By Mary Pritchard, Contributing Writer

Katrina Foley (right) and her daughter, Meghan (left), with two of the children who live at the Be Like Brit Orphanage in Haiti. (Photos/submitted)
Shrewsbury – Katrina and Meghan Foley experienced a life-changing week this summer at the Be Like Brit (BLB) Orphanage in Grand Goave, Haiti. BLB was built by the Gengel family of Holden in memory of Britney Gengel, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti claimed her life during a service trip with her college.
Britney’s parents, Len and Cherylann, were inspired to build and operate the orphanage by a text message Britney sent to her mother just three hours before the earthquake struck: “They love us so much and everyone is so happy. They love what they have and they work so hard to get nowhere, yet they are all so appreciative. I want to move here and start an orphanage myself.”
Katrina, a kindergarten teacher at Mary Finn School in Southborough, felt drawn to BLB from the beginning.
“In 2008 my 22-year-old niece died unexpectedly from pulmonary hypertension,” she said. “When Britney was missing after the earthquake and when it was announced that she had died it brought back so many memories of my niece passing away. I felt the grief over my niece again, a strong connection with the family, and the need to do something for them.”

Katrina and Meghan Foley with Len and Richie Gengel and some of the children who live at the Be Like Brit Orphanage in Haiti.
She followed BLB closely and she and her husband began sponsoring two children. In 2013 they attended the BLB fundraising gala.
“I was so over-the-moon excited to meet Cherylann and Len,” she recalled. “That Christmas, staff members at my school donated items from Cherylann’s wish list and cash to BLB.”
Katrina’s son, Sean, was a BLB “Britsionary” with St John’s High School last year and this year it was Katrina’s turn, along with her daughter, Meghan, 20, a junior at Endicott College.
Their first day at BLB began with an orientation, including a Creole lesson; however, they also had translators.
“Britsionaries build a house each week that they’re there,” Meghan said. “On day one our team of 14 people from Massachusetts met the family and took their house down. It was more like a hut, about 10 by 10, made of tin pieces randomly nailed together. Two adults and a child had been sleeping on a ‘bed’ of concrete blocks the size of an average kitchen table covered with cardboard.”
In addition to building the house, the team made bedframes and bought pillows and sheets for the family.
“I worked harder than I had ever worked in my life – we all did. Everyone worked together,” Katrina said. “The family was so grateful. The man said ‘I’ve never had a mattress, and now I don’t have to worry about the rain coming into the house.’ Everyone on our team went to bed thinking about them having a bed for the first time that night.”
Both women praise the Gengel family’s commitment to being good neighbors in Grand Goave and beyond as the BLB Foundation strives to “raise the next generation of leaders in Haiti.”

(l-r) Meghan and Katrina Foley work on building a house for a local family during their trip to the Be Like Brit Orphanage in Haiti.
“Every day at 5 p.m. Len opens the BLB water supply for the community. People walk miles with buckets and start lining up at 3 in the afternoon for water,” Katrina said. “My favorite thing was that the kids at BLB sing all the time – it makes you so happy.”
“It’s life-changing,” Meghan, 20, said. “This really opened my eyes to service. At the end of the day it’s so satisfying to know you changed someone’s life. My definition of success has changed.”
When they left, the team left everything in their suitcases behind for neighbors of BLB.
“Once you see people with literally no clothes ? you just want to give them anything you can,” Meghan said.
The Foleys plan to return to BLB as a family.
“The best thing was spending time with the kids,” Meghan said. “When neighbors around BLB see you, they run to you. Just sitting with them during our breaks from our work was great. They’re so happy to visit and hold your hand. While it was the best part, it was also the hardest because some of the kids are so sick and malnourished. That’s hard to see. Knowing that the kids at BLB are taken care of, and will be okay is comforting to me.”
For information about BLB, visit belikebrit.org.