Monday, February 13, 2012

I Need Your Help...

...no, actually, my friends do...

Ana Maria
Fatima
Xiomara
Steven
Alonso
Sonia
Seven years ago, I walked into the Hogar del Nino orphanage in El Salvador for the first time.  I have returned every summer since (with the exception of last summer due to the arrival of little Noah), and my life has been immeasurably enriched by the relationships I have made there.  To read about my first experience at the Hogar, click here.

I run a non-profit program that recruits, trains, and oversees the work of American volunteers at the orphanage, and I am feeling desperate.  We'd love to have volunteers there year-round, and sometimes we do, but unfortunately we haven't had volunteers at the Hogar since August.  To make matters worse, we don't have anyone signed up to volunteer this summer.  It will be the first time in six years that we haven't had volunteers living at the Hogar during the summer months.  

Without volunteers, the residents of the orphanage sit in their wheelchairs under a pavilion all day every day and get almost no stimulation or education.  They deserve a better life than that.

PLEASE HELP ME.

I know there are people out there who would love the experience of living and serving in an orphanage for three months, but they just don't know that this opportunity exists.  Can you please help spread the word?

*Take a moment and think about the people in your life who might be in a position to serve.  Do you know anyone who loves children?  Do you know anyone who speaks Spanish fluently (one member of each volunteer team must speak the language)?  Do you know anyone who loves to serve?  PLEASE contact anyone whom you think would be a good fit for this program and ask them to contact me.  We send a pair of volunteers every three months; they sometimes apply together, or they sometimes apply as individuals and are then paired with another applicant.  We've had friends and siblings apply together, as well as young married couples.  I think it would be possible for a young couple with one child to volunteer.  It would also be possible for a retired couple.  Please think hard about the people in your life who might love this opportunity and get this information to them.  Even if they can't volunteer this summer, we could get them lined up to volunteer in the fall or winter.

*See the cute Hogar del Nino Project blog button on my sidebar?  Please post it on your blog, so we'll get more traffic to our site!  Copy the displayed HTML code, and add it as a gadget to your own sidebar.

*Please also add the Hogar del Nino Project blog to your "blog list" or feed.  I know from experience that I sometimes click on the links displayed on my friends' blog lists.

*Please post the link to our website on Facebook and ask people to share it.  Facebook is an amazing way to reach lots of people in a short amount of time.  I would really appreciate if you could share share share: http://help-international.org/hogar-del-niño

*Please "like" the Hogar del Nino Program on Facebook.

*Please think about if there is any other way you can help spread the information.  Do you have a high-traffic blog on which you would be willing to let me guest post?  Do you live close to a college campus or an Institute Building where you could hang fliers (most of our volunteers have been college students)?  Do you know any college professors who might be willing to share this information with their classes?  I welcome ideas of how I can get the word out about the Hogar to more people.

If you can't tell, I feel extremely passionate about this cause, and I want to do everything in my power to help my friends at the Hogar.  I know volunteers make a huge impact in their lives.  The photos say it all:







Thank you for your help!!

4 comments:

  1. I added the button to my blog! I hope we can find someone. I made a facebook post a while back and I had a few people show interest so I gave them your information but I will follow up now and push it a little more with them.

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  2. I am a past hogar volunteer and I couldn't have picked a better program to become a part of. I will refer people I think of your way Rachel!

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  3. I have forwarded your information to my mother and my uncle, both of whom have posted the info on their facebook pages. My mother, who is a fluent spanish speaker, and my uncle, who volunteered in his early 20s each summer in Nicaragua, still keep in contact with many organizations who might know of interested candidates. Although their advanced ages won't permit them themselves to volunteer, maybe they will be able to help.

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  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_capLKqM3sY

    God bless you miss rachel miss molly and all volunteers thank you for all and geatings from Algeria
    Pleas i want you to tell me about Sonia the cute little girl lives in the hogar i beg god nights and days for take care of here and all hogar's childrens

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