Why Not You: You Too Can Sponsor a Haitian Child Affected by the Jan. 12 Earthquake

Why not You? You Too Can Sponsor a Haitian Child Affected by Jan. 12/2010 Earthquake: Just Select a Need to Meet among the Sea of Unlimited Needs

Many of you have called and written to me (sponsorachildemail@gmail.com), asking whether you can sponsor a Haitian child, a Haitian family, a Haitian church or a Haitian school. You have been wondering about what you can do to help. Let me just tell you that I have good news for you. No matter how small your contribution to a Haitian child or family may be, it will be highly appreciated and welcome in these dire times. Just imagine that for the amount of change you spend at Starbucks and McDonald's, you can help feed a hungry child and give hope to a Haitian family who lost everything in the rubbles of the quake.

SponsorandFeedaChild Program gives you the opportunity to meet the needs of the families and children living in outlying areas affected by the quake. These communities are outside of Port-au-Prince. The relief agencies workers may not know them. No wonder they concentrate their relief efforts on Port au Prince only. According to my sources on the grounds, the food distribution you see in the ravaged, devastated areas of Port-au-Prince has not reached them in the provinces. Knowing the country and taking into account the various infrastructure barriers that exist right now, I can tell you that people living in Carrefour, Leogane, Gressier, Carrefour du Fort, Fauche, Grande Ravine, Thozin, Morne Tapion, Jeanty, Gwo Dlo, Tete-a-Boeuf, Ti Paradi (Petit Paradis), Papette, Petit Goave and beyond will continue to be without food and water for some time to come.

SponsorandFeedaChild Program was created by a group of close friends in June 2008 after my trip to the country and after having spent close to 18 years in the United States of America. That was before the 4 hurricanes and destructive floods of 2008 hit the country. The needs were unlimited then. After the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, multiply them by 100! Now you can understand the urgency that drives and motivates our actions. Our roots are deep in the rural areas of Haiti.

SponsorandFeedaChild relies on its network of concerned local correspondents, residents of these various regions and members of the rural communities to assess the needs and reach out to the very needy people among them. I have heard from them all. Their situation is very serious and dire. Depending on the availability of funds in "Haiti Rural Development Funds," SponsorandFeedaChild plans on working with the various rural development groups that are looking forward to rebuilding potable water cisterns or wells, rebuilding schools, clinics and orphanages that were destroyed by the quake. So your donations are all the more urgent and important.

SponsorandFeedachild Program is also interested in long-term sustainability projects encouraging entrepreneurship, incubating, and sparking microbusiness development with and for Haitian women. This way, they can reach self-sufficiency in the near future. After all, the Haitian women are the glue that keeps the family together.

For now, we will focus on stabilizing the situation by meeting the primary needs!

Now, set your priorities straight. Make up your mind and decide to sponsor one of these groups:

1.) For a monthly commitment of as little as $30 or as much as you want to contribute per month, you can sponsor a Haitian child. You will receive news of the child and his/her family. Once our volunteers are equipped with digital cameras, they will be able to take a picture of your sponsored child. We'll send it to you!

2.) You can choose to sponsor a Haitian family with more than 4 mouths to feed for as little as $50 or as much as you want on a monthly basis. The outcome of your donations is that a family will be kept in tact. The children will be able to find shelter and food. SponsorandFeedaChild is aiming at stabilizing the living conditions of such families.

3.) School Rebuilding: With a one-time or more donation to SponsorandFeedaChild, you can help rebuild a school that will educate Haitian children.

4.) Medical Care and Clinics: You can choose to help heal the broken bodies of Haitian children affected by the quake. Help meet their primary needs with your donation.

5.) If you are a religious person, you can sponsor a religious group, a missionary etc.

6,) If you are thinking about addressing major problems affecting Haitian rural communities such as lack of job creation and economic investment, you may want to donate to "Haiti Rural Communities Fund." Go to http://helphaitiquake.blogspot.com to see what you can do.