Donate your Economic Stimulus Check

In the next few days, many Americans will begin to receive economic stimulus checks that are intended to jumpstart the economy. Many stores are hoping you will use your check to buy a huge, new, sparkling HD TV, or a new washer and dryer that fits 25 pairs of jeans in one load. But this year, you could provide a real economic stimulus by donating a portion of your economic stimulus check to a non-profit organization like International Child Care. International Child Care works to improve the economy in Haiti by providing loans to women to give them a hand up out of poverty. ICC also provides vital health services, sanitation services, and literacy programs that the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic cannot afford to run themselves. By supporting such programs, we can help create stronger communities in the poorest areas of the nation. You can donate to International Child Care directly, or you can help support International Child Care just by shopping online at Amazon.com--ICC earns money for each purchase you make on Amazon when you click here. We appreciate your continued support of International Child Care.

Help Mothers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic this Mother's Day

This year, Mother's Day will hit the century mark--one hundred years of celebrating the challenges mothers overcome, whether it be working while raising a family, dealing with rowdy teenagers, or remembering to cut the crusts off of one child's peanut butter jelly sandwich while not forgetting that the other one will only eat grape jelly and the sandwich has to be cut diagonally instead of straight down the middle.
Any mother faces many obstacles, but mothers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic face many challenges many of us would never want to imagine. In Haiti, for example, many mothers must cope with the fact that one in eight Haitian children never live to see their fifth birthday due to infectious disease, pregnancy-related complications, and delivery-related complications. In the Dominican Republic, parents face the heart-breaking reality that there is relatively little they can do if there child is born with a disability. In the Dominican Republic geographic and economic barriers make it difficult for most Dominicans to access rehabilitation services, which tend to be institution-based and only available to the wealthy.
In Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, many parents cannot afford to send their children to school, give them proper medical care, or even guarantee that their children will have safe drinking water. Fortunately, however, International Child Care recognized these needs and is working to assist mothers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to raise healthy children and provide hope and happiness for the lives.
International Child Care's Healthy Births program works to reduce unnecessary suffering and death associated with childbearing by training midwives in the techniques of delivery, proper hygiene, and utmost care for pregnant women and infants in Haiti.
In the Dominican Republic, ICC works to train rehabilitation workers, called promotoras, who come into the homes of children with disabilities and teach parents how to help their children do simple exercises that will help the child grow and develop, empowering the parents to help their children and giving children a chance to be fully included in their communities.
In Haiti, ICC has many programs to improve literacy, help families out of poverty, and provide medical care to sick children. ICC's Adult Literacy program provides literacy training in order to provide a skill for adults to use to gain a job and support their family. Grace Children's Hospital, founded by International Child Care in 1967, gives constant care to children suffering from tuberculosis, HIV and other diseases. ICC also works to provide safe drinking water for families in Haiti.
This Mother's Day, it is our hope that you will not only take time to reflect on all the challenges your own mother has faced, but also take time out to pray for the mothers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic who face many challenges as well. You may also donate to International Child Care and help us to continue empowering and assisting mothers and families in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

U.S. & Canada Pledge Increased Food Aid

Government leaders in both the United States and Canada are promising increased levels of food aid to developing nations in response to recent shortages.

On Thursday, U.S. President George W. Bush urged Congress to to approve $770 million in new global food aid, starting in October. About half of the money would be used toward direct food assistance, with the remainder supporting agricultural development and other programs facilitated by the U.S. Agency for International Development. These funds are in addition to $200 million in emergency wheat reserves that the administration pledged to donate two weeks ago.

In Canada, $50 million in extra food assistance will go to the United Nations World Food Program and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, including $10 million earmarked for Haiti. This is an increase of 28% over the previous commitment, bringing Canada's total international food aid to $230 million. International Co-operation Minister Beverly Oda noted that while the Canadian International Development Agency is constantly monitoring the need for humanitarian food aid, "conditions are so perilous that some predict we run the risk of reversing past development progress. This is a challenge we must all meet as part of the global community."

Perhaps the most striking aspect of these pledges is that both governments have untied some of the strings that are normally attached to food aid. Instead of requiring that all food assistance be grown in and transported by the donor country, both the U.S. and Canada will use a portion of the aid money to purchase food within the countries where it is needed. They will also fund development programs that increase the capacity of struggling nations to produce their own food in sustainable ways.

Many international aid groups, including International Child Care, are applauding the governments' decisions to loosen restrictions on food aid in order to provide more efficient and effective help. "It's not enough to get food out the door," said Gerry Barr, president of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. "We also need to get food in the ground. And that calls for a longer-term strategy, not just a response to the current crisis."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has set up a task force in response to what the World Food Program has dubbed the "silent tsunami" of rising food costs. He emphasized the importance of supporting local farmers in countries affected by the crisis, and plans to implement a $1.7 billion program to help countries with a food deficit purchase seeds.

International Child Care works in partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency and the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide health and nutrition programs to people in Haiti. ICC promotes principles of sustainable development in order to bring about positive change. For more information on our programs or how you can help, explore our website or contact us.