In October we had the opportunity to meet both directors of the child sponsorship organizations we will be serving, left to right, Marie Lucie (MEBSH) and Adline and husband Lumenes (HCH). The other two gentlemen are Tim Butikofer and Tom Neuenschwander, AC World Relief directors.
Besides working with the MEBSH child sponsorship office that the Apostolic Christian World Relief organization supports, we will also serve as administrators for a second organization: HCH (Help a Child in Haiti) based in Port-au-Prince. Last October we spent extended time with the HCH director, Adline, her husband Lumenes and their assistant, Joel. We were able to visit seven of their eight southern Haiti rural schools, where their organization currently handles 450 sponsored students! The young lady we sponsor, Mantha, attends one of the HCH schools.
Words cannot express how much these people love the children they help. Adline’s family was very poor and she experienced the blessing and wonder of having her own education sponsored. She related that it was her sponsor who was the the first person to ever tell her that she was loved. She understands the children and the families she serves! Her words: “There are so many opportunities to help. The children have nothing. And many of them just need love and to be told someone loves them. We can do that!”
Adline and Joel questioning a student about her brother’s school attendance. “He doesn’t have any shoes.” (The money was quickly provided for that need!)
At one school Adline was questioning a student why her brother wasn’t coming to school.They were speaking to each other in Creole when suddenly Adline walked away from us. She came back after awhile and apologized for getting emotional. She explained that the student told her that her brother doesn’t have shoes to wear to school. It brought back all the emotions of her youth because she had to share a pair of shoes with her brothers. Parents favor sending their sons to school so she seldom got to go.
Truthfully, when you see rooms full of quiet children neatly dressed in uniforms you don’t immediately register poverty and need. What you see is the result of a sponsor’s giving (or for those not sponsored the money is scraped together by some families or only partially paid when they have to choose between fees or books or food).
If you don’t already sponsor a child’s Christian education, we encourage you to consider what a tremendous blessing that only $30 a month would be to a child and their family. There are children waiting to be sponsored! Go to this link for more information:
http://www.acworldrelief.org/sponsorships/
Waiting in the shade for school to start!
School begins with singing the national anthem and prayer.
This rural school holds high school classes in this structure. Classrooms are separated by tarps.
They pointed out that many students for this school walked five miles over the distant hills to attend!
I love how the light bursts through the doorway of this empty, dimly lit classroom.
It reminds me of Psalm 119:130…”The entrance of Your word gives light.”
Who can put a price on a Christian education in a third world country?
His Heart for Haiti 
February 23, 2014 at 1:20 am
Thanks so much for sharing about the child sponsorship programs and giving a personal glimpse into the children’s lives. May God be with you and your family during this time of transition and learning.
February 23, 2014 at 2:31 am
Thanks for your support and prayers. We know you truly understand.