Orphan Relief and Rescue

The fight against child trafficking

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:29:25 -0500

“Rebecca, please help us do something to rescue the children being trafficked from our villages,” pleaded the judge sitting in front of me this last month in Benin. He proceeded to tell me story after story of the many children lost from the villages after their parents sold them into the hands of traffickers. He shared that they do this because of circumstances of poverty. This area is Benin also carries a high percentage of voodoo practices, in which human life does not hold any value.

This has become a regular plea from this same judge each time I visit him. This last month, though, there was a different sense of urgency as he told me of the next 14 kids he felt were going to be trafficked out in the coming weeks. He didn’t feel there was any way he could stop it. “Please Rebecca, can you just begin to send your people in there to see what you can do?” As he pleaded, I felt a nudge from God, telling me that this was the time to take action. I told the judge I would see what I could do.

During the next few days after meeting with him, I formulated a plan. I put together a local anti-child trafficking assessment team with some pastors who have a real heart for the people in that area. Two weeks ago, they began to go into the villages to build relationships and to gather as much information as they can. Over the next six months, through these relationships, they will come up with a plan to rescue kids and to help bring change to the mindset of the people in those areas. Orphan Relief and Rescue is facilitating this team to be able to do this, through a partnership agreement.

Due to excruciating poverty in many parts of Africa, many young children are trafficked in the sex or domestic service trades at the hands of heartless opportunists attempting to make money from a child’s misery. A UNICEF study done in 2006 recorded 40,000 children trafficked to, from or through Benin. In a small country of only eight million people, these numbers are staggering.

The U.S State Department published a report in 2009 revealing more than half of Benin’s internally trafficked children are taken to Cotonou – the country’s main port city. From there, a high percentage of them are taken out of the country for a life of servitude or slavery. Within the country, girls are trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Boys are subjected to forced agricultural and construction work, street hawking and handicraft activities. Those who are taken from Benin to other African countries are sold for the same purposes, plus forced labor in mines and stone quarries.

A significant new awareness has been brought to this issue, and many locals are being challenged to change their way of thinking towards children and orphans. Today the social welfare offices and government officials are on high alert – many have become my personal heroes as they have taken up the fight against abuse and human trafficking in their towns.

Please keep this anti-trafficking assessment team in your prayers. May God give these pastors divine wisdom, favor and protection as they go into an area where the villagers do not want change.
Thank you for your part in these endeavors as we work to bring justice to the many innocent children who need us to fight for them.

Written by Rebecca Pratt

Teacher training and classroom fun!

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:20:24 -0500

Two weeks ago, Orphan Relief and Rescue hosted Aileen Kawasaki and her sister Betsy Trainor. The two ladies spent a week teaching at Frances Gaskin in the mornings and hosting a teacher training workshop in the afternoons. Here is what they had to say about their time here:

The three main words of my teacher workshop could be summed up in “teachers, hungry, knowledge.” Twenty teachers from seven schools in the Monrovia, Liberia area attended a reading /writing workshop held at Living Faith school at the Francis Gaskin Orphanage. We began by reading a paragraph on meteorites. Then we found the three main words in each sentence, from there wrote a three word outline, finally wrote the summary paragraph. Several other strategies were also demonstrated and

practiced by the teachers. The best part of the workshop, for me, was the feedback from the teachers and their eagerness to try the strategies in their classrooms. The Liberian teachers exhibited the universal desire to assist students to achieve their highest potential. The week was extremely enriching for me. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet these wonderful and talented teachers. --Aileen Kawasaki, Seattle Washington

A bathroom scale, a battery powered clock, plastic rulers, metal tape measures, a thermometer and an empty liter bottle are not usually among the schools supplies available to the students at the Francis Gaskin orphanage school. But when measurement is the topic, words on the chalk board don’t seem to be enough. I’m Betsy Trainor, sister, traveling pal and teaching assistant to Aileen Kawasaki from Burien, WA’s Shorewood Christian School. The two of us had the privilege of spending five days at the orphanage school this last week. I taught the 3rd-4th and 5th-6th math classes.

The students, pretty shy at first, weighed themselves and prepared a bar graph of the class results. With a ruler each they measured the length of their foot, the height of their chairs, the width of their copy books. Each student worked in pairs to measure their height and record the results on post-its taped to the walls.

