Hope For Children CharityThe Hope For Children Charity was created exclusively to help children in extreme poverty. More specifically the purpose is to:
Aid to children in need is provided regardless of race, nationality, location, religious or political beliefs or background. 1 Corinthians 13:2 All work and administration in the Hope For Children organization is done through volunteers in the US, UK, and for the moment Kenya. 100% of the contributions are spent to help children in need. No part of any contributions goes to compensate members or volunteers for their time and efforts. Each year we provide a summary of contributions received and how they were spent. Hope For Children is a legal non-profit organization in the state of Ohio, organization #1931965. Donations are tax deductible in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the USA Internal Revenue Code, EIN #27-3993841. Waymarks Education CenterOur current efforts are focused on aid to the children of the The Waymarks Education Center. The Center was established by a local Christian pastor, Maurice Chesoli and his wife Evelyn in 2002. Maurice manages the operations of the school and all related aid projects.Waymarks Education Center is a small school serving an area of deprivation in a rural town where less than $1 a day poverty level afflicts the majority of people in the area. The center currently helps over 180 children, three quarters of whom have lost one or both parents. All live in poverty. Many homes lack blankets for the children to sleep under. Even providing basic nourishment and clothing can be a challenge for those caring for the children. At the Center they get food and education and such simple basics as tooth brushes and tooth paste. The center opens at 7:30 in the morning and closes at 5pm. This is the routine from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday there is church and Sunday school plus a meal. For many of the children this is the only source of nourishment they will receive for the day. Basic education is provided at both nursery and primary level. The school is officially registered and meets standards. This means that the children in grade 8 will be able to take the national school certificate examinations. However, few children have any chance of progressing to secondary school. Other issues include health, sanitation, shelter and basic living conditions. Another main source of support and funding comes from 3 churches in Kenya. Church members have given food, money, clothes and time to keep the Center open, but in this area the needs are beyond their means.
Aid2AfricaAid2Africa is a UK registered charity 1119045. It was established and is managed by Peter and his wife Edwina. Aid2Africa has been helping the children of the Waymarks Education center since 2008 and they have accomplished much. In 2009, Peter and his wife Edwina visited the center to assess the needs. The needs were confirmed and were found to be much greater than expected.Maurice and Peter are responsible for creating an infrastructure for providing all the aid described above and subsequently on this site. They established the daily meal program. They have addressed sanitation issues by building toilets and digging wells for clean water. They provide for the support and operation of the school. A new school is in the process of construction, which will serve as the foundation for aid and provide the opportunity of education to many more children. Key to their philosophy of aid is to build sustainability. For example, Aid2Africa helps to rent land where money crops such as maze and fruit trees provide enough income to be sustained year to year as well as providing food and profit for other needs. Our Current FocusWe heard about the center and its needs in 2009. We completed our due diligence to confirm the organizations and individuals involved and found truth in everything. We also found that while great things have been accomplished recently, there still remains much to be done. Many of the needs expressed on this site require continued funding. Because of the increasing number of children receiving aid there are short-falls. While many good projects have started they require funding to be completed. And, there are other extremely needed projects that have no funding at all.We embrace the same philosophy about sustainability projects. We believe the efforts of Maurice and Peter of Aid2Africa at the Waymarks Education Center represent a model of using the school as a foundation and infrastructure for providing Hope for Children in rural areas like this in Africa. Our goal is to contribute to their efforts and future plans. The NeedsNutritionThere is a primary need to feed the children. Most of the children would not eat everyday if not for the meals provided by the school. Right now they get a mug of sweetened maize porridge in the morning at 10 am and a meal later in the day which resembles a type of stew containing beans cooked with either rice or potatoes. Sometimes they get a banana. We need to improve upon this by adding calories from fresh fruit, vegetables, and most important more protein. At Christmas we try to have a special meal.HealthThere is a need to provide basic medical care for the children. The area has high instances of Malaria, HIV-Aids, Tuberculosis, Parasites, and Malnutrition. We want to ensure the children have annual check-ups and required treatment, Dental and Vision care included. Another important need is for the school to have First Aid supplies and common medicines.The School
The Waynarks Education Center, the school, is the foundation for providing sustainable aid to these children. The old school (Left) had only two rooms and served 80 children of all ages. This meant that many age groups had to all be in the same class. The size limitation also restricted how many children could be helped. A new school is under construction and will support over 300 children.
School OperationsAn even greater need and expense than the school building is providing the supplies, textbooks, and teachers. Teachers need to be paid. Teachers need resources in the classrooms such as blackboards, chalk, textbooks, lesson plans and other learning aids. The children need basic school supplies such as notebooks, paper, pens, pencils, erasers, rulers, etc. These are all expendables, they must be provided each year. There are also fees that must be paid in order for the children to take government achievement tests.The school needs a library. Living ConditionsAll the children live in vast slum area. Most are orphans. We cannot ignore what these children go home to after the day at school. Basics are needed such as clothing, shoes, bedding, blankets, personal hygiene, clean water, mosquito nets, and proper shelter.On March 14, 2011 the Kambi Suswa slum area of Moi's Bridge was demolished by the city council saying it was a hideout for thugs and criminals. Immediately 250 adults and 650 children had nowhere but the streets to sleep. 94 of the children were from the Waymarks Education Center. Learn more about this on the Living Conditions page. SustainablilityA majot tenant of the aid provided by Aid2Africa and Hope for Children is to develop a sustainable infrastructure. The goal is for the school and aid for the children to be self sufficient. These projects are advancing at the same time as the need for immediate aid.These projects are agricultural. The school now owns a little over 11 acres. On this land maze is grown, vegetables, and fruit trees are being planted. These efforts produces some profit that contributes to the children’s needs and enough to fund the next year's crop. The building of the school, the provision of resources such as teachers, furniture, toilets, wells, maintenance of the land, etc. all provide employment, income, and aid the local economy. Let's meet some childrenEveryone of these children is precious in God's eyes. Everyone is an individual with a future. Unlike children in fortunate environments, the kind of future these children have has been put in our hands. What is a little for us goes a long way where these children live. Without our help they have little opportunity. Please help. |
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Hope For Children Suite E21
28283 Center Ridge Rd.
Westlake, Ohio 44145
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Every Child Counts!
There was a man who was walking along a sandy beach where thousands of starfish had been washed up on the shore. He noticed a boy picking the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. The man observed the boy for a few minutes and then asked what he was doing. The boy replied that he was returning the starfish to the sea, otherwise they would die.The man asked how saving a few, when so many were doomed, would make any difference whatsoever? The boy picked up a starfish and threw it back into the ocean and said
“Made a difference to that one”
The man left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said. He soon returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish in to the sea.
Loren Eiseley
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