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Want to join us in making a difference? We are raising money to benefit the children, staff, and community of the Restavec Freedom Alliance (RFA) Orphanage located in Chantal, Haiti. RFA is a non-profit organization that is located in Windham, CT and linked with Bethesda Evangelical Mission (BEM Inc.). RFA is ran by Ellen Graber Donohue and is dedicated to providing relief to Haitian children who were former child slaves. These child slaves, known as restavek (in Haitian creole, restavek means "to stay with") were given up by their families in hope for better lives. Unfortunately, these children were either made into child slaves or were at risk of becoming child slaves by wealthier Haitian adults. RFA has been taking in these children into custody since 2010 and have been committed to providing them with a better life. RFA currently has 30 children (girls and boys).
RFA's mission statement states "Our mission is to provide a safe, stable family centered environment for these children. Homes of refuge are created with a Pastor's family as the supporting parents. Each child will have access to an education, medical support, loving care, adequate food and clean facilities". It is our goal to continue to uphold this mission and support our children the best we can.
Unfortunately, COVID 19 has negatively impacted our financial support to RFA due to lack of fundraisers and lack of volunteer trips. There has also been an increase in costs, resulting in our two orphanages being consolidated into one. We now have one orphanage located in Chantal, Haiti and we no longer have an additional orphanage located in Ducis, Haiti. RFA is also dedicated to supporting the community of where our orphanages our/were located. We have approximately 80 children in the Ducis school from the community that previously attended at no cost, as our sponsors for our children living in Ducis covered the cost. Due to financial difficulty, the monthly cost of paying for our staff in Ducis can no longer be met. The RFA team is asking for your help in raising money so that we can continue to fully support each of our children in RFA and their community. Any donation will help make an impact!
For more information about RFA and BEM, please visit our websites at https://www.rfahaiti.org/ and https://www.bemhaiti.org/ . Please also follow our instagram @rfahaiti and like us on Facebook @ Restavec Freedom Alliance, BEM Inc.!
RFA's mission statement states "Our mission is to provide a safe, stable family centered environment for these children. Homes of refuge are created with a Pastor's family as the supporting parents. Each child will have access to an education, medical support, loving care, adequate food and clean facilities". It is our goal to continue to uphold this mission and support our children the best we can.
Unfortunately, COVID 19 has negatively impacted our financial support to RFA due to lack of fundraisers and lack of volunteer trips. There has also been an increase in costs, resulting in our two orphanages being consolidated into one. We now have one orphanage located in Chantal, Haiti and we no longer have an additional orphanage located in Ducis, Haiti. RFA is also dedicated to supporting the community of where our orphanages our/were located. We have approximately 80 children in the Ducis school from the community that previously attended at no cost, as our sponsors for our children living in Ducis covered the cost. Due to financial difficulty, the monthly cost of paying for our staff in Ducis can no longer be met. The RFA team is asking for your help in raising money so that we can continue to fully support each of our children in RFA and their community. Any donation will help make an impact!
For more information about RFA and BEM, please visit our websites at https://www.rfahaiti.org/ and https://www.bemhaiti.org/ . Please also follow our instagram @rfahaiti and like us on Facebook @ Restavec Freedom Alliance, BEM Inc.!