The oldest of three children, Brit was a strong, independent and happy young woman who yearned for a life-changing experience in Haiti. She always rooted for the underdog.

“Brit saw the beauty of people in Haiti and that’s what she fell in love with, especially the children. She was where she was supposed to be,” said Cherylann.

Two days after the devastating quake, Lynn University officials notified Brit's family that their daughter and her fellow students were being evacuated to Florida. Relieved, Brit’s family boarded a flight to greet her. And yet it didn't feel right.

“But something wasn’t adding up. If you knew Brit, you knew she would’ve called,” said Len.

When they arrived in Boca Raton, Florida, there was no celebration at Lynn University. Brit wasn’t there. There was miscommunication and the university had been misinformed.

“In 48 hours we lost our daughter twice. It’s every parent's worst nightmare to lose a child -- but to lose her twice in 48 hours is just unfathomable,” said Len.

Ten days later Len Gengel went on a discovery mission to Haiti to find his daughter’s body, with the assistance of the State Department. Once again, Len returned to Massachusetts without his daughter.

It would take 33 days for Brit’s body to finally be found under the rubble of the Hotel Montana.

"We wanted our daughter home," said Len. " We saw so many bodies being buried in mass graves."

The last photo taken of Brit took was a picture of her smiling, surrounded by children.

Motivated to keep their daughter’s memory alive, despite their grief, the Gengels decided to bring her dream to life and build an orphanage in Haiti they called “Be Like Brit.”

“You fly in and you see beautiful mountains and this island. But you get on the ground and poverty is everywhere,” said Len. “The basic needs for a human are not being met.”

After the quake, more than 4,000 Haitian children became instant orphans. Identifying the 66 children that would live there was difficult. “We wanted children ages three to eight and we wanted siblings to stay together,” explained Cherylann.

70 percent of the children at “Be Like Brit” have parents that were killed in the earthquake and 30 percent come from dire situations like severe starvation or abuse.

“They are our children. We are raising the next generation of leaders for Haiti,” said Len.