#StandWithFerrier

The Help One Now Legacy Projects are our big, end-of-year giving campaigns.  They are used to meet large needs and leave lasting impacts in our partner communities in Haiti and Africa.  In short, they are designed to leave a legacy.

FERRIER VILLAGE

An anti-trafficking initiative of Help One Now in Ferrier, Haiti—is a refuge for orphaned children who have been rescued from traffickers, or are at a high risk of being trafficked. It is a place where these children will be cared for and restored to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

In the fall of 2012, Help One Now, in conjunction with our local Haitian leaders, built Ferrier Village to help fight child trafficking.  Located in Ferrier, a small Haitian community near the Dominican border, it began as 5 homes, a community center and kitchen, a water cistern system, and a security wall.  On May 10, 2013, the doors opened to some of Haiti’s most vulnerable children.  With the addition of two more complete homes and another that is fully funded, there are currently 34 children being loved and cared for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by their 7 house mothers, a cook, and the 2 directors of Ferrier Village.  They are fed, clothed, and attend school and church.  Furthermore, over a dozen children have been reunited with their families!

This Christmas season, we invite you to help us leave a Legacy in Ferrier Village as we fight against trafficking.  We will do so not by attacking the traffickers (that is another fight for another brave group of people).  Instead, we will stand up and support two key measures of anti-trafficking: rescue and education.  

#standforrescue

Standing for Rescue comes in two simple, but key parts.  First, we will build two additional homes in Ferrier Village.  Each home has space for 5 children. These homes offer a warm, safe bed, and a family of brothers or sisters.  Furthermore, each home has a house mother, giving a parental figure back to these kids.  These house mothers have a special calling and burden to love and care for these children. 

Secondly, we will purchase a vehicle for the Village.  Currently, the only vehicle they have is a motorcycle belonging to one of our directors, Martel Maxime.  He travels to pick up children from the border or from social services on his motorcycle and brings them back to the village.  A truck will give us a safe way to transport children, pick up supplies, and use in case of an emergency.

#standforeducation

The cliche is true: children are the future.  We know that all of the change that Haiti desperately needs to see will start with education; it is the ammunition needed to fight local poverty.  

So, we are going to build a preschool in Ferrier Village.  This will do two very valuable things.  It will allow the leaders of Ferrier Village to care more holistically for the youngest rescued children.  However, it will also serve as a great service to the community of Ferrier.  

A preschool offering education and early childhood development programs can be one of the best uses of development funds, according to a recent study by the Copenhagen Consensus Center.  Not only does it better equip children for a lifetime of learning and development, but it also offers mothers a safe place for their children to be, so they can work and provide a healthier life for their families.  

Now, this Legacy Project is big, and it comes with a big price: $110,000.  But stay with me—we know we can do it.  Why?  Because we have done it before.  In 2012, we were able to raise enough money to build Williamson Adrien Academy by focusing not on the full amount, but on several different phases.  We made it through those by going even smaller: by asking you to just buy a brick for $25.  Or two.  Or ten.  

We are going to do it again.   Phase by phase, brick by brick.  Here's how:

#standforrescue

Phase 1: Rescue 5 children with House # 9 (and half of a vehicle)— $20,000

Phase 2: Rescue 5 children with House #10 (the other half of the vehicle) — $20,000

#standforeducation

      Phase 3 - Classrooms - Educate 100 preschoolers — $25,000

      Phase 4 - Kitchen + Computer Lab — $25,000

      Phase 5 - 4 Preschool Teacher Salaries for 1 year —$10,000

      Phase 6 - Hot meal each school day for 100 students — $10,000

I see it; those are big numbers, with zeroes and commas and everything.  But don’t focus on $110, 000.  Don’t be alarmed by $25,000, or even $10,000.  Just buy a brick.  Maybe get a friend to buy one too.  And perhaps your small group or book club could get a couple, or—dare I say—a few.  Before you know it, we’ll blast through Phase 1, crush Phase 2, and be buying computers for Phase 4.  All for a few measly $25 bricks.  

This holiday season, join us in our fight against trafficking.  Help us leave a Legacy in Ferrier.