WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A U.S.-led nonprofit organization, Helping Haitian Angels (HHA) is calling for help and support this Holiday Season for Haitian children who continue to suffer precarious lives in the poverty-stricken town of Decle, located in Northern Haiti.
"While the generosity of many people in the U.S. has helped us achieve much to protect and improve the tenuous lives of these impacted children, there remains a host of urgent needs that require immediate funding. These most pressing urgent needs include food, clean water, shelter and education," said HHA Cofounder Bill Harvey.
"Through a triage approach, we have been able to address, at least temporarily, the most pressing needs such as addressing food insecurity by providing meals to families in our local community; providing clean water on a daily basis; and by offering a quality primary school education to children who are their first in their families to have that privilege," he said.
In Haiti, many children with families live in orphanages because their parents simply cannot provide for them since they themselves have no job, may be homeless and/or may be in an abusive situation.
"However, many would be able to provide for their children if they had basic support. They are in need of support for their child's education as well as for basic needs such as food clean water, and skills/jobs training.
HHA was formed in 2008 following Bill's wife, Debbie's first trip to Haiti. "In 2008, on my second day in Haiti, a woman came up to our team begging us to look at a large group of children living in an abandoned building. What I saw and experienced in that building, forever changed my life."
"Most of the children were under 10, starving, and hadn't eaten in at least three days. Their bellies were distended from worms and hunger, their hair was orange and their skin was getting lighter, as a result of protein and iron deficiencies. Many of the children had dark raw and open sores from drinking contaminated water - the only water they could find. They slept on hard, cold tile floors with no blankets, towels, or pillows," she said.
HHA has continued to deliver life saving services in recent years following frequent natural disasters in Haiti such as hurricanes Sandy and Isaac in 2012, Maria and Irma in 2017, Laura in 2020, Grace in 2021 and 2 devastating earthquakes that claimed the lives of over 250,000.
While HHA has a host of needs remaining to be addressed, they have met major needs relating to education by starting a school that has flourished to the point that it now has a long waiting list. It is one of very few schools to operate during periods of unrest; taught locals how to make a variety of goods such as soap, peanut butter and yogurt that has led to the development of small businesses and worked with the Haitian government to develop and implement a three tiered land development effort that includes a primary school, family homes for abandoned kids, a dental facility and a farm.
People wishing to donate or volunteer to help children in need can do so through the HHA website (www.helpinghaitianangels.org).
Media inquiries should be directed to Debbie Harvey at Helping Haitian Angels or call Bob Johns at 703-955-6622.
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