JODIE O’SHEA’S ORPHANAGE

As promised, here is the first orphanage that I have committed to. I have been in contact and scheduled a day to spend with them. I will be bringing miscellaneous supplies that they request closer to that date and they will also be escorting me to the market, and with the help of a couple of the older orphans, I will be purchasing food from a list that their staff has prepared.

It was opened in 2005 in honor of Jodie O’shea, an Australian that was killed in the 2002 bombing. They currently house 95 children. Click here if you would like to visit their website to read more. They have made the decision to not receive any funding from the government, so they rely solely on donations. Their website offers multiple different ways to donate, from different levels of sponsoring a child to a list of specific things they are currently needing. If you look back at my previous post, you will see that I referenced a fire extinguisher, yup, that was for Jody O’Shea’s Orphanage.

Just to make it easy for you, here is the gofundme link again. I have also had a couple people request paypal to avoid any fees… if that interests you let me know and I will get that to you. Thank you to everyone that has already donated!! I am so excited and overwhelmed with all the people who have already committed! Much love! 

There are an estimated 150-200 Million orphans in the world. Every 15 seconds a child loses a parent to an AIDS related condition. I would assume if one parent has it, normally the other will as well, causing this number to climb at a heartbreaking pace. The 2011 earthquake in Haiti left 300,000 children without their parents. The current Syrian war already has 8,000 orphaned children leave Syria. These are just a few of the hardest numbers I have seen as I have researched this. We have a terrible problem, there are so many babies out there struggling to survive at an age they shouldn’t even know what the word “survival” means. Do I have your attention? If you have started to read this, I ask that you read all of it. Don’t skim to the end, listen to what I am telling you, let the numbers sink in, and definitely turn on that empathy.

The last 3 months I have really struggled with this blog. What is my purpose for it? How will I make a positive impact the documentation of my travels? The most computer illiterate person can google any place in the world and there will be a blog describing that destination. I love keeping everybody informed with what I am doing where, but I have an internal conflict because it all feels… well… shallow? Last night driving to a missionary meeting it just clicked. I am so excited to transform this into not just a travel site, but a site that can be a benefit. My travels now have a purpose. Before I go into that however, let me jump back to this crisis that is getting worse. I can’t help but think how many “15 seconds” have gone by just while I am typing this.

PHILIPPINES

The most recent statistic I could find stated that there are 1.8 million orphans there. Stop and let that sink in, 1.8 MILLION children! It breaks my heart! In 2015, Filipino population was 100.7 million, of that number 26 million remain poor and 12 million are living in extreme poverty unable to feed themselves. So nearly 1 in 3 is struggling to eat.

INDONESIA

Indonesia is ranked #6 in the world for orphan population, with 4.8 million. In the last 4 years, over 140,000 Indonesians have lost their house due to national disasters. 28,364 homeless gives Jakarta the 6^th highest homeless population in the world.

I name these two countries because in exactly a month, I will be boarding a plane and my destination will be these two countries. While these numbers knock the breath out of me, I also see a huge opportunity for this little blonde girl to make a positive footprint on these beautiful countries. What is that?? I am now ready to explain the new purpose of this little website I have created. I have a love for travel and a tender heart for the less fortunate and I can finally combine these for the best trip yet! I have been in contact with a couple orphanages in both countries and am looking for a school and a shelter. I have set up a gofundme account for donations and all the money donated I will use to purchase the supplies that each place requests. I want to be VERY clear; I am paying for my trip. Every single penny of these donations will go toward the different organizations that I pick; none of it goes to myself. Now it gets a little more exciting. These orphanages, shelters, schools, and every munchkin they support are what I will write about! Once I have selected where the donations go, I will write a little profile of each of the places I pick. Then, when I actually drop off the materials I will spend a day there and be able to tell you about the facility, something about different people there, and hopefully a way for you to donate/keep in touch in the future. Guys I am so excited, I will be donating as much as I can personally, but I want anybody that is interested in helping be able to. Even better, you then see the exact orphan your money bought shoes for, or the orphanage that was able to buy that fire extinguisher they haven’t been able to afford for 3 months. Pretty cool right?

So this is my big exciting news. I hope I haven’t rambled too much and forgive my grammar; I am in a rush to post this and am also so full of excitement it makes logical sentences difficult! I leave in a month and throwing this in has added a lot of work. It’s going to be a quick goodbye now, I got things to do! Love you all! 

P.S. Look below for the link to the gofundme 🙂

https://www.gofundme.com/my-call-to-action