Mercy Beyond Borders goes to Haiti

As you know, Mercy Beyond Borders partners with displaced women and girls in ways that alleviate their extreme poverty.  To date, all of our projects have been in South Sudan, home to 1/4 of the world's displaced people.  Now we are expanding to Haiti, where the 2010 earthquake displaced tens of thousands.  Even now, 18 months later, many people still live in flimsy tent encampments in Port-au-Prince; thousands more fled to the rural areas to stay with relatives (who themselves cannot afford to host the influx).

One week in Haiti was more than enough to convince me that Haitian women are resilient and resourceful (as you can see in this photo), and that scholarships for Haitian girls will provide hope as well as education to the many who would otherwise drop out for lack of school fees.  Mercy Beyond Borders will focus its efforts in the Gros Morne (i.e., "big mountain") area, about 4 hours by car north of Port-au-Prince.  We begin this summer by offering high school scholarships to the top academic achiever in each of 16 primary schools in the region. Stay tuned on our website for details and photos in coming months: www.mercybeyondborders.org.