23: Let's Celebrate Danita's Children

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We are celebrating the life of children this week, and one of the purposes of Celebration of Life Day/Week is to examine the children in our lives and recognize the unique beauty each child is and can be. What about the children who don't have parents or grandparents to celebrate them? Fortunately, some of them still have people and organizations, like Danita Estrelle Watts and Danita's Children. Here is a link to a fabulous media kit in case you want to know or share more, but the website itself is a huge resource too: https://www.danitaschildren.org/mediakit.pdf.

Danita did not speak Creole, the national language of Haiti, nor did she have international work experience, let alone in a third world country. She did not even have income to fund the mission she felt so strongly to pursue, but she knew that God had called her and that He was faithful. As word began to spread that a woman had come to Ouanaminthe to provide care for the orphaned and impoverished children, pastors in the village joined efforts with Danita. In 2000, the Danita’s Children/Hope for Haiti Children’s Center was opened as a small home, serving 14 children.Today the small home and 14 children have grown to a campus with 8 orphan care homes, housing nearly 100 children. In addition to the orphanage, Danita’s Children/Hope for Haiti Children’s Center Inc. is now functioning as a school which educates over 300 children each year, a church that helps meet the spiritual needs of the community, and most recently, a Children’s Medical Center open to all children of Haiti.  .https://www.danitaschildren.org/meetdanita.html

Danita's Children adminsiters several programs covering a variety of basic and community needs: The Orphanage, Baby Rescue, Feeding Program, The School, and The Church. 

The Orphanage 

"Today, we have over 100 children being loved and cared for every single day by an amazing team. These missionaries and staff devote their lives to the mission and vision of Danita’s Children. Our children live in eight different orphan homes, divided by age and gender, in a family environment with a staff member or missionary as a houseparent. They receive clothing, food, education, medical care, toys and an immense amount of love and affection."(https://www.danitaschildren.org/orphanage.html)

Baby Rescue 

"The Baby Rescue program was founded to help reduce infant malnutrition, provide access to medical care for treatable illnesses and lower the child mortality rate within the community of Ouanaminthe, Haiti. Baby Rescue follows the founding principles of Danita’s Children to rescue, love and care for orphans and impoverished children. Our program gives precious, yet frail lives the gift of hope by increasing their chance of survival and providing young mothers with the education to better care for their children." (https://www.danitaschildren.org/babyrescue.html)

Feeding Program

"In 2002, the Hope for Haiti Children’s Center was able to establish a feeding program, which supplies children living in the orphan homes and enrolled in the school with daily meals. Today, over 16,000 meals are provided through the campus cafeteria and feeding programs, to children who otherwise would face malnutrition and potential starvation and early death." (https://www.danitaschildren.org/feedingprogram.html)

The School 

"As Danita and her staff began caring for the children in the orphanage, she soon noticed village children lining the gate to watch as her children were fed, clothed and educated, longing for the same opportunity. Danita knew she couldn’t take hundreds upon hundreds of children into her home, but she could start a school.
The school began with 50 children, and today hundreds of children are receiving education from grades pre-K through 12th, taught by Haitian teachers." (https://www.danitaschildren.org/school.html)

The Church 

"Today, hundreds of people from Ouanaminthe and neighboring villages, attend weekly services at the Hope for Haiti Worship Center where they receive the message of love, hope, spiritual growth, and healing. The worship center is a non-denominational church led by Haitian pastors, accompanied by a pastoral staff."(https://www.danitaschildren.org/church.html)

Danita's Children has many needs, and one thing I appreciate is seeing what they need and why. Although the Donations by the Dozen program is nominal, I find it helpful and inspiring to see the level of organization and transparency here, which makes sense given it's a four star charity (https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10397).
Donations in kind, medical donations, and more would help these children and their amazing mentor even more. I applaud and celebrate each child and wish you all the most empowerment, encouragement, and happiness you can achieve.

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Thanks and cheers to charity, m