“As the family goes, so goes the nation.” – John Paul II
FAMILY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
In the Bible, Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins, mere heaps of stones. The book of Nehemiah relates how the news made him very sad and tells the story of how he asked the king to send him to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. The rebuilding process had a unifying and bonding effect, as community members worked together. Others tried to sabotage the rebuilding and the project wasn’t without controversy. But God supported the rebuilders, and Nehemiah, with the assistance of Ezra, helped the people be obedient to God.
Nehemiah exhibited his obedience in 445 BC. Almost 2,500 years later, God is calling WWV to work to restore the broken foundation of families in Haiti through the Family Development Initiative. (read more…)
The Future of Haiti Lives in its Children
The children of strong families experience less crime, less divorce and fewer emotional problems. They tend to stay in school, are more likely to be self-supporting, and go on to have strong, healthy families of their own, having learned from their parent’s example.
When you partner with World Wide Village and support the Family Development Initiative, you become a partner in helping Haiti build a strong future.
Raise Up the Women & Raise Up the Nation
Many Haitian families are headed by single mothers. When you give them support to stand on their own emotionally and economically, they will lift their families out of poverty.
The surest way out of poverty, however, lies in building strong families where a mother AND a father work together to create a safe, stable environment that nutures the children and helps them build strong, stable families and communities of their own.
Recreating What It Means to Be a Father in Haiti
Freeing Haiti from the cycle of poverty means helping build families that include fathers. When fathers are devalued, have difficulty finding work, and lose the dignity of being able to support their families, those families breakdown. By recreating the role of a father within the family, you are providing an essential building block toward helping children grow out of the cycle of poverty.
Strong Families Mean a Strong Nation
Families are the security of any nation. When families erode, the nation fails. Adults in a strong family set the tone and are good role models that lead by example. They reach out to friends and community and teach their children the importance of doing the same – and that becomes part of who the children are. They work together to solve problems, and they pass their skills on to the next generation. Our dream is to develop strong families and communities who not only have access to knowledge, but also have the opportunity to hear God’s grace and power to transform lives.