They filled buckets of water, liter by liter, took their temperatures, ticked off seconds of a full minute that seemed a lot longer than they previously thought. In the final day’s project they measured the perimeter of their classroom building. The were awed by the total of 12,360 millimeters (not counting the doorway). I was awed by how quickly and eagerly they took to the hands-on approach to learning a math skill. Not sure why I was awed. But I quickly discarded the notion that minimal supplies, tattered clothes and mismatched shoes have anything to do with the longing to learn a new skill. --Betsy Trainor, Portland Oregon

Showing value through sponsorship

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:07:28 -0500

Currently I am in Benin, checking on our kids in the orphanage/safe home that Orphan Relief and Rescue co-founded. 56 of the 59 kids we have here do not have a father or mother alive, making them true orphans. Many were used as domestic slaves until they were rescued. Some have seen their parents murdered in front of them, and others have been brought to us after being freed from horrors such as arranged pre-teen marriages.

Sponsorship letter writing is going strong, as the children who are being sponsored take their correspondence with their sponsors very seriously. If you are sponsoring one of our children in Benin, they could not be happier to have you as a part of their lives. Thank you so much. They feel so honored by you, and your support of them has reinstated their value. They hang your pictures up by their beds, and savor every word you write to them. Your sponsorship enables us to take care of each child who comes into the orphanages we are helping. Without your sponsorship, we could not do this. If you are not currently sponsoring a child, we have eight children in Benin and a few more in Liberia who still need to be sponsored for only $35 a month. This covers most of their daily needs, such as food, clothing, education and daily toiletries. For more information or to sign up, please visit our Child Sponsorship page.

Working alongside the Ministry of Social Aelfare in both Liberia and Benin, we see so much injustice done to children. Each day we have to problem solve to help bring solutions to the horrific scenarios we encounter. We are so thankful for a team behind us, including people just like you, who empowers us to not just talk about solutions but also enables us to act upon those solutions, bringing about real change for these children's precious lives.

We are so thankful for your partnership. Thank you for giving and making a tangible difference.

(Written by Rebecca Pratt)

Determined to not forget

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:11:45 -0500

Every day God is working to get our attention on behalf of those who are suffering and hurting around the world. God’s desire is that we will not turn a blind eye or ear to what we see and hear, but instead that we would act.

As we make a decision to use our lives to help others, we see that God is always working behind the scenes to open our eyes to the injustices all around us. In doing this, He is giving us an opportunity to partner with Him to bring His perfect will to pass, bringing justice to those who are suffering.

In my personal commitment to not forget the orphaned and abandoned children in Africa, God makes it His mission to bring into my path the things that will trigger my heart to be broken, renewing my fight for these hurting children.

Last Friday was one of those reminders. While I was sharing at the Shorewood Christian School chapel time, a girl named Mary in the sixth grade came up to me and asked to read a poem she wrote. I did not have time to read it at that moment, so I asked her for a photocopy of it so I could take it with me.

When I got home that evening, I pulled out the poem, and as I read, tears welled up in my eyes. I felt like this was another God moment: Him not wanting me to forget that even through the craziness of our days, we are never to forget that individual child on the other end who is praying everyday to be rescued, to be noticed, and to be loved. I breathed out a prayer. “You did it again, God. You want our hearts broken as yours is for each child we still need to fight for. Thank you, God, for keeping these reminders fresh, no matter how busy we get with the mundane of life. This is what really matters to you, God.”

So, without further ado, these are the words of the poem.

I sit and wait a lot.

Will I ever be remembered or always be forgot.

My face lights up to the sound of a voice;

the others say I have no choice.

All I want is to be held in loving warm arms.

I try to work some baby charms,

but nobody listens, nobody cares,

nobody helps, nobody shares.

Will somebody take me and love me forever?

Will it ever happen or never?

I am a child,

calm but wild.

I am a sleeper,

kind of a weeper.

I am a sitter and waiter,

a lover and a hater.

A little tiny one wishing for more,

waiting to do a chore,

to help me stay aware.

I’m full of worry and scare,

I am an orphan.

by Mary Fiona Rudolph

May we each continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. Without our sacrifice to help these children, there can be no rescue missions.

Please continue to help us in these endeavors. Your prayers and financial giving has enabled beautiful stories of redemption to unfold for so many precious children. We make an incredible team.

