It has been very interesting week learning about poverty and its
affect on children and families around the world. I have not yet heard from my
international counterparts from Haiti. Although my colleagues and me where
given a website to research as an alternative, we were unable to search the
site because of a broken link. As an additional alternative, I decided to find
a website related to my place of choice regarding poverty, children, and
families. I found an organization, “Haiti Foundation Against Poverty (HFAP);”
it provided the history of the founder and what services they offered to children
and families of Haiti. In 2007, Mallery Neptune desired to spread the Gospel
and help children in need, so she founded HFAP, a non-profit organization to
empower widowed, poor, and orphaned children of Haiti. With all of Neptune’s
efforts, she has helped to establish many things to
help children and families who live in poverty including, Les Bours School of Hope, a Christian school
for the children in Haiti and The Clinic of Hope for students who need care.
She has also established an infant rescue clinic called the Hope House for wounded
and malnutrition children. The list of things Neptune has done to help these
children and families are endless.
I have learned so many new things about Haiti. Their children and
families are empowered to fight against poverty and its affect through the help
of HFAP. With this organization, both children and families are able to receive
medical services from the clinic; children are able to receive an education
from the school, and all children and families who live in poverty can receive
meals from the “Food Foundation.” Neptune has provided the women of Haiti with
a development program to assistance them in learning new skills to care for their
children as well as an income to care for their children after treatment at the
Hope House.
I have gained many new insights and information from this website
related to poverty and how it affects children and families. Poverty is very prominent
in Haiti; many of the children and their families struggle each day to stay
alive. If it were not for the efforts of Mallery Neptune and her husband, many
of the children and families would starve to death. One sixteen year-old girl’s
dreams came true after she visited Haiti so long ago; if it were not for her
love and support, many of the children and families of Haiti would not be alive
today. The Haiti Foundation Against Poverty has given all of these families
hope to continue to live, laugh, and love. If you would like more information about
this foundation and the organization, please follow this link below to see how you
can help the people of Haiti. http://www.haitipoverty.org/
Inspired greatly,
Lah-Lah Devine
So glad I was not the only one struggling with the broken link! I played detective a bit to find other ways to access the information, non which really worked, but I was able to find some other sites that allowed me to explore the international poverty threshold. I was astonished to find it was only set at $1.25 per day or just at $50 per month. Could you imagine what our lives would be like in the United States if that is truly all we had to care for our families? I think it would take a whole new set of skills to survive in countries where this is the norm. I understand that if it is all you know you are educated to survive in those conditions, and cost of living and quality of life is very different than life in the US. I think here in the states we see poverty, but nothing to compare to poverty on a global scale. Thanks for sharing your information!
ReplyDeleteLah-Lah,
ReplyDeleteWhat an inspirational post! I absolutely loved reading about Ms. Neptune and her many efforts to support children in poverty. It brings peace of mind to know that there are people out there that genuinely care for others and their well being. I also learned much more about Haiti in general. Thank you Lah-Lah!
Lah Lah with nearly half of the population living in extreme poverty in Haiti (and two thirds in “normal” poverty), the government and international organizations have their hands quite full with fighting inequalities, violence, social exclusion and increasing food prices. The people indeed expect quite a lot from them, from tackling social unrest, corruption and political instability to investing in infrastructure, jobs and housing. Most of the extreme poor still lives in rural areas, even if the 2010 earthquake has caused major migrations within the island
ReplyDeleteThe extreme poor have but to live one day at a time and cannot rely on social safety nets or any form of government support. Shabby housing and the absence of social assistance makes diseases one of the main causes of poverty in Haiti. This often forces families to sell their belongings to buy medical treatments and sometimes become indebted for life.
Children in Haiti are widely dependent on the generosity and benevolence of others for the most basic of their needs. Soaring food prices worldwide simply compound the already overwhelming problem. For years food imported under US trade deals was so cheap that it undercut local farmers, further diminishing their ability to earn even the most meager of livings.
Resources:
http://www.poverties.org/poverty-in-haiti.html#sthash.MVrUEMPi.dpuf