June 18, 2014

Children In the Hands of Would-Be Donors

Haiti Children Haiti School

When we started our journey over 10 years ago, we thought our challenges would be in Haiti – a nation rife with poverty and corruption and deficient in education and skilled labor. Haiti, a country with the highest per capita orphan ratio in the world, presents a compelling case for any humanitarian. We were convinced that people in general, but the United States in particular, would respond generously to ameliorate the plight of the children once informed about the local conditions.  Unfortunately, to-date we have been wrong.

Yes, we have faced many challenges in Haiti. Some of the challenges have been chronicled on this website. Yet, after 10 years, we have risen from the fields of Haiti into a vibrant orphanage and school where children are clothed, fed and educated at a level never before achieved at their grade levels. Caregivers and family members have become active participants in the transformation that is taking place in the lives of the children. They too are proud of their children and the work of COHH.

We have been transparent as to all of our activities. We have the highest GuideStar rating for transparency - our financial and governance information being readily available to the public.  Our Face Book page has received over 1,000 “Likes” and this website gets thousands of visitors every month. Yet, few of our admirers become donors. We know that if everyone that visits our website would donate as little as $5, we would have a sustainable income stream that assures the well-being and education of our children.

We have gone to great lengths to present our children, not as half-naked children with flies around their mouths, but rather as children that laugh and play and are anxious to learn. We appeal to would-be donors to donate as they are able, not out pity, but out elation that because of your donation even the least among us will have the opportunity to achieve a brighter future for themselves and their country.