Nick and Gwenn Mangine. We got married in October of 2000.And here's a little info on the gaggle of kids in our home. We have grown our family in some traditional and non-traditional ways. We believe that family is chosen and permanent. Two of are kids are biological, we adopted one, eight are in the long-term custody of the organization, and one is in our personal custody with intent to adopt.
The children of Joy in Hope are not available for adoption. We think adoption is a fantastic thing (obviously) but it is not the focus of our work here. Instead, we want to give orphaned, abandoned, and enslaved children the opportunity to grow up in their own culture in a strong family. It is our desire that this opportunity will translate into well-educated, healthy and adjusted community members when they are ready to enter society. We believe that strategy can ultimately lead to Jacmel becoming greatly strengthened over several generations, which will lead to ripples throughout Haiti.
We generally accept children between the ages of 5-12. And then they stay with us for the long haul! We've made a long term commitment to these kids.
Here are our kids in the order they came into our family--
Nia-- Born July 2003 (biological)
Nico- Born November 2004, Joined family July 2007
Josiah- Born June 2007 (biological)
Fritzie- Born September 1994, Joined family September 2009
Prisca- Born June 2002, Joined family September 2009
Wildarne- Born September 2003, Joined family- September 2009
Jean Louis- Born December 1997, Joined family December 2009
Jerry- Born December 2001, Joined family December 2009
Yves- Born February 1998 (date in question), Joined family March 2010
Sanndi- Born July 2001, Joined family July 2010
Manita- Born July 2006, Joined family December 2010
Schneider- Born November 2010, Joined family June 2011
And our dog, Piman, too... She's not a kid but she's a great part of the insanity of our home.Here's all of us in one place at one time: The Mangine Many (as we like to call ourselves)
Side
note: Long ago we realized that we'd never have a truly good family
photo where everyone is smiling/happy, open-eyed, etc. So we just
embrace the disheveled-everyone-is-looking-different-direction kind of
look. But this strategy comes with a warning. Just because a kid might
look like they are a mass murderer in this picture doesn't mean they
actually are one. =For example, in this picture, our likely future
mass murder is smiling... (JUST KIDDING!)
