It is estimated that about one million orphans live in Haiti. Many children lose their parents to the disastrous earthquakes and hurricanes that pathetically claimed many lives and properties. While many orphans have one parent, some have none. In most cases, children that even have both parents are sent to the orphanage because of the prevailing poverty in the nation. Many parents are too poor to afford to feed their children, clothe them, buy them play tools, enroll them to schools, and more. Hence, the orphanage becomes a preferred destination for most Haiti children. Many parents believe that living in the orphanage will be an advantage for their children to experience a better living having access to food, clothes, shelter and education.
Although poverty was apparent in the country before the January 2010 incidence, the disaster further aggravated the poverty intensity causing tens of thousands of Haitians to be homeless. The case of homelessness in Haiti is no more news. While there are orphanages in Haiti, many children still wander around the street looking for daily survival.
To worsen the matter, some human trafficking individuals are grabbing the opportunity to amass wealth from the pitiable condition of the homeless, underprivileged children. They are forcing vulnerable children into hard labor under the pretense of helping the poor children. They make them live in filth and distress.
Orphans in Haiti are suffering from different kinds of affliction. Many children are suffering from shattering neglect and apparent abuse. A larger percentage of Haiti orphans are in deplorable living conditions nursing one disease or the other. Haiti children need urgent help.
MAJOR CHALLENGES OF THE HAITI ORPHANS
1. Homelessness. The January 12 7.0 magnitude quake destroyed so many homes leaving tens of thousands of Haitians homeless. Since the awful incidence, average Haitians cannot afford to reconstruct another home having lost their jobs, businesses and whatever resources they can use to reestablish. Presently, many orphans are desperately looking for a place to lay their heads after the daily hustle to live.
2.Shortage of Food. The disastrous earthquakes and hurricanes have damaged Haiti’s farmlands. The local agricultural output is nothing compared to the population of the residents. While children that have parents are still struggling to feed per day, orphans are left in a hopeless condition. Not having at least a single parent in Haiti means intensified hunger or malnutrition. In a country where many families go two or three days without food, what is the fate of the orphans?
3.Lack of quality education. The education system of Haiti has been in a failing condition even before the January 12 quake. However, after the disaster, the education system becomes worse. Haiti orphans lack quality education. Many parents have lost their jobs, businesses and other means of survival to the life-threatening hurricanes and earthquakes. Four out of every five schools in Haiti are privately owned with high tuition fees. Although, there are a few low-cost primary schools, the abject poverty in the country has handicapped many underprivileged parents to enroll their children to school.
4. Lack of clothing. Because of nobody to cater for them, many orphans in Haiti go around either naked or in dirty, tattered clothes. Seeing the vulnerable children in that condition is very pitiful. Whether in the sun or rain, no matter the weather, many of them remain naked.
5. Lack of medical care. The disaster also destroyed several hospitals and other medical facilities in the country. Since the massive destruction, the country has been wanting in terms of medical care. There’s a shortage of medical facilities, experienced medical practitioners, drugs, and most modern medical equipment. Haiti is not categorized among the healthy nations in the world due to chronic malnutrition, illiteracy, and shortage of medical facilities. Absence of cloth on their bodies has made some a regular abode for all kinds of sicknesses. The health situation in Haiti in an emergency!
Our contributions to saving the vulnerable children
Illuminating Lives Foundation runs a godly, future-focused orphanage called Children of Light Orphanage. Every month Children of Light Orphanage share thousands of food packages to the orphans in different communities aside from the orphans in the orphanage. Every orphan in our orphanage eats three healthy, tasty square meal per day. We believe that when hunger is quenched, poverty is relieved. We feed the orphans in our care to satisfaction. For many orphans, our donations are the only food they eat throughout the month.
Through the orphanage, we provide godly love to the abused, malnourished, children. We are constantly striving to provide the love and care they are missing from their parents. Children of Light Orphanage is committed to saving the future of the country while saving the future of the vulnerable orphans.
In response to the constantly growing demand to care for the innocent children, we are providing a loving Christian home for the vulnerable children to heal them from the pain of abuse, slavery, malnourishment, being abandoned, being orphaned and more. For the little children who still need motherly care to survive, we have a team of experienced mothers who are ready to care the orphans like their own.
We have many orphans on our enrolment lists. We care for the education of the orphans from kindergarten to tertiary level. While we enroll children for quality education in several standard private schools, we are also constructing schools for children in rural areas. Orphans in the most remote areas are seriously suffering from lack of education facilities. We go to the most interior regions and erect standard schools for the orphans.
Aside from the physical needs of the orphans we provide, we teach the orphans in our orphanage the word of God. We believe that what a child needs is more than the food, cloth and shelter. There’s a need for the little children to discover their purpose in life and advance towards the right destination in life. We help the orphans to become the person of their dreams and an object of honor in society.
