Give 30 Orphaned Children a Sustainable Income

Thanks to a recent $5,000 donation, we only need to raise another $9,000 to fund a bus for the HTDC orphanage and give Nathaelle a secure future

None of the children is more aware of the difference the bus businesses you’re funding will make than Nathaelle, because Nathaelle was the very first child taken in by the orphanage.

Nathaelle was abandoned in 1999 when she was just a few months old. At that point the HTDC orphanage didn’t formally exist. The orphanage’s founder, Denise, heard about Nathaelle’s plight and realised she couldn’t leave the baby to fend for herself. HTDC was born when Denise took Nathaelle in.

Nathaelle has been through massive ups and downs with the orphanage. Sometimes, before the earthquake, things were ok. Other months, they were short of food and she couldn’t go to school.

As one of the oldest children at the orphanage, when the earthquake struck she helped the adults care for the younger children through incredibly difficult circumstances. Living in tents, with no idea where the next meal was coming from, Nathaelle had to grow up fast.

Since 2011, things have stabilised thanks to the support of donors like you, but Nathaelle knows that the orphanage still isn’t secure. After all, she’s seen the orphanage’s lean years.

But now, things are different. Nathaelle has hope for a secure future because you’re moving the orphanage ever closer to generating its own income. Even better, GlobalGiving is joining the fight for sustainability at HTDC.

Next month, GlobalGiving will match your gifts by 50%. This means that GlobalGiving will turn your $50 gift into $75. We hope you’ll give what you can on July 16^th to make the most of this opportunity!

If you ever have any questions about how we’re using your gifts, please don’t hesitate to email Emma@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you!

First and foremost – thanks so much to everyone who gave on GlobalGiving’s most recent matching day! Your gifts on February 12th went 30% further to change the lives of children like Bodlina.

Bodlina and all the kids at the orphanage have had an especially good month because donors around the world have given us the funds we need to invest in enriching activities for the kids.

Those funds couldn’t have come at a better time because this month is Carnival in Haiti! Port-au-Prince's annual Carnival is one of the largest Mardi Gras carnivals in the Caribbean and North America. Carnival is celebrated with music, bands and parades and music is central to the celebrations.

Carnival has been celebrated in Haiti since 1804 and is an important part of Haitian history, but many of the kids at HTDC have never had the means to take part in the celebrations.

This year, thanks to international donors, the kids have joined in to the festivities by dressing up, putting on their own show and learning about Carnival’s past in their country.

But while everyone enjoyed Carnival, the staff couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be able to celebrate next year. After all, they rely on the generosity of donors to fund these events, so they’re never able to plan very far in advance.

Happily, you’re changing the staff’s position. With your support, by next year’s Carnival the kids will be decorating their very own bus to use in the parade – and those decorations will be paid for by the bus’s own profits!

Thanks so much for investing in the orphanage’s sustainability.

If you ever have any questions on how your donation is changing lives at the Hands Together to Defend the Children Orphanage, please don’t hesitate to email me at Emma@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Very kind regards,