(Written by Rebecca Pratt)

Rescue Mission

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:49:09 -0500

Sylvester is a little boy we first told you about last November. He had been abandoned by everyone who knew him and rescued from the garbage piles by an orphanage director that found him wandering around the community. No one knew his story. He was small, under-developed, non-verbal, and not potty trained. Even worse, he started having seizures. At the orphanage he improved somewhat—at least he was getting routine food and care, but it became obvious that his special needs required more.

Special needs children are often discarded in Liberia. They are believed to be cursed or not important enough to spend valuable food and money on. Thankfully, Sylvester was rescued, but caring for him was very difficult in an orphanage where 40 other children also demanded the caretakers’ attention.

Our field nurse started looking into other options for Sylvester, but there were not many. Thankfully, help was found in the arms of a partner organization that had helped us before. An emergent home was identified for Sylvester within a special needs foster program called His Safe Haven. He was able to be moved immediately.

Sylvester has been with his new foster mother for about six weeks now. We were able to get him examined by a doctor and started on medication for his seizures. His body is growing and becoming healthier. He has become very affectionate and, even though he still doesn’t talk, he doesn’t have a problem getting his point across.

It is for children like Sylvester that Orphan Relief and Rescue exists-- to be a voice with action for orphans that no one else will help. It’s our goal to rescue children who need rescuing and then, when necessary, keep rescuing them until they are safe and cared for like they deserve. Rescue missions like Sylvester’s remind us why we are needed here. It is for them we fight and advocate. And we couldn’t do any of this without the encouragement and support of all of our donors. So, on behalf of Sylvester and all the rest—thank you!

Making memories

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 05:46:11 -0500

“The best things in life aren’t things.” I read that quote one day a few years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. The more I think about it, the more I realize how true it really is. When I think about the most memorable moments of my life, I remember the experience and how it made me feel. Those are the memories I hang on to.

Monday afternoon here in Liberia was one of those memorable moments. The Orphan Relief and Rescue staff wanted to do something fun and special for the kids, something outside of our normal routine. We decided to plan a beach day for the 30+ children living at the Frances Gaskin Rescue Home for Children. Even though these kids live a mere fifteen-minute drive from the ocean, they have been to the beach only a handful of times in their entire lives. For them, it’s a special treat, something they look forward to with great anticipation.

For a few hours on Monday afternoon, memories were made in both the lives of the children we serve as well as our own. When I think about Monday, I will remember the way the kids cheered loudly as we pulled up to the beach. I’ll remember the way they stripped down and ran full-force into the water, laughing and holding hands with their friends. I’ll think about the smiles, the giggles, and the way they rolled around in the sand and jumped into the waves.

For most of us, something like a trip to the beach seems like no big deal, but it meant the world to these kids. It was also refreshing for our field staff to be in the midst of such infectious joy. Liberia generally is a difficult place to work, and every day brings its challenges. But on Monday, we were able to set that all aside for a few hours and simply have fun with these children who we love so dearly. It was great to be able to slow down a bit and enjoy the precious moments life gives us.

Honor Roll

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:02:39 -0600

Every once in a while, we get the opportunity to share the story of a young person who is doing very well. Today is Emmanuel’s day. We are extremely proud of this young man. At the age of 15, he is one of the oldest boys at the orphanage where he lives. With this comes a bigger responsibility to not only help around the house, but also to be an example for the younger children in the home. Emmanuel consistently rises to these expectations.

When he is not helping the father of the home with repairs, carrying water or doing other chores, he can be found playing with and spending time with his younger brothers and sisters. He also has a leading role in the home’s cultural dance troupe—he sets the tempo with his fantastic drumming and serves as an anchor in their acrobatic display.

This year Emmanuel started going to a school outside of the orphanage for the first time. This change came with even higher expectations and hurdles to cross. He has to walk about an hour each way to get to school each day. The demands of his classes as well as extracurricular activities (he is active in an organic agriculture course) keep him extremely busy. Even still, Emmanuel has come out on top—literally. The first semester of this school year just ended and Emmanuel not only made the honor roll, but he is #1 in his class!

Emmanuel benefits from our Child Development Program, and he’s also been blessed with an additional scholarship for his schooling. It is because of such generous donors and child sponsors that we can continue helping young men like Emmanuel thrive. If you already sponsor a child—thank you. If not consider helping to change the life of a child in West Africa today.

