CONSTRUCTION MISSIONS
Healing the Children believes that children need a safe, healthy environment. It is for this reason that we have contributed financially and with personnel to construction missions since our first one in 2001. We have completed one every year since then. All seven of our projects have taken place in Nicaragua where we have refurbished a day care, a nutrition center, 4 schools and a clinic. We have done whatever was necessary in each of these facilities from: revamping the entire electrical system, providing lights and fans, dividing classrooms and providing storage, creating windows and repairing broken windows, re-routing drainage systems so water no longer runs through classrooms during the rainy season, repairing or replacing roofs and floors, and painting, cleaning and repairing equipment such as desks, chairs and chalkboards. In one school of 365 children there was one toilet and a non-working sink. We created 2 complete bathrooms with 3 toilets each and installed sinks with running water. We believe these things have improved the quality of life for the children that are served. At the nutrition center malnourished children’s lives have literally been saved and the day care is better equipped to feed 250 children daily (their only real meal of the day). Many of the people and parents who are affiliated with the facilities have lent a hand, and we have all benefited. The costs of the missions for room and board of the team, materials and local labor when required are approximately $15,000-20,000. The team members pay for their own airfare and the first and last night’s lodging. Seventy-five percent of the costs are covered by various fund raising efforts and approximately twenty-five percent is provided by HTC.
We have a new proposal for another school. Again, the cost will be around $20,000. These schools are extremely poor. Repairs are not taken care of by the government or any other established entity but by the parents of the children who attend. This is an impossible situation and simply does not work. Our goal is to send a team to Nicaragua in Feb. of 2009!
HEALING THE CHILDREN NATIONAL Project: ETHIOPIA
For the past 2 years, HTC National has been working on a project to equip the brand new Ethiopian Pediatric Cardiac Center. By providing the cost of delivery to Project CURE and procuring some equipment on our own, we were able to send the first container to Addis Abada. The hospital project is a huge undertaking and has received support from around the world. The Center was scheduled to open in May/June 2008 and is the only one of its kind in Africa. The sustainability plan is for the Center to receive 6-8 medical teams a year over the next 3-4 years. The primary focus is hands on teaching and training of the local staff at all levels, developing procedures and establishing Best Practices.It began with one child. Today thousands of children are alive, healthy and whole because Healing The Children is working on their behalf.