Today’s update will be another profile of one of our most successful families. Moda and Ricardo have four wonderful daughters, Louis Manie (15), Dieudonne (14), Yeni (13), Nini (11). The two oldest girls have been in the foundation since we opened our doors in October, 2010. The younger two joined within a year of us opening.
Left to Right: Luis Manie, Moda, Dieudonne, Nini, Ricardo, Yeni
Moda and Ricardo are excellent, loving, hard working parents. Since the day I interviewed them about their girls entering the foundation, they have been actively involved in our work, doing all they can to ensure their girls will be able to achieve real success. They met in Haiti before immigrating to the Dominican Republic in search of a better life. In the DR, Ricardo worked in the plantain fields and Moda sold lentils in the street. Moda is actually the cousin of Jeantilia(the woman we profiled in February). She has an excellent sense of humor, albeit one largely centered around empty threats. She was one of the original Good Threads stitchers and is someone we trust and respect.
Ricardo is actually from a remote village in the mountains a few hours from Jacmel. He had not seen or heard from his family for 20 years before coming to Jacmel. I only hired women for the first year or so of Good Threads. It was Ricardo that broke the gender barrier by showing up and standing in line with the women to get work. At the time other men were too proud to do a job they saw as a woman’s job, but Ricardo’s priority is his girls, and when he saw an opportunity to make more money he took it. Coincidentally he is one of our best stitchers when it comes to quality of work. Ricardo is about as unthreatening and tranquil as you can be but he is a apparently a Lion when it comes to scaring off teenage boy suitors for his girls. It particularly comical because the older boys all try to give off a rough and tough exterior but are deeply scared of tranquil Ricardo.
Their girls are truly exceptional. The oldest, Louis Manie is one of those people that is just good at everything. She is one of the smartest girls in the foundation, is hard working, responsible, kind, confident, popular and probably the most talented dancer of all the girls, and that’s saying something. She is a natural leader and extremely positive person. When she entered the foundation she wanted to be a nurse, which quickly changed to doctor. She has been focused on that goal ever since and we are sure that she will achieve her dream.
Luis Manie at far left, Dieudonne on far right. Picture taken in 2011
The second oldest is Dieudonne. She is probably the wildest and most goofy of our older girls. She is an excellent dancer and is one of the four girls that were chosen to train with the “professional” dance company where many of the kids take lessons on the weekends. She is endlessly joking around with the other older kids. She is not quite as dedicated to her studies as Louis Manie, but is a good student and is definitely on track to go to college when she finishes high school.
The third daughter is Yeni, and she is probably the best female athlete in the Foundation. In the DR, we played a game that was kind of like tag but with teams, rules and a different objective. The game was more about quickness than straight line speed and Yeni was the only young girl that was able to compete with the teenage boys and girls. She is shier than her sisters, but is kind and also on track to go to college.
The youngest, Nini, is a character. As she is only in 4th grade, it’s hard to say if she is a better student than Louis Manie, but she is close. She has a ton of attitude and is quite funny. She is also a good athlete and good dancer. She has been with us since she was about five and has been the favorite of several interns. We even had one intern that was convinced that Nini was cute enough to get us big publicity. Nini is definitely on pace to be a total stud.
Nini in 2012
Nini in early 2016
