FAMILY EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM

In Haiti, majority of children in orphanages today are poverty orphans. Poverty orphans are children who have living parents or family members but they are orphaned due to their family living in extreme poverty. Parents or guardians in Haiti will take their children to orphanages or abandon them in a community close to an orphanage believing that the child will live a better life. We want to change that narrative and break the cycle.

One by one we want to help a vulnerable family. We know that if we can help a family at a time, over a period of time those families will positively impact their communities. Our efforts in Haiti are not focused to change the country. Our efforts are focused on family preservation and orphan prevention because we know that a stronger family can change their communities then later their areas of the country.

Here is what it looks like for us to focus on a family and take them on a road to sustainability:


1. We identify a prospect family. We have executed this in two ways, while working in villages through outreach initiatives and unexpectedly meeting a family in great despair or by researching family opportunities for children in the orphanages we support. Through this process we have worked alongside local government officials and social workers to determine the state of the home. If after multiple visits and investigation, if there is no sign of any abuse and the child was truly given up due to financial means then we will move forward in the process.

2. We assess the ways the prospect family is most vulnerable and also what strengths they possess. For example, a family is in desperate need of a home, so we need to employ the father of another family we support to build their home so that they were immediately in a more secure situation. We notice that the adults living there do not read or write so their skill is going to involve trade or labor.

3. We explore empowerment opportunities. For example, the same family mentioned is living in a remote village with more children than adults would be successful if they could breed livestock to sell the first fruits to people in their area. This would not require childcare for when the parents go to work.

4. We train the family towards a particular job. For the same family mentioned, we educate them on how to breed and how to save a little and make a little. This is also part of the process where we help with the emotional and mental state of poverty the best that we can. We know this is more than a process or program but also a state of mind.

5. Once we start the fourth step we begin supplying the family with supplemental aid. Monthly the family will receive 2 meals per day, basic necessities such as bathing soap, laundry detergent, and dish soap. We will also help with school when possible.

6. Our hope is that within 6 months to a year the family will be restored in more ways than one. They will be empowered through work, healthier through the food aid, and together! Through every point prior to this point, we will have behaved and speak in a way that reflects the light of Jesus. At this point, we disciple them on the love of Jesus.

There is continual follow up from our team on the ground for each of the families for years to come.

Each year our goal is to reunite more families. We hope to empower and rebuild families from their brokenness.