Meet Danita Estrella -- Founder/CEO 

Danita Estrella is the founder and chief executive officer of Danita’s Children/ Hope for Haiti Children’s Center. In 1998, after joining a group of American doctors on a trip to the Dominican Republic, assisting as an interpreter, the group crossed over to spend a day visiting Haiti. When they crossed over into Haiti, Danita was distraught by what she saw. Children digging for food in trashcans, wandering the streets alone, with little or no clothing; the filth and poverty was pervasive. Danita says that her heart leapt inside her that day, and she knew she had to return.

As a young adult, Danita had been a representative for a cosmetic company and wasn’t pursuing her original commitment to the lord. A successful business woman, Danita was pursuing the American dream, but felt empty and unfulfilled on the inside. In 1990, she rededicated her life to the Lord and spent the next several years serving in the local church. When Danita returned from that mission trip in 1998, she knew her life would never be the same. Two months later, alone and with just a few suitcases, she returned to Haiti with no prior mission experience, little income, and not knowing the language; but she did have a willing heart to execute whatever it was the God was asking of her.

 As word got out that this woman was starting an orphanage, pastors in the village began calling on Danita to help the orphaned and abandoned children. In January of 2000, with fourteen children and a rented home, Danita’s Children/Hope for Haiti Children’s Center was started. 

"With little more than a few suitcases and a willing `heart, in 1999 I set out to pursue a dream,” says Danita. “I knew what God had put in my heart. I wasn't quite sure how it would, or could, all come together. Many of my friends and family were supportive. But there were a few who told me it was impossible for a young American woman, all alone to make that dream a reality. However, I knew in my heart that 'everything is possible for him who believes.' (Mark 9:23) And so I started. With 14 orphans and a rented house, my dream of taking care of orphaned children in Haiti became a reality.”

Today, Danita spends most of her time in Haiti providing oversight to the organization which has grown to more than 80 staff members, and is known to all as Mami Danita. As a mother to more than 100 children, she is a beautiful example of a Proverbs 31 woman, “her children shall rise up and call her blessed”, and has become a respected and vital part of the community and village of Ouanaminthe.  

As a speaker and teacher, one of Danita’s greatest gifts is her ability to encourage others, especially women, to step out, without fear, to follow their God-given dreams and to make a difference in their world.

Learn more about Danita's Children.
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