Joshua's Village

I want to share with you something SUPER COOL that the mission arm of our adoption agency is doing. I received an email today about a plan to create a village for neglected, orphaned, and abandoned special needs children in Haiti called Joshua's Village. The email was sent to me because they are looking to put together a team of PTs, pediatricians, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and others with expertise in the area of special needs. This team would be traveling to Haiti June 5-12 to go into displacement camps with UNICEF and Heartland Alliance to treat certain children and assess their needs for the Joshua Village.

As you know, I am already going to Haiti May 7-17th. As much as I would love to travel with this team, I don't see how the finances and time away from my family would all come together and be best. I am hoping, however, to be able to do something while I am there to contribute to this team after they return.

Here is where you come in! They still need people to get involved. Here are the basics.

This is a partnership with Safe Water Nexus. Cost to go in June is $1600 which is the same as what I am paying in May.

Working Project Title: Joshua’s Village (own joshuasvillage.com)

Objective: To develop a “village” for abandoned, orphaned and neglected special needs and at-risk children....essentially, for the last and the least of the last and the least.

Essential Elements:
- Teaching hospital
- Playground
- School
- Mission compound
- Housing
- Dining
- Latrines
- Garden
- Farm

Purpose: To provide a desperately needed long term solution for the current struggle to find adequate care for the hundreds and potentially thousands of special needs at-risk children left to fend for themselves in Haiti.

Inspiration: 12-year-old Cerebral Palsy patient Joshua Emmanuel. Found face down on the street next to his mother who was using him to beg for money in the Port au Prince, the staff at Sacred Heart hospital rescued him and saved his life. When the hospital was forced to close because of financial issues, SafewaterNexus was asked to help find Joshua a permanent home where he would be loved and cared for. In a matter of days, SafewaterNexus was able to navigate the complicated red-tape of UNICEF paperwork, vet a special needs children’s home in St. Louis du Nord in Northern Haiti, and arrange for his transportation. Joshua was finally approved and transported to his new home Friday, April 2 by Sacred Heart and SafewaterNexus staff. Joshua had never really known love, and now he’ll never go a day without it for the rest of his life. In light of the smooth process SafewaterNexus was able to develop for Joshua’s long term care, they have been asked by Haitian government and international human rights groups to find housing for other special needs and at-risk children in Haiti. SafewaterNexus has access to a 20-acre piece of property just outside Port au Prince, and has chosen to dedicate this land to answering this massive need.

Distinctives: Will design and construct the project with environmental engineers, and will include solar power and recycled building materials. Will also include a garden and farm to enhance sustainability.

If you are interested or know someone who is, please pass this along and email me at ginnyhenderson@hotmail.com.

Today's Side Note: A dry wet run through

To prepare for the rainy season in Haiti, I decided to go ahead and set up my tent and then hose it down a little to look for leaks. Of course the kids saw this as a chance to play.