HOLD the children is a child sponsorship program that provides compassionate care for needy children in developing countries. HOLD the children (Htc) is a division of Mission Discovery, a short-term mission agency based in Gallatin, Tennessee. Htc has been in existence since 2000 and currently sponsors over 360 children in Haiti and Jamaica. Children who might not otherwise have a chance to learn to read and write are welcomed in our Htc sponsor schools.
Mission StatementHOLD exists to glorify God by advocating for the needy and empowering them via truth and compassionate care.
Haiti is a country in crisis. It is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with 80 percent of its people living in abject poverty. The average Haitian struggles to live on the equivalent of $380 USD per year in an economy experiencing 20 percent inflation.
Poverty affects every area of life. Half of Haiti's adults cannot read or write. Just half of Haiti's children attend primary school and of these, only 2 out of 10 will go on to secondary school. The talent pool of skilled and professional workers and educated leaders becomes smaller year after year. And, emigration has made the pool even smaller.
Haiti's health system is inadequate to meet the needs of its people. The infant mortality rate is over twice that of its island neighbor, the Dominican Republic. The percentage of adults and children infected with HIV/AIDS is staggering, creating even more problems.
Haiti's next generation is being abandoned, orphaned, and sold into slavery. These children will eventually lead the country and teach the next generation. It is a corrosive cycle that eats away at society and Haiti's chance of survival.
Haiti's government has been handicapped by infighting and corruption. Elections in November 2005 chose a new president, René Preval, to replace deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The current government is aided by a United Nations multi-national security force of over 8,000 that at times, seems barely able to keep this country from exploding into anarchy and chaos. Haiti's people are frustrated and hungry.
Mission Discovery has partnered with the New Mission Haitian Baptist Association (NMHBA) to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and to extend a hand of compassion to the needy in Haiti. This work has been focused primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, the central coast city of Gonaïves, and in the north coast city of Port de Paix. The partnership currently works with approximately 50 churches and 10 schools, and affects approximately 30,000 people.
Mission Discovery and NMHBA have joined efforts to strengthen local churches and help families and children at risk. The partnership works to achieve these goals by providing leadership training, Bible schools, and holistic care for local churches. The partnership has also developed school programs in the local churches in order to serve the community.
HOLD the children partners with NMHBA to help provide the means for church schools to operate. HOLD the children seeks sponsors to help a needy child attend school.
Finally, recognizing the need for safe housing for Haiti's orphans and restavèks (child slaves), the partnership has broken ground on a 62-bed orphanage. The home will be 60 percent built by the end of 2007. HOLD the children Home is schedule to be operational in 2009. As God provides funds, the construction continues.
This relatively recent United Nations report, UNICEF HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN 2007 - HAITI, describes how desperate things are in Haiti. [This report can be seen in full and retrieved at www.unicef.org/har07/files/Haiti.pdf]
Haitian children continue to live in dire conditions due to violence linked with political instability, chronic poverty, and a virtually absent child protection system. The daily life of a typical Haitian child is a struggle to survive. With weak State institutions, overall extreme poverty and a serious brain drain access to food and basic social services is decreasing. Every year, tropical storms, mudslides and heavy rains add a new plague to the already precarious livelihood of children and their families in most of the regions of Haiti. Unless families are supported to regain or strengthen coping mechanisms, future emergencies may be disastrous for children and women. Recurrent crises in the last few years have resulted in an increasing number of vulnerable children. According to the preliminary results of the latest Demographic and Health Survey (Enquête mortalité, morbidité et utilisation des services/Mortality, morbidity and use of services survey - EMMUS IV) more than one-quarter of children are orphans or otherwise vulnerable. Many more are deprived of basic services and are victims of violence, exploitation and abuse. Child mortality rates in Haiti are the worst in the Americas. One child out of five dies from preventable illnesses before reaching the age of five. Health projects have an uneven geographical spread, with the result being patchy services, understaffed and poorly supplied. UNICEF estimates that across the country, 23 per cent of under-five children suffer from moderate to severe malnutrition, with much higher rates in rural areas. Diarrhea is the leading cause of death for under-five children - not surprising with only 50 per cent of the population having access to water and 70 percent of water systems not functioning anywhere near full capacity. In addition, Haiti's HIV prevalence rate remains the highest in the region. However, efforts to stem the spread appear to have had results, with a slight decreasing prevalence rate according to the preliminary results of EMMUS IV. The latest figures (from 2004 by the Ministry of Health accompanied by independent institutions) pointed to a 3.44 per cent prevalence rate, based on tests of pregnant women. At least 200,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. An estimated 19,000 children are living with HIV/AIDS; 6,000 among them need medical treatment, but only 300 have access to antiretroviral therapy. According to the Ministry of Education figures, more than 70,000 schoolchildren did not have a chance to complete the school year in 2005, mainly due to security, and overall well over 500,000 school-aged children are not receiving an education. In a country in which 80 per cent of schooling on offer is private, school fees constitute the main obstacle. Parents often choose to either rotate their children in school or have them attend only a few years. Against Haiti's backdrop of violence and poverty, child labour is another issue of serious concern. An estimated 300,000 children, amounting to 1 in 10, are engaged in domestic work. Three quarters of these are girls. This phenomenon is spreading beyond Haiti's border to the Dominican Republic, where between 2,000 and 3,000 children are crossing annually in search of a better life. Port-au-Prince alone is the home to 2,500 street children, working and/or sleeping in the streets. A loosely estimated 1,000 children are associated with armed gangs in Port-au-Prince, as messengers, spies, and some even carry guns and participate in the fighting. More than half of girls and women living in those areas have been victims of rape.
The island - discovered by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1494 - was settled by the Spanish early in the 16th century. The native Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually exterminated, replaced by African slaves. England seized the island in 1655 and a plantation economy - based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee - was established. The abolition of slavery in 1834 freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained increasing independence from Britain, and in 1958 it joined other British Caribbean colonies in forming the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica gained full independence when it withdrew from the Federation in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. The cycle of violence, drugs, and poverty has served to impoverish large sectors of the populace. Nonetheless, many rural and resort areas remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the economy. (CIA-The World Fact Book)
Mission Discovery has served the poor and needy of Jamaica over the past two decades. Mission teams have helped build Blossom Gardens Children's Home in Montego Bay and continue to visit the orphanage to care for the children and help the dedicated staff.
Mission teams are currently building two schools. Work began on Victory Christian Basic School in Barrett Hall in 2003. The school functions as a ministry of Victory Christian Fellowship Church under the leadership of Pastor Leroy Blackwood. HOLD the children has supported this school from its founding.
Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf is a special needs school located in the mountains just east of Montego Bay. Ms. Sophia Reid is the Administrator and leads a dedicated staff in caring for and teaching 32 specially challenged children. Mission Discovery teams have helped construct new classrooms and dorms, repair existing structures, and minister to the staff. HOLD the children serves and supports this school.