REMEMBER THE CHILDREN

AUGUST 16, 2010

After a few months of several meetings with people in a section of Cite Soleil, Haiti’s infamous slum, and after much discussion and prayer Heartline is moving toward sponsoring 50 children to go to school.  Of the 50 children, 46 will be from Cite Soleil and 4 from the Delmas area of Haiti.

WHY?  It isn’t as if we are not way busy already as we endeavor to touch lives and make a difference in Haiti.  We are expanding our programs and have even purchased land where we will build among other things a 20 bed clinic.  We are stretched thin, work long hours, and seemingly have no time for another activities.  And yet there are times when God says, "I want you to do this and I will provide the strength, support group, and the finances to make this happen." And this is one of those times.

Cite Soleil

When I think of Cite Soleil a myriad of thoughts pass through my mind.  I think of the tens of thousands of tin roofed houses so closely placed that you can only walk single file in the alleyways that separate the houses. I think of the dismal condition and abject poverty which defines Cite Soleil.  I as well think of Cite Soleil as a place where there are children, children, and children.  And so many of them just seem to be in the streets, and alleyways just sitting with nothing to do. 

INFO:

Forget about nice sidewalks and streets. 

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE INFORMATION BELOW AND SHARE IT WITH OTHERS

Less
than half of all Haitians can read and write, more than half of the nation’s
children fail to reach the fifth grade, and only one in five young people reach
secondary school, reports Xinhua News Agency (May 20, 1999):

The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides these figures on Haiti in its
report, "The State of the World’s Children 1999", the agency’s wide-ranging
examination of challenges to the right of all children to basic education;
According to UNICEF, 58% percent of Haiti’s current educational facilities were
not built originally to serve as schools. Many classrooms are so overcrowded
that only one in four children has a place to sit. And almost two-thirds of all
children abandon primary school before completing the six-year course. The vast
majority of schools lack trained teachers and less than half the children have
access to textbooks

Over
80% of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty. Haiti is one of the most
impoverished nations in the Western Hemisphere. The unemployment rate is
estimated to be around 60 percent; and the literacy rate is approximately 45
percent.  Half the population of
Haiti earns $60 or less per year. The total expenditure on health per person is
$54 (compared to $4,499 in the USA and $483 in Mexico).

Less
than 45 percent of all Haitians have access to potable water. The life
expectancy rate in Haiti is only 53 years. Seventy-six percent of Haiti’s
children under the age of five are underweight, or suffer from stunted growth
and 63 percent of Haitians are undernourished. Ninety percent of all HIV and
AIDS infections in the Caribbean are in Haiti: over 300,000 infected people
have been identified and deaths from HIV/AIDS have left 163,000 children
orphaned. Tuberculosis remains a major cause of adult mortality; rates are
thought to be the highest in the hemisphere. Cases of TB in Haiti are more than
ten times as high as those in other Latin American countries. Haiti’s infant mortality
rate is staggering: 74 deaths per 1,000 live births and the maternal mortality
rate is approximately 1400 deaths for every 100,000. Only 1 in every 10,000
Haitians has access to a physician.

 

The average daily wage is $2, and 80
percent of the roughly 8 million people live below the poverty line. Haiti has
just three airports with paved runways.



According to the CIA World Factbook, Haiti is a major Caribbean transshipment
point for cocaine en route to the US and Europe and the venue for substantial
money-laundering activity. Narcotics traffickers favor Haiti for illicit
financial transactions, and its proximity to Cuba makes it strategically attractive
to non-Haiti interests.

TODAY early this morning Pierre from the Heartline Office left to go to Cite Soleil to pay the registration fee for 46 students.  It is seven hours later and he is still not back. 

QUESTION:  So then John, Heartline has received the support needed to send these children to school?  ANSWER: No we have not and I’m not sure when we will reach our goal of having the money to sponsor 50 children, but we are moving forward and will believe God that He will touch the hearts of those who value education and have a heart for those who couldn’t possibly attend school with out help.

I am challenging educators and those who have never had to worry about paying for education and those who have been helped by others so you could reach your dream of attending school.  We are asking your help to send 50 children to school for the 2010/2011 school year.  These will be children that you may never meet face to face but who I can assure you will not squander the opportunity if given to them. 

PLEASE help us help others.  For more information go to: MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY SPONSORING A CHILD TO GO TO SCHOOL

John McHoul

Port au Prince, Haiti