No Aid for Orphans?

You are here: Home » Our Blog Posts » No Aid for Orphans?

Hundreds of thousands of children in the small Caribbean nation of Haiti were homeless or abandoned before the earthquake of January 12, 2010. The orphanages of Haiti are entirely dependent on non-governmental aid. The day before the earthquake Haiti was already the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. The children of Haiti were already living in substandard conditions. Then came the quake.

Led by the US, the generosity of the world has poured into Haiti. Multi-national corporations will vie for contracts worth billions of dollars. As in Iraq, much of Haiti will be rebuilt by powerful for-profit multi-national interests. If the past is any indication of what will happen in Haiti, aid money will go to those most capable of capturing it.

Where does that leave the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti? Potentially nowhere. Even before the earthquake the non-governmental agencies (NGOs) supporting the orphanage system were stressed to provide shelter and basic needs. Small orphanages or children’s homes dot the Haitian landscape, inhabiting virtually every neighborhood, large and small. Constructing and rehabilitating this multitude of neighborhood orphanages is not a viable for-profit enterprise. Large construction projects attract both aid and large, qualified contractors. Small dispersed projects do not. What does that mean for the neighborhood orphanages and their children? The possibility for new orphanages offering acceptable levels of care will remain allusive despite the billions of dollars of aid flowing to Haiti. If the trickle down theory of economics is applied to the orphanages, we may find that that despite a deep well of aid for Haiti, the orphan, abandoned, and disabled children will be left thirsty.

This is where HORP can help.

The goal of The Haiti Orphan Rescue Program is simply stated: let’s provide a good place for Haiti’s kids to live. Let’s build places that nurture optimism and wellness. The future of Haiti does depend on how it is rebuilt, on multi-nationals and world aid organizations and assistance from foreign governments. The future of Haiti rests in the hands of today’s adults and the decisions they will make. But perhaps the most important decision of today, the most important aid decision, humanitarian decision, ethical decision, is not how the city of Port Au Prince should be rebuilt, but how we build the future leaders of Haiti. For the future of Haiti is certainly far better if we nurture and support and encourage today’s Haitian orphan and abandoned children.