Myself and my sons have been actively participating with Hope for Haiti’s Children for 6 years. People do not understand that there is no government help offered to the population of Haiti.Think about this. There is No welfare, No food stamps, No IBT Cards, few to No hospitals, No doctors offices, No Dentist offices ( I have personally pulled two molar teeth from a woman without anesthesia with a dentist because there is no practical way to fill them and they can’t stand another day with the pain), No public Health care, No flushing toilets, No public sanitary sewers , No grocery stores other than those in the biggest cities, No public schools (only those sponsored get to go to school), No running water (women walk up to 5 miles one way to get a 5 gallon bucket of water for the day for her family), No electricity – 90% of homes do not have electricity (electricity is spotty for those that do have it), No air conditioning, No gas lines into homes, No trees to cut down for firewood for their food stoves (Almost all of the trees in Haiti have been cut down and sold by past Dictators), No Cable TV, No internet and Little to no food.
I got involved with Hope for Haiti’s Children when my next door neighbor invited me to go the first time because of my construction knowledge. The group that I have been going with have built the majority of the school classroom buildings in Thomazeau.
When the large school open area below the truss structure is not in session or when church is not going on it is used as a community area for all of the neighboring residents. One of the main reasons that I continue to go back year after year is how happy Haitians are, even though they have little to be happy about. The joy that they express when we build a new classroom, build a bakery, give away “cappies” (baseball caps), pay them a few dollars day to help us work, teach them how to build something or make something, play with them, children and adults alike, it makes it all worth while.
A few years ago I gave a Haitian family $50. A couple of days later they were back asking me through an interpreter to come to their house so that they could show me something. They wanted me to see the new goat and some gravel for their yard they had purchased with the money. It was important to them for me to see that they hadn’t wasted the money that they were given. The goat was a female and was pregnant, the interpreter explained to me that they would get milk and babies from this goat. This would help to feed the family for a long time.
My wife has made a commitment to sponsor a child along with their family. But, the work that we do when we go with Hope for Haiti’s Children helps hundreds of families in multiple cities across Haiti.
I choose to give my efforts to Hope for Haiti’s Children because of the work that I found them to do. I was always weary of giving money to an organization that I could not know if the money was actually going to the people and not into someone’s pocket. I have seen first hand that all of the money that myself and others donate to Hope for Haiti’s Children goes to the children and families in Haiti. Hope for Haiti’s Children is a Not for Profit organization that employs both Haitian and US citizens that work directly for the benefits of the organization. We receive a yearly Report Card on the health and wellbeing of Berkenley, the child that my family sponsors. The Report Card gives us updates on medical care that has been given and his educational progress through the year.
How others can help: (Follow the links below to Hope for Haiti’s Children website)
If you or someone that you know is interested in becoming involved with this organization and have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly and I would be happy to give you more information.
I urge you to consider sponsoring a child and their family so that they can go to school – education is what it will take to help finally save this country and help them to succeed.
Go directly to Hope for Haiti’s Children for more information.