Hoops for Hope

I recently went to a concert for teenage girls called the "Revolve tour". There was a boy named Austin who really inspired the crowd to do more. This is the story of Hoops for Hope:

Austin wanted to do something to help kids who had parents dying of AIDS. In 2004, Austin decided to shoot 2,057 free throws on World's AIDS day, which he did and raised over $3000 for 8 orphan children. From then on, he had a goal to raise money for these children in need. Voluteers have now been able to raise over $450,000 for those in struggling countries and a couple of years, they created a medical testing lab in Sinazongwe, Zambia. This lab helps inform people of the HIV/AIDS virus and other medical care. In 2006, they built a new school and another testing lab in Twatchiyanda, Zambia .

I hope that listening to this video gives you an idea of what exactly this means to the people who have done this program and inspires you to shoot a hoop for a kid in need:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKTcGAv7ess

If you want any information on how you can get involve, go to their website:

Hoops for Hope

A Gift So Small

Children around the world can be very spoiled except the ones who are in poverty stricken countries. Most kids want ipods and video games and occassionally some clothes. I amitt to being a spoiled kid but then I volunteered at Operation Christmas child in my state and everything changed for me. I finally realized that I was spoiled but I wanted to learn more about how I can change the world.
Operation Christmas Child is run by an organization called Samaritian's Purse who helps provided medical and evangelicial aid around the world. I was amazed to find out that a shoebox means so much to these children. Most of the kids that recieve the boxes will probably never get something like it again.
This small got me thinking about what I could do to impact the world and the young children that have had such terrible lives. The idea of making baby afghans for a orphanage in Mexico that my church supports was the only idea that I had.
I think that having organizations that care for the less fortunate will reveil to many of us what it means to show peace and kindness throughout the world. Please open your hearts to the following organizations that impact the world so much and do your part to make this world a better place for everyone to live in:
Samartian's Purse
Bread for the World
GreenPeace
Gospel for Asia
Angel Network

I want a waterbuffalo for Christmas

I think it is weird how Christmas has become so camerical over such a short amount of time.Here in America we want I-pods and clothes and money,but in some poor countries around the world, those things don't mean a thing to them.

There are places in Asia that are wishing for a water buffalo for Christmas. To people here in America we would think that they are crazy. What can a water buffalo possible mean for theses people. To them, a water buffalo means transportation, food, something to drink other than water ,and a new life.

There is an organization that I was introduce to at a concert called Gospel for Asia that give theses people who are struggling a new chance at their life.This group of people have brought faith and hope back to a land that has been devastated by poverty and hunger. K.P. Yohannan has changed the lives of thousands of people all over Asia.

The thing about this cause is that we can all do our part to help even if we don't have a lot of money through this tough economic time. You can just pray for these people or even tell your friends about them. A little bit can go a long way. Think about these people when you are doing your holiday shopping this year and do what you can to end poverty all over the world.

To visit The Gospel for Asia 's website,go to www.gfa.org/

Haiti,the Story of the Unknown Children

Most people know the story of Africa and Iraq using child slaves but what people might not know is that Haiti, the island paridise, has a dark side to this slavery around the world. 24% of children ages 10 to 14 work without pay. They work as street traders, and for sexual reasons. 250,000 to 300,000 children work, 80% of whom are female and 20% are males. This to me is very distrubing. These children are taken from their families and sold into servitude while thousands of vacationers relax and rest while these kids work up to 12 hours a day.

We are not going to ignore this any longer.An organization called Restaveks is trying to solve this delima that is occuring all around Haiti. These children are the faces of this tragedy:

Some of these children do survive like a boy called Cielo but unlike him who made it, there are thousands like this girl who are still in servitude.



10% of the total Haiti children die because of malnutrition before age of 4.This in my book is not acceptable. So do these organizations and they are doing something about it, they are saving these kids.

Here is a list of just a few organizations:

• HaitiChildren.com




• Stopchildslavery.com




• http://www.nchr.org/

W e don't know what their living arrangements are or what these kids even make but all we know is that we must help them because they are just kids who are in desperate need of a better and kinder world they are living in so please, help one of these kids today.

Products made by Slavery

Podcast about Child Slavery Around the World

Click on the podcast button to hear my interview with Grace Hanley, a college represenitaive of freethechildren.com. Please wait because it takes a little while to load but enjoy this and take this in mind the message that is said.THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Why Children?

At the begining of making this blog, I never stopped wondering why children. Why is it that they have to part of the cruelty and misdomenor of this ugly world? I am a christian and in the bible it says that we are the children of God. If we are the children of God then why is our children being treated with such cruelty and demis?



If we love these children so much, then why are there others who think it is OK to punish these children who have done nothing? Some people say that it is for the economy and some others say that it doesn't matter and that we should not get involved with this. I personally believe that there is no excuse for mistreating a child who has done nothing wrong and have been kidnapped from their family and friends and put into a hole which there is no escape.



There are those people who do not worry about these children and forget that these children are around and are trying to break free from which they are trapped like mice. They have no hope and no future. These people who are unaware of this problem are countries who do not wish to see these children hurt. When these people are ignoring the child slaves, they are saying that there is nothing wrong in this world and that we should not bother with helping others.



Then there are some people who have the courage to stand up for what they believe is right. They stand for the freedom of these children and other slaves in the world. They are people like Grace Hanley and Craig Kielburger who have decided to put matters in their own hands and do something about this. Craig is the founder of freethechildren.com, a non-profit organization who only belief is to save children.

I believe that as human beings, we must protect these children that there are on earth and end slavery once and for all. We have to make sure that these children never witness this type of evil ever again.