55 Project
Nonprofit Organization Management - , ,
55 Project Employees
55 Project Details
What is 55 Project?The 55 Project exists to provide food, housing, education, and medical care for the orphans of the Wayom Timoun orphanage located in Port au Prince, Haiti. The orphanage is currently home to 55 children, yet due to the difficult economic circumstances in Haiti, it remains funded at a mere 40% of its needed operating budget. As a result, the caretakers are forced to make very difficult decisions about how and where to allocate their limited resources. The 55 Project's goal is to raise $55,000 to bless their efforts and provide 55 children with hope for a better future.History of Wayom TimounIn 2003, Pastor Rigaud Antoine and his wife encountered two young girls begging outside their hotel in Port au Pai, Haiti. After observing one of the young girls approached by a would-be abuser, they stepped in and took care of the children for the night. After feeding and bathing them, they were able to track down their mother who had 13 children she was unable to care for. The mother asked Pastor Antoine and his wife to take the two girls under their wing; thus, the orphanage was born. From 2003 to 2010 the orphanage was home to more than 40 children. Following a catastrophic 7.0 earthquake in 2010, that number rose to 106 children living in their small orphanage. While many of the children have since been adopted and are discovering new abundant life in the United States, 55 children remain.A Pastor's HeartPastor Antoine and his wife have selflessly cared for and nurtured dozens of children over the past 14 years. Mrs. Antoine spends much of her time working as a nurse in Miami, FL, to send money back home to Port au Prince to keep the orphanage going. Spending so much time apart is difficult, but their passion for the children is empowering. While the 55 Project team was in Haiti this summer in preparation for these fundraising efforts, we experienced some difficult circumstances. While visiting the town of La Saline outside of Port au Prince, we witnessed many malnourished kids living in abject poverty. As we were preparing to leave, Pastor Antoine agreed to bring two more children back to his already overwhelmingly underfunded orphanage so they might have a chance for survival. In those hard moments our mission to bring financial support to this cause became all the more paramount.
