Today, I have nothing to say about design or construction or anything like that. As it was National Children's Day yesterday (November 20) I thought I would talk about a very important topic to me- more important to me than sustainable design and recycling. Kids. The future of us all here on earth. The leaders of tomorrow. I have been a Children's Advocate for Compassion Canada for a few months now, and I wish I was a least a million times more outspoken about children and poverty. It absolutely breaks my heart to read statistics like 4 million children die every year because of starvation. Break that down, and it's almost 11,000 a day. 40 million children are exposed to abuse. 160 million children under 5 are malnourished. That 246 million children are being exploited. (World Health Organization/ International Labour Organization stats) I always talk about being conscious about how much energy we use or water useage and things like that. I really encourage you to be conscious of the fact that every thing we do makes a difference. There are many ways to make the world a better place, whether it be by doing something "green" or making a difference in a child's life. Sponsoring a child is not a huge financial committment at $41/ month, and I know it makes a huge difference. I have been sponsoring my child for about 15 years. Her name is Joanie, and she is now 17 years old. She is from Haiti and lives just outside of Port-au-Prince. As you can imagine, it was a difficult few months for me not knowing if she was ok. Thankfully, she survived, but her house was destroyed, and still is in need of re-building, over a year later. My heart goes out to her and her family, and I wish I could do so much more for her, but I do know that sponsoring her has helped her out tremendously. She has been able to attend school, buys goats and clothes with the money she gets through sponsorship, and is able to receive medical help when she needs it through the Compassion Canada. Below I have 2 children that need sponsorship. If you are interested, please let me know. I get new children to advocate for every couple months, and if these ones get sponsored, I can get the information for other children's sponsorship too. Sponsorship is an amazing thing. If you are not ready for the long term committment, there are other options to help people who are less fortunate. Every Christmas, a gift catalogue comes out. Not the typical Sears catalogue, but a catalogue where you can purchase chickens, pigs, cows, mosquito nets, wells, toilets, dental care, medicine for children and families in need. Check out Gifts of Compassion at http://www.compassion.ca/shop/?linkid=222. This is Wenska-Silove Jean Louis. She is going to be 4 in January. She is from Haiti, which we all know was hit by the massive earthquake in 2010, just before her second birthday. Thankfully she lives on the outskirts of the earthquake. Her parents are sometimes employed, her father a farmer, and her mother a seller at a market. When employed, the average wage is about $23 a month. That's about a quarter of an average monthly cell phone bill. This is Wilquin Flores. He is 4 and a half. He is from the Dominican Republic, and there are 7 children in his family. Not the easiest when the majority of adults in his area are unemployed, or if they are lucky to have employment, they make about $105 a month. That's about as much as someone would spend at a coffee shop in a month- $5/ coffee a day= $105/ month. A huge thank you to those who sponsor children! FAQ- How much of my donation goes to help my sponsored child? No less than 80 percent of your donation goes to ministry activities, including all field level expenses, which directly benefit sponsored children. Children and families receive no cash. Benefits are only ever in the form of goods and services, carefully designed, delivered or purchased according to their needs.100 percent of family and child gifts go directly to the child and family, as appropriate gifts purchased by project staff in consultation with the family (nothing is withheld for administration). Independent and internal audits of our work are conducted to ensure donor support is being used efficiently and with integrity. (www.compassion.ca)
2 Comments
jane keenan
11/26/2011 11:20:00 am
Good job Jena. We have three on our fridge.
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Jena @ aesthetica design
2/19/2013 11:37:02 pm
I always appreciate knowing kids are getting sponsored! We have two ourselves, and I wish I could do more. But a huge thank you for helping sponsor children out. It's amazing what they can accomplish with their lives with this program.
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