Ebola Orphan Aid Trip, Sierra Leone
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Fundraising Details
Name: Robin Chance
Location: Shakopee, Minnesota
Fundraising Purpose: Raise money for a humanitarian aid impact trip to help Ebola orphans and exploited and vulnerable children in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Description: From July 15-29, my son Michael Chance and I will be in Sierra Leone on a humanitarian aid mission trip with staff and volunteers from Embracing Children Adoption Services (ECAS), and working at Mama Mayila's Cradle . During our stay, we will spend a considerable amount of time in the Moa Wharf slum, one of the hardest hit areas during the Ebola crisis, and in Mabrown, a child foster care community that cares for vulnerable children. This will be a working trip, not a vacation.
Moa Wharf is a community of over seven thousand people and the vast majority are children. It is built on rotting fish carcasses and the accumulated garbage of Freetown. The housing consists of tin shacks smashed together resting on top of garbage and filth. The flies swarm everywhere. In the middle of the ‘city’ is a waterfall, consisting of the run off from the city of Freetown. Freetown has no public thrash-cans or sanitation system, so this waterfall is chock full of garbage. Pigs root around in the garbage stream and goats wander freely. A fellow volunteer said that “to say that Moa smells like a barnyard is an insult to the barnyard.” Yet within this horrible environment, free now from Ebola but still plagued with malaria and other diseases, live beautiful children who need someone to care for them and show compassion. That’s why we’re going.
While in Sierra Leone, we will:
- Distribute rice, clean water, clothing, medical and school supplies, LuminAID lights, and other aid to people living in several slums.
- Complete construction projects.
- Provide basic medical training to staff, participate in art therapy programs with children who have experienced extreme trauma, and teach classes at a small school.
- Help to further establish a safe interim care facility and a safe house for vulnerable, orphaned, trafficked, and exploited children.
Connection to ECAS: I'm the Vice Chair/Board of Directors for ECAS, and also serve as a marketing consultant and volunteer. My ECAS biography is available online.
Fundraising: Michael and I need to raise our own funds for the trip and the programs we’re supporting. We will apply the funds across three expense categories:
1. Humanitarian aid trip costs for program fees and in-country projects (e.g., delivering rice, water, medical, dental and school supplies, solar lights, clothing, toys, books, and Bibles): $3,000 ($1,500x2)
2. Transportation and accommodations: $4,000 ($2,000x2)
3. Financial support to help cover costs involved in operating Mama Mayila's foster homes for Ebola orphans and other vulnerable youth: $3,000+
Thank you for your support. Your gifts will changes lives. God bless you!
(Photos from Embracing Children Adoption Agency's trip to the Moa Wharf slum, February 2016.)
About ECAS and Mama Mayila's Cradle: Founded in 1998, Embracing Children Adoption Services (ECAS) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Minnesota licensed adoption agency. We were one of the first American international adoption agencies to be granted full Hague Accreditation in 2008. Due to our continued success and dedication we have been re-accredited through January 19, 2017. Even though we are licensed in Minnesota, we are able to assist families throughout the US and abroad in completing an international adoption.
Mama Mayila's Cradle in Sierra Leone is a partnership between ECAS, Hope for Ebola Orphans, Home Leone, and Ripsta Culture GEDO.
My participation in this humanitarian aid trip, as well as that of my son, Michael, can be confirmed by contacting Alisha Stoltzfus, Interim Care Center Coordinator for Mama Mayila's Cradle.
Name: Robin Chance
Location: Shakopee, Minnesota
Fundraising Purpose: Raise money for a humanitarian aid impact trip to help Ebola orphans and exploited and vulnerable children in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Description: From July 15-29, my son Michael Chance and I will be in Sierra Leone on a humanitarian aid mission trip with staff and volunteers from Embracing Children Adoption Services (ECAS), and working at Mama Mayila's Cradle . During our stay, we will spend a considerable amount of time in the Moa Wharf slum, one of the hardest hit areas during the Ebola crisis, and in Mabrown, a child foster care community that cares for vulnerable children. This will be a working trip, not a vacation.
Moa Wharf is a community of over seven thousand people and the vast majority are children. It is built on rotting fish carcasses and the accumulated garbage of Freetown. The housing consists of tin shacks smashed together resting on top of garbage and filth. The flies swarm everywhere. In the middle of the ‘city’ is a waterfall, consisting of the run off from the city of Freetown. Freetown has no public thrash-cans or sanitation system, so this waterfall is chock full of garbage. Pigs root around in the garbage stream and goats wander freely. A fellow volunteer said that “to say that Moa smells like a barnyard is an insult to the barnyard.” Yet within this horrible environment, free now from Ebola but still plagued with malaria and other diseases, live beautiful children who need someone to care for them and show compassion. That’s why we’re going.
While in Sierra Leone, we will:
- Distribute rice, clean water, clothing, medical and school supplies, LuminAID lights, and other aid to people living in several slums.
- Complete construction projects.
- Provide basic medical training to staff, participate in art therapy programs with children who have experienced extreme trauma, and teach classes at a small school.
- Help to further establish a safe interim care facility and a safe house for vulnerable, orphaned, trafficked, and exploited children.
Connection to ECAS: I'm the Vice Chair/Board of Directors for ECAS, and also serve as a marketing consultant and volunteer. My ECAS biography is available online.
Fundraising: Michael and I need to raise our own funds for the trip and the programs we’re supporting. We will apply the funds across three expense categories:
1. Humanitarian aid trip costs for program fees and in-country projects (e.g., delivering rice, water, medical, dental and school supplies, solar lights, clothing, toys, books, and Bibles): $3,000 ($1,500x2)
2. Transportation and accommodations: $4,000 ($2,000x2)
3. Financial support to help cover costs involved in operating Mama Mayila's foster homes for Ebola orphans and other vulnerable youth: $3,000+
Thank you for your support. Your gifts will changes lives. God bless you!
(Photos from Embracing Children Adoption Agency's trip to the Moa Wharf slum, February 2016.)
About ECAS and Mama Mayila's Cradle: Founded in 1998, Embracing Children Adoption Services (ECAS) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Minnesota licensed adoption agency. We were one of the first American international adoption agencies to be granted full Hague Accreditation in 2008. Due to our continued success and dedication we have been re-accredited through January 19, 2017. Even though we are licensed in Minnesota, we are able to assist families throughout the US and abroad in completing an international adoption.
Mama Mayila's Cradle in Sierra Leone is a partnership between ECAS, Hope for Ebola Orphans, Home Leone, and Ripsta Culture GEDO.
My participation in this humanitarian aid trip, as well as that of my son, Michael, can be confirmed by contacting Alisha Stoltzfus, Interim Care Center Coordinator for Mama Mayila's Cradle.
Organizer
Robin Chance
Organizer
Shakopee, MN