Our Mission of Hope Fundraiser this fall:
Fall Festival this year is on Sunday September 29th, 1-4pm
Check out some past events here:
Donations can be made here or on our website (make sure to indicate MOHI)
Why should you support MOHI? Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it faces many challenges, from economic stagnation to health outcomes to natural disasters. The country has had a history of extraordinary challenges due to colonialism and exploitative oppression. In terms of poverty, education, housing and hunger, Haiti has extreme need compared to its Caribbean and Latin American neighbors. The data demonstrates this:
-Gross National Income per capita is $1,730. The average for Caribbean/Latin American developing countries is $14,098. 59% of the population lives on less than US$2 per day. Over two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs.
-Haiti has a chronic shortage of healthcare personnel and resources, with only 2.5 doctors per 10,000 people.
-Haiti’s literacy rate is about 62%. The average literacy rate for Latin American and Caribbean developing countries is 92%. 50% of children in Haiti do not attend school.
-More than one in three people need urgent food assistance. That is nearly 3.7 million people.
-The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already weak economy and political instability in Haiti. Economic growth is expected to decline by 3.1%, the fiscal deficit is expected to widen to over 6% of GDP, and inflation is expected to reach over 20%. Poverty in Haiti is predominately rural, at 75% compared to 41% in urban areas.
MOHI is located in rural village of Thozin, Grand-Goâve. Despite these extraordinary challenges, MOHI has created a community where people succeed:
-Its school has been recognized by the regional school director as the best school in the district every year since its founding, with every high school senior passing the national exams.
-Each day the 800 students at the school receive a hot, nutritious meal while they are at school. For many of them, this is the only time they will eat for the day.
-MOHI helps connect medical personnel with Haitian people in need of medical care at little or no cost. They host medical teams at our schools and travel to provide access to other areas on the southern peninsula of Haiti. The clinics utilize a wide range of medical personnel, from nurses who treat minor sicknesses to specialists, to eye doctors and dentists.
We at Clifton are thrilled to support Mission of Hope Haiti,
a decade long partnership! Our annual fundraiser features live music, raffles, Haitian food and coffee and a chance to meet, mingle and even dance! All of our proceeds go to support the work of Mission of Hope International Haiti.
From founder Lex Edme:
When MOHI began in March 2000, we signed up 362 children to attend our new, upcoming school. We rented a piece of land and built a big thatch building. That fall, when the school opened, we had a very rainy season and only a tarp covering the building. The mud that would stick to our shoes was so heavy it was hard to even walk. Our teachers were troopers, but looking back we really feel bad that they had to work in such a difficult environment.
The families that sent their kids to our school were mostly the poorest of the poor. They bore such heavy burdens. Many had very large families and struggled to even put food on the table, never mind paying to send their children to school. MOHI brought them the opportunity to send their children to school, even when food was scarce. At least that's what they saw. (In reality, MOHI brought education, New Birth, meals, discipleship, healthcare, music, sports, vocational training, jobs, and HOPE!)
Society was not kind to these families. Most were already looked down upon, because they were very poor. They couldn't afford to school their children so they were considered irresponsible, bad parents. Now, they finally found the chance to send their kids to school. However, they were sending them to "that school in the thatch building in the mud. That's no school!" And they were harassed even more.
Today there's a different story. These families now hold their heads up high. This generation of MOHI students are now our graduates who are making a way in this world. Over 70% of them furthered their education after graduation (as opposed to only 1% nationally). Most are now fully employed and many have families of their own that they are successfully providing for.