Fighting the Restavèk Curse in Haiti
Restavèk is a Creole word for a Haitian child who stays with and works for another family. A restavèk child can be a boy or a girl who is given away by a poor family in order to survive. Frequently, the restavèk’s most basic rights to health and education are denied.
Of these children, 65 percent are girls between age 6 and 14. They are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions and are subject to mistreatment, including sexual abuse.
The restavèk child is the first person to wake up in the morning and the last one to go to bed, sometimes after 14 hours of work that consists of, among other chores, carrying water, washing clothes, taking the owner’s children to school, doing errands, and cleaning the home.
The restavèk child is often beaten for the simplest mistakes. Laws against child abuse exist in Haiti, but unfortunately, they are seldom enforced as children’s rights don’t have a high a priority.
The number of restavèk children reported nationally is between 250,000 and 300,000, and this domestic phenomenon is due to several reasons. (more…)
Christian Servant Leadership in Action
Every year, graduating Leadership Development Program (LDP) students in the Philippines go to work camp where they engage in community service. The yearly work camp usually engages students in missionary work to unreached tribal groups, but this year the students extended a helping hand to typhoon victims.
Highly Vulnerable Children: How Do We Help Them?
Our Highly Vulnerable Children initiative deals with poor children who find themselves in very critical conditions demanding special attention and assistance in order to survive.
The Difference is Jesus
Not too long ago, Kelina wasn’t your ideal mother. She would spill her anger over onto her three children, hitting them every day. Her children were scared of her.
Bringing Joy: My Best Day in Ministry
Kenneth Kataryeba, a learning and support specialist for East Africa, shares the story of a girl in a wheelchair whom he just met, and how bringing joy to children and helping lift them from the misery of poverty is how he really gets paid.
Marikina Foursquare Student Center After Typhoon Ketsana
Typhoon Ketsana, which struck the Philippines on September 26, damaged more than 1,500 homes of Compassion-assisted children and families, and nearly 20 student centers were affected by the storm.*
Ketsana hit the Philippines on a Saturday, the day when registered children gather at the student centers. But on September 26 not many arrived at Marikina Foursquare Student Center. Ketsana was already pounding hard.
However, some children did come.
Bernadette, the center director, fed them and instructed them to go home immediately. And as she planned to visit the homes of other children to give them some food because the floodwaters were rising fast, she was called by her own family. Her home was flooded too.
“What I have learned from this is not to look back on the possessions I lost, but rather focus on saving myself and my loved ones. On that day, I couldn’t attend to the needs of the children since my own home was in disarray.”
In the following days Bernadette reports that none of the children from her student center were hurt, although all of their homes were flooded, damaged in some way or destroyed completely.
The student center and its surrounding communities were completely submerged under water. And five days after the typhoon, homes and communities were still flooded, muddied, stinky and a mess.
Mirasol, a mother at the church, says,
“It is still a nightmare for me. I still vividly recall images of people being swept away by the water. I couldn’t sleep thinking that I was not able to help them as they were crying, as they were swept away towards the river. My child was crying the loudest, ‘Mother, Mother, the water is so high already!’”
Two of Mirasol’s children, Maribel and Dominic, are registered at the student center. They are safe but their home is still under water.
Miguel, another child from the student center, says he was so afraid because he got separated from his father when his father took his mother to safety first, but could not come back for Miguel and his younger brother because of the dangerously strong current.
Miguel and his brother were rescued by a neighbor, also a Compassion parent, as the boys jumped from roof to roof. They were reunited with their parents the next day at the church, but their tiny home was washed away completely.
Miguel’s father confesses,
“I pounded on my heart in anguish, crying. I was thinking of my boys all the time. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to look for them several times. I even waded back and forth in the water calling out for my sons.”
But despite the situation he and his family now find themselves in, Miguel’s father says,
“I won’t complain because I still have what truly matters.”
His family.
When natural disasters strike, Compassion’s Disaster Relief Fund provides sponsored children and their families with food, clothing and basic supplies to help rebuild their lives. Learn more about the Disaster Relief Fund.
*Editor’s note: In the wake of a disaster we contact each sponsor who has a child affected by that disaster. We do so once we receive details from the country office about the child. If your child was affected by either Typhoon Ketsana or Typhoon Parma, you will be contacted when we receive information about your child.
