It's reach is far and wide and debilitating and complicated.
There is no simple solution.
Here are the "solutions" I have heard and thought myself...
They need employment.
They need to finish school so they can get a job.
They need a stable food source.
They need shelter.
The problem lies in that each of these need to be established in order for poverty not to prevail in the lives I love in Haiti. Take one away and the pyramid inevitably crumbles. No job=no money for food or school. No food=hunger, higher risk of sickness, mental and physical limitations. No shelter=subject to the elements, no stability. No school=no hope of a future, no window to the outside world.
See how that goes. There is not just one piece of the puzzle. I can't solve the world's poverty, but I can't help but think God has put Haiti on our hearts and minds so we can have a hand in raising just a few out of it's grasp. Specifically, House of Love and Hope. Here we have an opportunity to come alongside someone and help them walk out from under a heavy load. Isn't that what we are asked to do? Christ carries our burdens and I think He uses us in each other's lives for that purpose.
So here is where I see a problem. Over the years that we have travelled to Haiti people have been beyond generous with their donations of supplies, money, and prayers. It has been amazing. The problem is these donations come and then they go. Think about it when you get a lump sum of money. Maybe it goes to a project. You build a deck or redecorate a room or go on a vacation. Maybe you pay off a bill. Most likely if you have a steady job, that lump sum goes towards something and it's gone. But what if you were given a lump sum, say 2 months worth of living expenses, every 6-9 months. And you didn't have a job. Or a vehicle. And you're the mother of 23 children and several others have depended on you to employ them as caretakers or cooks. How do you survive that? How do you manage that? You cut expenses, right? So 23 kids don't get to go to school, but that increases your daily food costs tremendously. So you cut food costs, which means those 23 children aren't eating 3 times a day. Their pyramid of stability is crumbling.
It's seems hopeless. Today started out like that. Feeling hopeless.
House of Love and Hope is currently in this cycle. Donations come, kids eat and then it's gone. A job is found, but it's not steady work if it continues at all.
So as so much of Haiti goes, school and food one month and neither the next 3. School for a few months, and none the rest of the year.
I'm searching for a viable solution. A sustainable one. One that isn't dependent on donations or charity. One that the orphanage can take ownership of.
I couldn't sleep last night. I kept thinking there must be a way to solve this short term while we look for a long term solution. And for whatever reason a chain letter giving tree came to mind. What if I found 10 people who would commit to being a sponsor long term. $50/month. And what if each of those 10 people found just 5 people who would do the same. And each of those 5, found 5 and so on and so on...What kind of ripple would that have? What kind of stability would that provide for those 23 children who currently have so very little stability in their lives? So, today that was rattling around in my head so I did some research, talked to Grace, talked to Kim. Lots of ideas and talking. Then Grace shoots me a text to check out www.fighttothrive.com They just so happened to have started following her on IG today. And guess what they do? Help orphanages find a sustainable income source. Weird, eh? So she contacts the founder via FB and the three of us chat for a bit. He passes on some great info and now our wheels are really turning.
So here's the plan in it's infancy...short term 2-4 years- provide enough through committed donors to give HOLH a baseline of stability. Food, education, transportation. During those years, work to develop a source of income for the orphanage. Ideas still coming in on that...Sew? Raise chickens? Bake bread?
That's it. Obviously, it will be more complicated then that, but that's the gist of it.
Hope is rising...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYC5m6JW0tY
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