Since the earthquake, Pastor Gaetan has rescued another 16 orphans. Many of these kids lost their parents in the earthquake.

On top of that, Pastor Gaetan’s personal home was damaged and he also lost his brother in the earthquake. You can see his brother in the picture below. (left side)

This is truly an amazing man of courage and faith. HELP and Soma Austin have decided to partner with Pastor Gaetan. But, we need more partners.

Here’s why:

1. We need to build a new orphanage. Currently, Pastor Gaetan, his family and the 30 orphans sleep in tents. You can go to www.helpendlocalpoverty.com/helphaiti and you will see our vision to build an orphanage. You can click donate, and 100% of the donation (minus transaction fee’s) will go towards building the orphanage.

2. We need to get all of these kids sponsored. To sponsor a child, you can go to Help One Now. Any child from Haiti, is from Pastor Gaetan’s community. Child sponsorships are vital to the rebuilding process; we can ensure they have food, medicine and clothing each month.

We plan on partnering with Pastor Gaetan long-term, we’re so excited to see the progress of this community, as we help renew Haiti.

Be sure to watch the video below, click through to enlarge:

We have 100 more “Gugu’s,” they need a sponsor who will help provide the most basic needs, such as food, water, education and medicine!

Maybe you can sponsor-a-child, or maybe you can help us spread the word, it takes a tribe to make a difference!

Location: Musha Wevana Children’s Home-Zimbabwe
Gender: M
Age: 3

About: Gugulethu was found abandoned at the hospital. The police have been searching for relatives, but have not found any yet, as they don’t know his last name or anything else about him. Despite this hardship, “Gugu” is a friendly child with a warm heart and smile. He loves eating rice, telling jokes, and playing soccer. Please pray for him.

• 16,000 children die because they lack proper food, water and medicine.
• Every 6 seconds, a child slips into eternity, hungry, thirsty and sick.
• Over 1 million children die each year due to malaria, most of these deaths happen in Africa.

We could go on and on, but who needs to. Enough is enough, we can end extreme poverty if we choose to prioritize our lives, be more generous, take more risks, and support more kids; this is a biblical issue that requires an immediate response, and that is exactly what is happening on Sunday November 8th, with Orphan Sunday.

When the local church takes full responsibility, we can start a movement of love, hope and story, and this movement, can end extreme poverty, seek justice, and care for the orphan, which is a child that is created in the image of God.

If you want to learn more about orphan Sunday, how you or your church can get involved. Please email us and we will be glad to help!

• The most recent estimate is that there are approximately 145 million orphans in the world (UNICEF 2008). For this number, an orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both parents.
• More than 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, over 11.6 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa.
• In 2007 67.5 million Children in South Asia and East Asia had lost one or both parents due to all causes.
• Included in the 2008 estimate of 145 million orphans are more than 92 million that have a surviving mother—-with whom they most likely live.
• Another 38 million have a surviving father.
• Approximately 15 million children are “double” orphans—growing up without either mother or father. That’s about ten percent of the whole 145 million.
• The UNICEF orphan numbers (145 million) are only for deceased parents. If you were to factor in single parents in general, we’d be talking a number many times higher.
• The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include abandonment (millions of children) as well as sold and/or trafficked children. Are the millions of kids abandoned in China not orphans?
• The UNICEF orphan numbers DON’T include many non-reporting nations (namely, Middle Eastern Islamic nations) where shame and divorce abandonment are rampant. 200,000 + orphans in Iraq, for instance, are not part of the count.
• I think we’re looking at a number quite higher than 15 million “double orphans.” We often communicate that the real number of kids that fall into our care categories is somewhere around 40 or 50 million.
• According to data released in 2003 as many as eight million boys and girls around the world live in institutional care. Some studies have found that violence in residential institutions is six times higher than violence in foster care, and that children in group care are almost four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than children in family based care.
• As of 2002 in Europe and Central Asia, over one million children lived in residential institutions.
• Worldwide an estimated 300 million children are subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse, including the worst forms of child labour in communities, schools and institutions, during armed conflict, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage.
• In the US there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care (Based on data submitted by states as of January 16, 2008)
• 130,000 of those children in foster care are waiting and available for adoption. Children waiting to be adopted include children with a goal of adoption and/or whose parental rights have been terminated. Children whose parental rights have been terminated, who are 16 years old and older, and who have a goal of emancipation are excluded from the “waiting” population. An individual child is included in the count for each year that he or she has these characteristics on the last day of the year.
• Approximately 51,000 children are adopted from the foster system each year.
• That leaves 79,000 children annually in the US needing an adoptive family.
• Each year, an estimated 20,000 young people “age out” of the U.S. foster care system. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services. Several foster care alumni studies show that without a lifelong connection to a caring adult, these older youth are often left vulnerable to a host of adverse situations:

Outcomes
Earned a high school diploma 54%
Obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher 2%
Became a parent 84%
Were unemployed 51%
Had no health insurance 30%
Had been homeless 25%
Were receiving public assistance 30%

Sources: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/trends.htm, http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/2008_Global_report.asp, http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09-FullReport-EN.pdf, Young adults ages 18-24 years old 2.5 to 4 years after leaving foster care: Cook, R. (1992). Are we helping foster care youth prepare for the future? Children and Youth Services Review. 16(3/4), 213-229. Cook, R.; Fleishman, E., & Grimes, V. (1989). A National Evaluation of Title IV-E Foster Care Independent Living Programs for Youth (Phase 2 Final Report, Volume 1). Rockville: Westat, Inc., http://chrisitianallianceblog.org/?p=74, http://abandoned-orphaned.typepad.com/paulmyhill/2009/08/the-count.html

HT: Jason Kovacs