Letters in Liberia

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 07:25:00 -0600

Orphan Relief and Rescue currently has more than a hundred and twenty children in both Liberia and Benin, West Africa, on our Child Sponsorship Program. The kids are matched up with a sponsor who generously gives $35 a month. This money ensures that the child has daily food, consistent healthcare, an education and a variety of after-school mentoring and discipleship programs.

Sponsors are also able to write regular letters to the children, which are hand-delivered by Orphan Relief and Rescue staff. Recently, I had the pleasure of giving the kids in Liberia their most recent sponsorship letters. Each child had a huge smile on his or her face as the letter was read slowly and with care. The kids love hearing from their sponsors and spend months looking forward to getting a letter!

Now that the letters have been delivered, the children in Liberia are working hard at replying to their sponsors with a letter of their own. They’re writing to thank their sponsors for their support, as well as filling them in on their lives in Liberia. They’re also drawing and coloring pictures to put along with their letters. The kids so enjoy the communication they have with the people and families that sponsor them, and they’re having a lot of fun working on this special project.

If you are a sponsor for a kid in Liberia or Benin, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving a child a chance at a healthy and whole life. If you are not a sponsor, but are interested in becoming one, please visit our Child Sponsorship page. We still have kids who haven’t been matched with a sponsor yet. Please consider giving today; these children need you.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:18:51 -0600

Our field team in Liberia has grown this month by the addition of two interns from Youth With a Mission’s School of Social Justice. Carissa and Leigh Anne will be working with our Child Development Program until June. We’ve already been blessed by the enthusiasm and love they have brought with them to serve the orphans in Liberia. In today’s blog they’ll be sharing some of their thoughts as they start working with and getting to know the kids in the orphanages.

So far, we absolutely love it here and feel so blessed to be allowed this opportunity to show God’s love to these little ones. Liberia has stolen our hearts.

This week, for our first lesson planning for the kids, we had Valentine’s Day parties! We read a children’s book to the kids about love, then connected it to stories in the Bible to show the kids what it means for God to love us. The kids then decorated construction paper hearts with verses on them about the love of God. Many of the children then continued to make their hearts (or apples as they call them in Liberia) into necklaces. They had so much fun, and so did we. It was a beautiful sight to see the kids proudly wearing their hearts with a verse declaring God’s love for them. The final surprise for the children was chocolate cookies to celebrate Valentine’s Day and to make it special for the children.

Carissa: My favorite part this week was seeing the kids really understand that we love them and that God loves them even more than we do! They have become comfortable snuggling up to me and just resting in my arms. It has reminded me of how we can do that with Jesus and it pleases Him so well. Also, the kids have really been good as far as paying attention and being able to answer the questions we ask them after the lesson. They thrill my heart.

Leigh Anne: I really enjoyed celebrating Valentine’s week with the kids. It was nice to start out our lessons for our group of kids with the theme of love. I really enjoyed just focusing on how much God loves these kids, and how much we as their “aunties” love them as well. I think what all children really need to know is that they are loved. The kids were so much fun to read the stories to and make crafts with, and I loved seeing them take such pride in the hearts that they made. I really hope that the verses about God’s love that they have are a reminder to them of how special and important they are.

From everyone at Orphan Relief and Rescue we’d like to wish you a very happy Valentine’s Day! May the love of God surround you on this special day.

Where the practical meets the spiritual

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:49:09 -0600

What are you passionate about? What makes you come alive; what is that something that gives you a sense of purpose?

Ever since I can remember, one of my passions has been painting homes. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I opened up a painting business in the early 1990s that helped to provide for our family financially.

Through the years I have found that passion without vision can lead us away from God’s purposes for our lives. This last year, I stepped down from the presidency of Orphan Relief and Rescue and started up a company called Painters With a Cause. I wanted to incorporate my passion and vision together to accomplish the impossible. I wanted to help those in the greatest need, while practically providing for the needs of our family.

I just recently travelled to Liberia, West Africa, with a team of three men from Idaho to help fix some orphanages in disrepair. We spent a significant time painting an orphanage called Danny Feeney.

The children had a great time painting right alongside of us. I was able to use my passion for painting to establish a vision to train some of the older boys in the orphanage with a vocational skill that they can use in their future.

What a privilege and joy it was to work with these boys and girls to help repair their home. I will never forget their smiles. This is where the practical meets the spiritual. Making a lasting difference in these kids lives is my vision. What is yours?

Written by Tim Pratt