Lexington, KY (1888PressRelease)
June 09, 2008 - Mr. Gibson was watching CNN’s Larry King Live interviews of the CNN HEROES Nominees (see video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzm_xG2sq4A and was impressed with the young man, Aaron Jackson, that was up for a Medical Marvel Award. Gibson said, “I went to Jackson’s website, http://www.PlantingPeace.org and sent him an e-mail. A week or so later he returned my e-mail and asked me to give him a call. I was a little reluctant as I was not sure if I had anything of value to say or ask.
I called and we just started talking about Haiti, the world, our views and what we wanted to do. We soon found a common ground, the homeless children of Haiti. I had been to Haiti in 2005 volunteering with another organization that built schools and knew I wanted help Haitian children in some way. My wife Kim and I were at the time starting the process of forming our own non-profit organization called Ten Kids, Inc. After hours of discussion with Aaron we came up with a partnership plan for Ten Kids www.TenKids.org and Planting Peace.
I am cautious by nature and very protective of our supporter’s donations. I asked Aaron to meet me in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the first week of March and he agreed. I met with Aaron and John Dieubon, co-Founder and Director of Haiti Programs for Planting Peace. I drove them crazy with meetings and questions, trying to find something wrong or subversive with what they were doing. I could not and did not find one thing that raised any concerns.
Then I met the kids and that was it, I knew our partnership was solidified. Our partnership is pretty simple and worked right into the vision Kim and I had for Ten Kids, to take homeless children (ages 4-14) off the streets, place the kids in a family setting, provide them with the basics of life and give them an opportunity to change their futures.
Ten Kids, Inc. is sponsoring one of the Planting Peace homes, also called Orphanages. We are not only providing financial support, through our partnership Ten Kids has a voice on everything from the schools the children attend to what the house looks like, we are directly involved.
To my amazement and delight Aaron asked if I would serve as a Director for Planting Peace. I could think of no better way to solidify the partnership, validate the work of Ten Kids and to help not only the kids of Haiti but children around the world.
I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Planting Peace, having a positive impact on children for generations to come. What amazed me is that we could support ten (10) children, providing them with a safe home with parents, clean water, food, clothing, school tuition and supplies, uniforms, access to medical care, beds, transportation and hope for about $12,000 a year, just $12,000 for ten kids and two parents.”
When Ten Kids began raising funds on January 18 of this year they were looking for 100 people to give just $10 a month, the cost of going to the movies (matinee only) or a trip to Starbucks. As of May 27th Ten Kids has pledges in the amount of $5,168 (43% of their $12,000 goal) and only need 57 more people at $10 a month completely sponsor their first home for a year. If individuals or organizations do not want commit to a monthly donation, Ten Kids will happily accept any size contribution.
100% of your donation will go directly to sponsoring the home, administrative cost are currently being covered by the Gibson’s. If you want to help or would like additional information visit their website at http://www.TenKids.org or call Gip Gibson at (859) 229-4536 or (502) 352-1443. For information about Planting Peace go to their website at http://www.PlantingPeace.org or contact Aaron Jackson at (954) 394-4989.
What does the future hold for Ten Kids and Planting Peace? Mr. Gibson said, “The idea is to create something we can duplicate over and over and over again. After we get the first home sponsored we will look for another home either in Haiti or even possibly in the US.”
Facts about Haiti
• Haiti is about a two hour plane ride from Miami to Port-au-Prince, the capital
• Haiti is the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, with 76 percent of its population below the poverty line, in Kentucky that would be over 3 million people (KY has about 4 million residents)
• Most Haitians live on less than $2 per day
• 95% of Haiti's 8.5 million people are descendents of African slaves
• An estimated 300,000 children are child laborers or Restavecs,* domestic slaves
• Child mortality:
o 1 out of 14 children die before their first birthday
o 1 out of 8 children die before they reach age of 5
• Life expectancy – 49 years , lower in Haiti than in Sudan
• Only 50% of primary-age children are in primary school
• Less than 2% of children finish secondary school
• 40% of the children do not get regular vaccinations for childhood diseases
• Its people have less access to clean water and sanitation than residents of Ethiopia or Sierra Leone
• Chronic malnutrition affects 42% of children under the age of five
• Haiti has the third-highest rate of hunger in the world, behind Somalia and Afghanistan
• Kentucky has about 40,000 square miles with over 4 million people
• Haiti has about 11,000 square miles with over 8.5 million people, half the size, double the people
• Port-au-Prince, the capital, has about 60% (5 million) of the total urban population
• A greater percentage of Haitians live in poverty than citizens of the war-ravaged Congo in Africa
• Haiti is a beautiful tropical land, with a rich history, full of amazing kids
RESTAVEC, a French term meaning "stay with" refers to a social system in Haiti whereby parents unable to care for their children send or sell them to relatives or strangers living in more urban areas where they receive food, housing (and sometimes an education) in exchange for light housework.
In reality Restavecs often live in grinding poverty, enslaved to their “hosts”/Owners and seldom receive an education. The Restavec system is considered a form of slavery. There is a great book called Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American by Jean-Robert Cadet, ISBN 0292712030 available at http://www.restavecfreedom.org or your local library.
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