The Future of Our Kids

Today we headed back to Port au Prince in preparation for our flight home tomorrow.  One of our objectives today was to see three young men from Desire who are now enrolled in the Pathways program.

Pathways was developed to provided a next step for children who are aging out of orphan care.  When a child reaches the age of 18 they are no longer considered a child but an adult and therefore need to exit the orphanage.  For the past several years Global Orphan has wrestled to address this issue that was becoming a reality very quickly at the orphan projects across the country.

Last year they launched the Pathways program which is a two year program designed to prepare young adults for a life beyond the orphan projects.  The program includes training in a trade for employment, life skills, discipleship and English.  The hope is that at the end of the two year program, a young adult will be able to lead a productive life including a job for income.

Since we have been partnered with Desire the last several years we knew that the first group of kids would be aging out soon.  We had been praying that Pastor Jeannot would encourage the young adults to consider enrolling in the Pathways program.  This fall three young men- Charlecson, Nasson and Wilson are enrolled at Pathways.  We had the opportunity to connect with them today and it was truly a blessing for us and I hope for them as well.  We will be seeking sponsorship for these three young men for the next couple of years of this program.  More details will follow soon but if you want to learn more, contact me and I'll fill you in.

While touring the GO Threads we discovered that a girl from the Desire community is enrolled in the Pathways program and is in her second year.  She recognized me and Chuck called out to us- what a great reunion with one the community children of Desire.  And a small taste of the effectiveness of connecting to the community children as well as the orphans we support!

In addition to seeing the boys, we had a chance to see some of the training programs the students can join.  There is the Go Threads program that teaches sewing and students will be cranking out school uniforms for all GO schools.  There is also a Mechanics program that teaches students

automotive repairs.  Finally there is the Agriculture program that includes a chicken farm, livestock and crop production.  We were super encouraged to visit those aspects of the Pathways program.

Tomorrow we head home with heavy hearts but encouraged hearts for all the work that the Global Orphan Project is doing in Haiti.