The power of the Internet is in communication. With a few keystrokes, information and ideas can be sent all over the world. As a leading web site design and hosting company, HIT Web Design is proud of the role it plays online. But HIT Web Design believes it also has a role to play in bringing hope to communities of the world. In fact, one of the company’s core values is to take an active role in improving communities and strengthening society.
By adopting an orphanage in Haiti, HIT Web Design reaffirms its humanitarian commitments. And the need has never been greater.
One recent visitor to Port-au-Prince painted a vivid picture of the desperate need in Haiti. “I witnessed people that were living in the most desperate conditions, where food and water are a constant battle. Children are dying from starvation and people constantly get sick from something as simple as a glass of water that is often filled from filthy gutters.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) calls Haiti a nation in turmoil. This island nation has not had a stable government since a dictatorship collapsed in 1986. An AIDS crisis has devastated much of the country’s social structure. The devastating effects of hurricanes and mudslides have prompted thousands of poor, homeless families to flood into Haiti’s struggling, overcrowded slums.
More than half of the country’s population earns less than $1.25 per day. A 2003 UN report said 15 percent of all children in Haiti are orphans, and some 40 percent of those orphans may be infected with AIDS. A 2006 UNICEF report said, “Haiti is the most dangerous place in the Western hemisphere for children.”
That’s a sentiment reaffirmed by a visitor to one of Haiti’s orphanages.
“I personally will never forget the feeling of holding children that were literally dying in my arms, it simply broke my heart.”
In this chaotic environment, the Haitian government says there are 200 registered homes for orphaned or abandoned children. But, it readily admits, the actual number of orphanages in operation may be much higher. And, since there is virtually no government funding available, almost all orphanages are supported entirely through private donations.
Providing food, water, medicine, and shelter for one child for an entire month at the orphanage adopted by Heritage Internet Technologies costs a mere $90.00. And with 100 percent of donated money going to the orphanage, the impact is immediate and lasting. Taking care of an orphan’s basic necessities allows the orphanage to focus on education, nurturing, and preparing the children in its care to make the most of life.
Company leaders say their motivation is simple, “Our main goal as a business is different than most in that we see it as our responsibility to build an organization that is focused on making a difference in the lives of those who have little to no opportunity to help themselves… Love is found in service and opening our arms and hearts to people who are less fortunate than we are.”
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