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Desmond Tutu once said, “There comes a point where we need to stop pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream to find out why they’re falling in.” For our 15th issue of The Upstream, we want to take you back to the story that changed everything for us. It was a big risk, but we soon found it was a risk worth taking for the benefit of so many families.
Find out why in the video below from our Founder and CEO, Chris Marlow.
Pastor John Alix brought our team to the school that day because he wanted us to see the needs of these students. His ask was simple: he wanted us to help him develop an in-school meal program. Being a small organization, early in our development journey, we felt that we needed to stay focused on our mission: to help children who had been orphaned or abandoned. Upon hearing this, Jean Alix responded by saying,
“I understand why you can’t help us with the school meals. Come back in three months when these students are abandoned. You can help them there.”
This was an invitation from one of our brilliant local leaders to go Upstream and it began to reshape us as an organization.
So we launched our Education program. Because if a parent knows that his or her child can go to school and get at least one hot meal each day, they are less likely to put their child in orphan care, thus preserving the family unit.
Want to learn more about the crisis in Haiti right now? Check out the podcast below.
Since that crucial decision in 2011 we have been relentlessly stubborn about moving Upstream. It has become an important part of our identity over the last 15 years. We’ve seen its effectiveness as we work alongside local leaders and communities around the world. This little email that we send every month is your reminder that together, we can do good in the world. This is a reminder that we will not grow tired of doing this good, and we will continue to follow the lead of international partners with courageous humility in order to get to the root causes of extreme poverty.
We are so glad that you’re here.
Together we build,
The Help One Now Team
