Haiti (MNN) — There are countless children without homes or parents following the Haiti earthquake. Adults and children are doing all they can to relocate to areas not so devastated by the quake that has left capital city Port-au-Prince in shambles.
Kids Alive International was already caring for 60 orphans when the earthquake hit January 12. They will soon care for many more. The Kids Alive program is located in Cap Haitien, a large city in northern Haiti that was relatively unaffected by the quake. Due to its topographic stability, many people are relocating to that city.
Among those searching for homes are as many as 230,000 newly-orphaned children. Kids Alive is dedicated to finding homes for as many of these children as possible. Upon immediate response, the ministry has built housing to double its size in Cap Haitien.
"Kids Alive is trying to make a difference once child at a time," explains Rich Anderson with Kids Alive. "The goal right now is to take in 50 to 100 newly-orphaned children and to try to turn those children into productive Christian members of their society and to try and make a difference that way."
Kids Alive will not be placing these children in a traditional orphanage setting. The Kids Alive program builds houses that are home to 8 to 10 kids and two Christian foster parents. "Kids are with children of all ages and boys and girls together, so they really understand what a family is like," says Anderson.
Children in the Kids Alive homes are able to attend Christian schools and chapels every week, and hear the Gospel message over and over. None of this is possible without sponsors, but sponsorship in this program is a little different than others.
"Kids Alive is not just coming [alongside] a family and saying, ‘Hey, we're going to supplement your income so your child can go to a Christian school,'" says Anderson of the Haiti staff. "They're actually taking these children off the streets into a home that they own and paying foster parents to care for these children, paying for their medical care, paying for their education, paying for everything for these kids."
Because Kids Alive pays for everything for these children, it takes more than one sponsor to cover a child's expenses. For $35 a month you can help sponsor a now homeless and orphaned child in Haiti.
Kids Alive has pictures of Haitian children who are waiting for sponsors on their Web site. If you'd like to be a child sponsor for a Haitian orphan, click here or call Kids Alive at 1-800-KIDS-330.
