February 15-22, 2016
For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
— Ecclesiastes 7:12
For many families that live in Haiti, there are two things that they struggle with each day: Food and education, and here at Love A Child these are two of our biggest Outreach Programs.
Education is a basic human right. Yet in Haiti, where the literacy rate is only about 61 percent, devastating poverty has made this basic human right beyond the reach of most poor Haitian families.
Therein lies the problem: In the rural areas of Haiti, we see this crisis every day. Fifty percent of children do not attend school and of those that do attend primary school, 30 percent will not make it to the third grade.
Sixty percent of students will give up on school altogether before the sixth grade. Today, only 29 percent of Haitians over the age of 25 attended a secondary school.
Through our Child Sponsorship Program, a Haitian child will receive a Christian education in a caring, loving environment, nutritious food, and medical care. This is our mission to bring a better future for the children of Haiti. But we can’t do this alone.
Right now we have over 8,000 children in our 16 Love A Child schools, and the program is growing. In fact, expanding so quickly we are outgrowing our school in Fond Parisien.
Now we face another challenge; some of our schools are overcrowded with too many students. This is a GOOD problem. It means our Child Sponsorship Program is working, thanks to you and all our partners, we are saving lives and building a better future for these children.
But the other side of the coin is that we will need to build more schools and expand others. At our Love A Child School in Fond Parisien, we are “busting out at the seams.” The school was originally built to hold about 325 students. Today we have over 800 children who attend this school. We have had to move classrooms outside under tents to hold all the extra children.
We have many parents who are anxious to get their children into a Love A Child School. They have all heard that they are good schools and that their children will be fed and receive medical care. There are no “free” schools in Haiti.
Even though Haiti’s constitution requires that public school education is offered free, the Haitian government has not been able to fulfill that obligation. The government provides very few public schools, especially in rural areas.
Many of the schools are international private schools that are run by organizations from Canada, France or the United States, and church-run schools, which educate about 90 percent of the Haiti’s children. Christian missionaries provide education to around 600,000 children, which is about one-third of the school-age population. Love A Child educates about 8,000 of those children. Here is our latest new (rebuilt) Love A Child School in Greffin that we recently completed.
We are repairing the Love A Child School in Savaan Pit, but our next priority is to build additional classrooms for the Love A Child School in Fond Parisien. We are in a crisis and we can’t keep adding tents. God doesn’t know we don’t have the money to build. We need your help to raise $40,000 to add on to the Love A Child Fond Parisien School.
We have many children on the waiting list like Belanda, and her brother Bedlah. Their father begged us to let his children come to school so that they could get an education and one meal a day. They are desperate to come to school and learn.
This is Rosemitha, who can only dream of going to school because each day is filled with work. Like so many poor Haitian children, she will never get to be a child.
Many school children have to walk over two hours from home to school, often without eating any breakfast, and then back again in the afternoon. But each child will get a hot, delicious meal at school, and this is what drives the families to get their children into school, not only for the education but for the food too.
Child Sponsorship provides a good Christian education, uniforms, books and school supplies. They also receive a hot, nutritious meal each day and regular medical check-ups and basic health care.
Most families would not be able to send their child to school if it were not for your help when you sponsor a child. For only $24 a month, you can change the life of a poor child in Haiti and open up a world of possibilities. Haitians place a very high value on education and literacy, which is a sign of some prestige. Schoolchildren wear their school uniforms with pride.
Many, many children are waiting for sponsors, and they cannot go to school without your help! More importantly, sponsorship shows these children that someone loves them and cares about their future.
Child Sponsorship is one of the greatest blessings in the world. Each day, hundreds of poor Haitian children leave their mud huts, and their “empty bowls” to walk across the mountains to a beautiful Christian school! They have hot meals, a Christian education, medical check-ups, and most of all these children have sponsors who “really love them.” These children will someday “change lives” and the future of Haiti. Pray about SPONSORING A CHILD today.
Please give prayerful consideration to help build additional classrooms for our school in Fond Parisien. We originally needed $90,000, but we have raised $50,000. We still lack $40,000 to build the Love A Child Fond Parisian additional school rooms. This is the only way to open doors for the children of this area. Please call our office at 239-210-6107 and let a staff member know that you want to help.
God bless you,
Sherry