SO Excited

We are working on some exciting things here at Artists For Hope. In a week I will be flying to Haiti, for many reasons, but one of them being that we are hoping to start an art co-op in the mountains of Haiti where the Rescue Center is located. One of the things that impacted us the most while we were in Haiti was the lack of jobs. That lack of jobs leads to the horrible cycle of poverty that results in starving kids and we don't want to stand by and just watch the cycle continue.

We will be teaching some women a few simple art ideas to begin with and then we'll continue to teach more projects in the future. We're really excited about being able to provide some women with much needed income and we'll be posting from Haiti to share about this and those sweet kids that are living at the Rescue Center and fighting to get better.

We'll be looking for different venues to sell the items made in Haiti, so please let us know if you have some great ideas for us! Continue to spread the word and let's help even more kids (and women!) in Cazale.

Haitian Proverb

Men anpil chay pa lou.
Many hands make the load lighter.

Kwashiorkor

Whenever I used think about malnutrition, I always envisioned children with round little bellies and almost every bone in their body showing. I had never heard of kwashiorkor and I had no idea how deadly it was. I was shocked at what it could do and how it was that I had never even heard of this. It's definitely one of the most tragic, awful things that are a result of extreme poverty.

Kervenson just came into the Rescue Center with severe kwash. His body is rotting from the inside and he is extremely swollen with fluid.

It's so bad that his skin is starting to break down and fall off.
As you can imagine, this is extremely painful.

We are hoping and praying that this baby will be able to recover. They tried to give him medika mamba and some juice, but his stomach couldn't handle it and he threw it all up. He is now in a place where they will do everything they can to get him better.

Maybe you are asking WHY did this happen?
Imagine if all you have is a small amount of rice to feed your family and nothing else. Rice will at least fill up your belly and make you feel full, but it doesn't give you any of the protein or vitamins that you need to live. If this is all you have to eat, eventually your body won't be able to take it and the symptoms of kwashiorkor take over. Such a sad reality of what people deal with every day.

If you would like to help us help children like Kervenson, please spread the word about Artists For Hope. Donated and purchased artwork gives funds to help feed nutritious meals to these children and provides medical help to them so they can get better. ALL the proceeds go to these kids. Everyone who works with Artists For Hope are volunteers. So if you want to know that your money is really going to make a difference~ this is the way to help!