Heartland View

Issue date: 2/10/10 Section: Feature

A local chemistry professor from Northwest Missouri State University is making his mark in Haiti through the House of Hope Children's orphanage.

Port Au Prince, Haiti, thousands of children litter the streets searching for shelter and food. Drinking water is unclean and is riddled with diseases such as hepatitis. Eventually with no where else to turn, orphans die from disease and lack of nutrition and shelter.

After the earthquake that smashed the country of Haiti, more than 200,000 poverty stricken people were killed during the chaos of collapsing buildings and fires.

Thousands of children are now orphans due to the major earthquake that turned the poorest nation in the western hemisphere to rubble.

Mike Bellamy, a chemistry professor of Northwest Missouri State University, began the House of Hope Haiti children's orphanage in September of 2005. The House of Hope orphanage is a Christian ministry that sponsors 17 children and is in the process of acquiring more orphans into the orphanage since the earthquake.

House of Hope orphanage is 41 miles from Port Au Prince, the city where the earthquake struck.

House of Hope employs eight full time staff members who take care of all the needs of the children by giving them food, shelter, water, and education. Many of the children are very young and were found living on the streets.

The ministry began a Christian school called the Good Samaritan School. The school teaches grades K-5 and over 130 children attend the school each day.

House of Hope is searching for individuals who have a heart for helping children. There are a number of ways of how individuals can contribute. People can help by prayer, financial contribution, or by going to Haiti to help the orphanage staff. Mike Bellamy, a professor at Northwest Missouri State University, leads teams into Haiti to help the House of Hope orphanage or the Good Samaritan School.

The teams will aid in construction work to build schools, distribute water, and care for children. If you are interested in making a trip to Haiti with one of the teams contact Mike Bellamy at bellamy@nwmissouri.edu for more information.

The House of Hope orphanage is looking for families, or individuals to sponsor orphan children. A child can be sponsored through the orphanage for only forty dollars per month. Moreover, House of Hope is a non-profit organization and everyone can be assured that all proceeds will go directly to sponsoring children.

House of Hope is doing miraculous things to help children of Haiti. They sponsor 17 children and teach over 130 children through a Christian school. Please consider helping this organization continue its work either by prayer, contributing financially, or physically going to Haiti. It's only forty dollars per month and it will change a child's life forever.

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