Haitian Children's Center
Tax deductible
My husband and I have made separate mission trips to Haiti and have been incredibly moved by the many needs of the people there, especially the children. As the Foreign Programs Director of Global Adoption Services, I was able to convince our board of directors and our church to start a program to improve facilities and increase the number of children who will be helped at a mission in a rural area two hours north of Port au Prince. Because Global Adoption Services is a small agency, and our church is only a mid-size suburban church, this is more than a little ambitious.
We are raising funds for two programs. The first is education.
The majority of Haitian Children get little or no education. There are no public schools near the little village where the mission is located, but there is a parochial school. The tuition is $30 per child per month. Last year I was able to find sponsors for 10 children for the April, May, June school term. My goal for this school year is to locate 30 sponsors. The fees are usually paid by the quarter (3 months), but can be made by the month or the year (3 quarters). Most families in Haiti are not able to afford tuition. Minimum wage is $5 a day when work can be found. If sponsors here want to provide their child with a backpack, they can be purchased in Haiti for $10. Sandals can be purchased for $2.50 for small sizes and $5 for larger sizes. Right now I have 5 children sponsored. Several of the sponsors from last year have not checked in yet, so I don’t know if they are going to continue sponsoring their child for the coming school year.
Children’s center. There are many homeless children in the area, and their situations are often dire. As an example, we are supporting an 8-year old girl. Her young mother abandoned her at birth and the father is not known. She sleeps at her Grandmother’s house at night and spends her days hanging out at the mission house. Her Grandmother is elderly and ill. Once her Grandmother passes away, she will have no one. She is only one child of many with similar sad stories. Although the practice is not legal, many children are forced into becoming restavek kids or child slaves. There is one article of many that explain the practice at http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/18/us-quake-haiti-restaveks-idUSTRE61H3F920100218. This article was from 2010, but is still pertinent today. We have found a house for rent that is next to the mission house that could house 20 to 24 kids. It would take around $10,000 to get the doors open. That would cover furnishings, rent, and upgrades such as electricity and a water supply. After that we need to find sponsors for the children at $30 per month to cover continuing expenses including food, staff and monthly rent. So the amount of money we are hoping to raise will cover the expenses for the first year of operation. Note that all of the money that we raise will go to direct support of the project in Haiti.
We know that this is a rather ambitious project, but we hope and pray that you will be moved to help these children with your donations.
We are raising funds for two programs. The first is education.
The majority of Haitian Children get little or no education. There are no public schools near the little village where the mission is located, but there is a parochial school. The tuition is $30 per child per month. Last year I was able to find sponsors for 10 children for the April, May, June school term. My goal for this school year is to locate 30 sponsors. The fees are usually paid by the quarter (3 months), but can be made by the month or the year (3 quarters). Most families in Haiti are not able to afford tuition. Minimum wage is $5 a day when work can be found. If sponsors here want to provide their child with a backpack, they can be purchased in Haiti for $10. Sandals can be purchased for $2.50 for small sizes and $5 for larger sizes. Right now I have 5 children sponsored. Several of the sponsors from last year have not checked in yet, so I don’t know if they are going to continue sponsoring their child for the coming school year.
Children’s center. There are many homeless children in the area, and their situations are often dire. As an example, we are supporting an 8-year old girl. Her young mother abandoned her at birth and the father is not known. She sleeps at her Grandmother’s house at night and spends her days hanging out at the mission house. Her Grandmother is elderly and ill. Once her Grandmother passes away, she will have no one. She is only one child of many with similar sad stories. Although the practice is not legal, many children are forced into becoming restavek kids or child slaves. There is one article of many that explain the practice at http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/18/us-quake-haiti-restaveks-idUSTRE61H3F920100218. This article was from 2010, but is still pertinent today. We have found a house for rent that is next to the mission house that could house 20 to 24 kids. It would take around $10,000 to get the doors open. That would cover furnishings, rent, and upgrades such as electricity and a water supply. After that we need to find sponsors for the children at $30 per month to cover continuing expenses including food, staff and monthly rent. So the amount of money we are hoping to raise will cover the expenses for the first year of operation. Note that all of the money that we raise will go to direct support of the project in Haiti.
We know that this is a rather ambitious project, but we hope and pray that you will be moved to help these children with your donations.
Organizer
Judy Williams
Organizer
Bel Air, MD
GLOBAL ADOPTION SERVICES INC
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
