Help Haitian Families Rise From Poverty to Dignity

You are breaking the cycle of ultra-poverty for the most vulnerable families in Haiti. Thank you! 

Thank you again for your generous support for Beyond Borders' Family Graduation Program. You are helping the most vulnerable among us to escape extreme poverty for good with your care, your concern, and your commitment.

You already know that your generosity is helping families to escape ultra-poverty -- but you may wonder, how and why do families become mired in such extreme poverty in the first place?

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty by Protecting Children from Slavery and Abuse

Preliminary results from research we've done with families in Beyond Borders' Family Graduation Program found a strong correlation between child domestic servitude and ultra-poverty in adulthood.

Thankfully tho', a key component of your generous support is helping impoverished rural families to keep each and every one of their children at home and in school, where they belong -- instead of sending them away to live with others where they risk becoming enslaved.

While our research is still preliminary, the initial results are clear: children who are enslaved in domestic servitude are much more likely to grow up to head families that are trapped in extreme poverty. 

What the Survey Results Show: Two-Thirds of Ultra-Poor Parents Were Enslaved as Children

We surveyed 193 of the 220 families who've already graduated from the program. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents reported that they had lived a meaningful portion of their childhood apart from both their parents. This is disproportionately high given that recent studies indicate that a quarter (25%) of all children aged five through 17 live apart from both parents. Of those who said they'd been sent away to live with others, 78% said they’d experienced exploitation, abuse, and neglect -- sadly a typical experience for children who become trapped in domestic servitude in Haiti.

But the good news is that your support is changing this for the most vulnerable families, ensuring that their children grow up at home, in the safety and security of their own family.

Your support is making it possible for them to begin earning a living, to start saving, to enroll all their children in school, and to have a safe and sturdy home in which to live.

Restoring Dignity, Self-Confidence and Hope for the Future

Vulnerable families often live their lives on the margins of society -- isolated, excluded, and hopeless. They feel as though they have little or no reason to hope for a better future, much less plan for one, so they don’t.

That’s why restoring each family’s sense of dignity and self-confidence, by encouraging their hard work and determination, is a key component of the Family Graduation Program.

With a renewed sense of confidence and dignity, families begin to have hope and make long-term plans for the future, opening the door to genuine and lasting transformation in their lives.

The opportunities that your generosity makes possible for families gives them a reason to hope and teaches them how – sometimes for the very first time – to earn a living, plan for the future, and have confidence in themselves.

The Key Components of the Family Graduation Program that You Make Possible

As a reminder, here are the key components of the Family Graduation Program that your generosity makes possible: Using an approach called The Graduation Model, proven globally to help families lift themselves out of extreme poverty in 18 months, each family receives: assets to earn a living with, for example livestock, or goods to start a small store; training to manage the assets and start a savings account; initial cash support to reduce the need to sell their assets in an emergency; weekly coaching visits to reinforce skills, and build confidence; access to healthcare so they can stay healthy and work; and help repairing their home or building a sturdy new home.

Your Generosity + Their Hard Work = Lasting Change

Families are working very hard to begin earning a living, to start saving, to enroll all their children in school, and to have a dignified place to live, but none of what they've achieved so far would be possible without your generosity and solidarity.

I can never thank you enough for your generous support. The future for some of Haiti’s most vulnerable families is being rebuilt on a foundation of dignity and self-reliance that is filled with opportunity and hope -- and it's all made possible by you.

If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Donor Engagement Director at b.stevens@beyondborders.net or (305) 450-2561.

Links:

• See how the Family Graduation Program transforms lives.
• Watch a video about a family earning a living by raising pigs.
• Like us on Facebook for the latest on our work in Haiti.