Malaria Awareness Day

Mosquitoes are only a few millimeters wide and weigh less than a grain of rice. It is hard to believe that these seemingly insignificant creatures are responsible for the deaths of one million people per year.

Malaria is a disease that spreads through mosquitoes.  Ninety percent of those who die from malaria are in Africa where this disease alone is responsible for 1 in 5 of the deaths of young children.*

Malaria is treatable if the victim is able to receive prompt medical care which is often unavailable in the regions where it is most needed. According to UNICEF, one of the best and most cost efficient ways to prevent malaria is simply using treated mosquito nets, which protect children while they are sleeping, when the malaria mosquitoes are out.

Sleeping under a treated mosquito net decreases a child’s chance of contracting malaria and other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that kill another 1 million people a year.*

Malaria is often prevalent in areas affected by AIDS. There is some evidence that malaria may quicken the progression of HIV to AIDS and may increase the likelihood of the transmission of HIV from pregnant mothers to their babies.*

Our goal is to provide treated mosquito nets not only for all our sponsored children, but to reach out to children in surrounding communities as well. Just $10 will provide a child with a potentially life-saving mosquito net.

Learn more about malaria+
Donate a treated mosquito net for a child+

*UNICEF

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Laura, April 25th 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Childcare Worldwide

Sponsorship: A Rewarding Experience

Marlies & Tadeo

To sponsor children can be a rewarding experience. Within the last 27 years, my husband and I have sponsored many children. At times, it was quite a challenge to keep up with writing letters, sending pictures and small gifts because we wanted our children to feel loved. I was touched when most of them called me mum. One young boy from the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria, Uganda, even called me “mother.” His name is Tadeo. Today he has finished his education at a university in Kampala and has a good job as art teacher in a high school. He is now married and has two cute little boys, Emmanuel and Enoch.

Tadeo was one of those children who didn’t have a chance. Both parents died of AIDS and he was left as an orphan. There was no one who felt responsible to pay for his education or meet his other needs, but somehow he survived. When he was about eight years old, the child sponsorship program was started on the Ssese Islands and he was chosen to be on the waiting list. This was the time when we became his sponsors. In the beginning, he was still very shy. It seemed like he couldn’t quite believe it that someone whom he didn’t even know was ready to accept him “as son” and love him. As time went by, he became more confident and secure and a wonderful relationship followed. The other day he even called me on the phone. We didn’t exchange too much information—this was regularly done through letters—but it was so nice to hear each other’s voice. Read more…

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Marlies, April 13th 2011 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Childcare Worldwide, Sponsor A Child, child sponsorship

Meet Mendelson, Childcare Haiti Director

He is a pastor, a counselor, a father, a husband, a friend, and he is the Director of Childcare Haiti. This is his story:

Mendelson Cesar was born in Port-de-Paix, Haiti in a family that practiced voodoo, which is far from uncommon in Haiti. At a summer camp put on by missionaries he heard the Gospel for the first time and believed, even though he knew his family would find it unacceptable. When Mendelson was 14 years old, God took a hold of him and never let go.

Through the Haiti School Feeding Program, $25 will provide meals for 5 children for one month.

As the Director of Childcare Haiti, since 2004, Mendelson oversees our Child Sponsorship Program in Haiti and coordinates the Haiti School Feeding Program. When asked about the current conditions in Haiti, Mendelson replied with eyes full of hurt, “The economic situation is very difficult, there are so many needs.” He pointed out that the greatest needs are food, clean water, and education. Since the earthquake, said Mendelson, “many more children are on the streets begging.” Mendelson hopes to meet the needs of hungry children through the Haiti School Feeding Program.

“The goal is to make a difference in the lives of the poor and the children. It is not about us.” Mendelson explained his frustration with the lack of progress since the earthquake: “Large humanitarian organizations have come to Haiti with foreign workers to distribute food and other essentials.” He gave an example of the inefficiency of these pursuits. “A group of 10 or 15 foreign workers come in five nice cars to distribute a meal to 50 people.” According to Mendelson this is a big waste of resources. “There are big organizations in Haiti but you cannot see the difference, and there are many foreign workers, but Haitians do not have jobs.” Some organizations, like Childcare Worldwide hire Haitian workers to distribute aid because this gets the essentials to those who need it while creating jobs for Haitians. “I can see the difference that we are making,” said Mendelson. Read more…

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Laura, April 11th 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Childcare Worldwide

Children helping children: Sarah and her friends put on a rock-a-thon to help children succeed

Eleven-year-old, Sarah Woods, from Kent, WA, already spends a lot of time volunteering and helping others. She visits seniors at an assisted-living community, donates her crochet projects, and helps at her church by cleaning and helping with younger children. Despite this, Sarah wrote, “I wanted to do something big that was bigger than what I could come up with on my own.”

“I wanted to do something for children” said this ambitious eleven-year-old. Sarah began looking online to find an organization that helped children and she stumbled across Childcare Worldwide’s website and got to work planning.

Sarah asked some of her friends if they would help her raise money and decided they would put on a Rock-a-thon. The girls collected as many rocking chairs they could get their hands on and asked people to make a pledge to give a certain amount for every hour that the girls could rock in the rocking chairs.

Most of the girls were able to stay up the whole night rocking and together they raised $627. According to Sarah’s mom, Michelle Woods, the only thing holding Sarah back from getting more friends involved was the fact that they “couldn’t find enough rocking chairs.” But that didn’t discourage Sarah. She is already figuring out ways to get a hold of more rocking chairs for next year.

Sarah shared her hopes for what the money, she and her friends raised, would go to: “I hope this helps you to be able to help children and teach them about Jesus so they know there is really someone that cares about them.”

Though young, Sarah and her friends are great examples of how to share the love of their Lord. These beautiful girls set the example mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:12:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

Read about how you can become involved in making a difference in the lives of children+

Top Row(L to R): Jessica, Kira, Brittney, & Kasana . Bottom Row: Kristin, Sarah, Rebecca, & Dayle.

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Laura, April 7th 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Childcare Worldwide

The Ugandan Orphans Choir on New Day Northwest (King 5)

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Laura, April 5th 2011 | Posted in Childcare Worldwide