Shine for Jesus: My Best Day in Ministry
Thomas Swaroop, Child Advocacy Director for South Asia, shares about the inspiration he received from a young girl who has an opportunity to shine for Jesus.
The Give With Love Club
In Thailand, Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population in a predominantly Buddhist country. But every Thursday evening a small group of Christian university students gather together to worship and glorify God at Naresuan University.
During this time of praise and singing, Maneenoot and Ittipol from the Leadership Development Program* observe their college friends who attend this small group. Some students walk in casually, and others enter in a hurry, rushing from their previous class. A handful of students sit by themselves nearby.
The hearts of Ittipol and Maneenoot are crying out to bring back all the lost souls to their heavenly Father’s kingdom.
In 2005, a group of Leadership Development Program students decided to join together to form a group in order to fellowship and support each other while attending Naresuan University, located in Payao province. (more…)
Philippines Milestone: 50,000 Registered Children
“Why just now?” asks Pastor Joel. “Where was Compassion when I was just a child who had all the potential but did not have the money to go to school or to eat three square meals a day?”
Pastor Joel grew up on the remote island of Siquijor in the Philippines, which has long been known for magic and witchcraft, but Compassion in the Philippines only began partnering with churches in Siquijor this year.
Although Compassion reached the Philippines in the 1970s, we finally landed in the isolated island after 30 years!
In 2004, we began regularly updating our strategy map to identify the poorest and neediest provinces in the country with the fewest number of evangelical churches, and the list included Siquijor. (more…)
The Importance of the Word of God for Children
Seven years ago, Nicaragua’s National Assembly made it official that the last Sunday of September would be dedicated to celebrating the translation of the Bible from Greek to Spanish.Throughout the national territory we celebrate. Sunday, Sept. 27, was the 440th anniversary.
In every department and/or town, churches from different denominations get together to celebrate.
Flowers, palm leaves and banners decorate trucks, and children dress in Bible costumes during the parade in celebration of the Day of the Bible.
Compassion Nicaragua understands the importance of the Word of God in the lives of children. That’s why in an effort to release children from their spiritual poverty, Bibles are given to every Compassion-registered child. The children receive Bibles that are appropriate for their age.
This year, 9,663 Bibles have been distributed. (more…)
Meet Compassion Rwanda’s Eugene Bahire
As birds sing morning songs to begin their days, Eugene Bahire, in charge of Tours and Visits at Compassion’s Rwanda office, starts his day with a morning prayer at 5:30 and prepares himself for work.
He leaves home at 6:30 a.m. and takes 45 minutes to reach his office.
After morning devotions with all Compassion Rwanda staff, which normally start at 8 a.m. and last an hour, he shifts his focus to Tours and Visits communications. 
“I make sure that I have enough relevant information about the child before confirming a visit date for a sponsor or a tour.
“Having gotten the news that a child will be visited on a certain date, the student center social worker visits the child’s home ahead of time to prepare the family members or guardians living with the child, and of course some preparations are made at the student center as well.”
Eugene enjoys his job, which he longed for even while he was still at the university.
“Ever since my university time, my ambitions were to work for a Christian organization, and so this is an absolute answer of prayer to me.
“I am always happy and motivated to advocate for people in times of need, and I enjoy learning about different cultural values.”
Gifted with cultural diversity, mostly resulting from his country’s (Rwanda) history, Eugene was born in Uganda in 1976, where he had his primary education. He later moved to join his brother who was living in Kenya, and from there had his junior secondary education. (more…)
Leadership Development Program: Getting It Started in El Salvador
“One day, we will see a former participant in Compassion’s sponsorship program lead our nation.” This is the dream that fills the hearts of the Compassion El Salvador staff.
What started in 1977 in El Salvador with the implementation of the child sponsorship program, is now taking a step closer toward that dream.
A few months ago, after a long wait, the Leadership Development Program* (LDP) started to take shape in El Salvador.
At Compassion El Salvador, we always have known there is potential in our future men and women to lead this nation. With the Leadership Development Program in our country, we can work hard to further develop those future leaders. (more…)
