well on her way to making a positive difference in Haiti.