Haiti's Children Haiti is eight hundred miles south of Miami. There are approximately 9.6 million people who live within its 10,000 square mile border. Haiti is the most densely populated and poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. It is estimated that Haitians are the fourth most undernourished people in the world. Eighty out of every one thousand children born there today will not live to see their first birthday. Sixty percent of these will die in the first month of their life. One out of eight children die before reaching the age of five. Decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. The life expectancy is 56 years for men and 52 for women. The average income is less that $713 per household. The dominant religion in Haiti is Roman Catholicism. Increasing numbers of Haitians have converted to Protestantism through the work of missionaries who are active throughout the country. Many of the Haitians still practice voodoo. Voodoo was recognized by the Haitian government as a religion in April 2003. A ceremony was conducted and the country was dedicated to Satan for the second time. The first was in the early 1900’s under the dictatorship of Papa Doc. Although public education is free, the cost is still quite high for most Haitian families who must pay for uniforms, textbooks, supplies and even tuition. Only 65% of primary school-aged children are actually enrolled. There are only 20% enrolled at the secondary level. Less then 35% of the children who start school will actually graduate. Haitians place a high value on education, but few can afford it. This 35% would be even smaller if it were not for people like you and I who support and help send these children to school. There is only one government backed University in the country of Haiti. Most young people have to leave their home land to get a higher education. Many leave and never go back. Haiti is plagued by extremely high unemployment. The Haitian people walk the streets and countryside daily looking for work and/or food. Drinking water usually comes from a ditch, polluted river or open pond. In some areas the only water available is caught in rock pockets in the ground. The water in almost all these cases is not fit to consume, but the Haitians drink it anyway. Food is so scarce and expensive that most Haitian children receive less nutrition than the average American house pet. Approximately 42% of all children under the age of five are severely or at least moderately stunted in their growth due to malnutrition. A report from the United Nations Development Program describes the health care in Haiti as “catastrophic”. Most earn less that $1 a day and most do without medicine and healthcare. There is only 1 doctor or health worker per 6,000 Haitians. H.I.V., tuberculosis, childbirth, malaria, and intestinal parasites are the top killers in Haiti. Foreign governments and other international organizations provide food and medicine to Haiti, but the scope of the country’s problems overwhelm these efforts. It is vital to the well being of the Haitian people that missionaries continue to come and give. Without the continued support of Christians around the world Haiti would become a wasteland. God has entrusted this ministry with His most precious commodity, “His children”. God has given this ministry the privilege of helping children that normally would have very little hope of surviving. We have a responsibility to minister to the whole man: spirit, soul and body. A Haitian child’s most pressing needs (after his spiritual needs) are his physical needs: food, shelter and clothing. At Healing Hands International Ministries, all the sponsorship funds go directly to meeting the immediate needs of the child. The physical need is by far the most expensive need they have. Food, shelter and education are the largest monthly expenses for each child. Healthcare is provided as needed for each child. We use local doctors, clinics, nurses and hospitals to meet these needs. Sometimes we take medical teams to Haiti from the US to help with the medical situations at the orphanages. Sometimes we forget that Haitian children have emotional needs as our own children do. We provide the love and nurturing necessary for a child’s emotional development. We encourage the older kids to help with the younger ones to help meet their emotional and physical needs. The lack of education is one of the primary reasons for the problems Haiti is facing today. We believe by providing each child an education, we are increasing their odds to survive as an adult. With the added bonus of receiving a education, a child has increased their odds of overcoming the adversities they were born into. The most important reason for helping the children of Haiti or any other country is to meet their spiritual needs. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” I believe as we show our love to these children we will gain their trust. In return they will also look to us as their spiritual leaders. This will allow us to teach them about God and the things concerning their spiritual well being. Healing Hands International Ministries is committed to helping the children of Haiti. We believe God has given us a mandate to bring children in off the streets to love them, and teach them about the spiritual things in their lives. We can’t help all the homeless and hungry children in Haiti, but we can be obedient to help the ones God chooses to bring to our doorstep. If we will be willing to do our part, we will make a difference in the lives of some of the many homeless, hungry children. I trust you will pray over this brochure and ask God what part you are to play. Let God lead you and direct you in your support for this ministry and the support for Divine Ministry In Hope For Children Orphanage in Haiti. Would you like to go on a missions trip with us? If so, your first step would be to complete our Team Application. God bless you, Bro. Tim Williams