Haiti, although bountiful in natural beauty, the majority of people in the country face extreme poverty and famine. Through years of natural disasters and political unrest, generations of warm-hearted Haitians have been negatively affected and their livelihoods devastated. 78% of families live on less than $2/day, forcing parents/guardians to send their children away to be cared for or work. Unbeknownst to them, the children are being abused and exploited.
Our three trucks, which we have been using since 2013, are now consistently in and out of garages due to extensive use. The limited reliable vehicles leave us with little capacity to provide support to those who need it most, such as emergency medical care or the removal of exploited children from unregulated operations. We urgently need a new suitable vehicle that can withstand tough terrain, including under-maintained roads, bumpy unpaved streets with grooves, across rivers, and up hills.
This new vehicle will enable us to: 1) Provide emergency support to hundreds of families 2) Remove children from fraudulent orphanages where authorities have identified abuse and neglect 3) Provide nursing support to medically-fragile children in remote communities 4) Provide self-sufficiency resources and strategies to over 300 vulnerable families and emergency support across 44 communities.
By providing education, self-determination, and opportunity, we can break the cycle of poverty. Doors are opening in Haiti - for those that have the skills training to be employable, they are becoming self-sufficient. The youth within Little Footprints programs will have the necessary basic education and skills training to obtain jobs. With time and better circumstances, they will be able to support themselves, and their families, and contribute back to their communities. Education is forever.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
