In many developing countries schools are not public, and they are not free. You have to have books, a uniform (complete with the right color socks, shoes, hair ties for girls....and the list goes on.) School is about to start and you are panicking. The odds are already stacked against you, and now you have to decide if your children will eat, or go to school. You know that education is their only hope for a future filled with a moderately full stomach. The problem is that right now you don’t have money for food, let alone money to send your child to school. 

That is the reality for millions around the globe. It’s overwhelming when you think too far beyond what’s in front of you. What’s is in front of you might be too much at times, too. It’s so important that we focus on what we can do, not what we cannot. Everyone can do something. 

There are over 150 kids at Cité Soleil Community School in Haiti. Our focus is to keep them there. They need teachers, meals, uniforms & supplies and cannot stay in school if they don’t have these things. At the beginning of the school year someone came to us and donated 75 back packs and the school supplies needed to fill them. It was a vital GIFT for these students. Thankfully, a friend of the school was able to raise money and provide even more backpacks and supplies for other children that were in need. The joy on their faces when they got brand new bags and supplies will be burned into my memory forever. 

 If you want to be a part of keeping a child fed and in school, we have many children in need of someone like you! You can look through photos and read about the amazing children that are members of the Upstream family. Thank you for being a part of a child’s present and future. We cannot do what we do without people like YOU.