To Friends of the World Child Foundation:
I'll be brief. We are contacting you because periodically, the World Child Foundation is asked to support an extremely worthy cause. We are supporting one major project this year, and we are asking for your help.
All of us associated with the World Child Foundation are adoptive parents. We are grateful for the opportunity to fill our lives and our homes with children and the love they bring. You and I know that few children are adopted, and those who do not find permanent homes must find their way in the world with next to nothing. It is a heart-rending problem.
Mi Refugio began as the vision of one woman, Kari Engen. The program provides education, food, clothing, and medical assistance to children and families who live on the Guatemala City garbage dump. More than 1,000 children live on this dump. With their families, they work to scavenge for food, clothing, and building materials for homes. Kari saw a desperate need to improve the lives of these children and she founded Mi Refugio in 1987.
Kari organized a school for the children living on the dump and for children from native Mayan villages surrounding the school property. The school began with 50 students in a rented building next to the dump. With dedication and perseverance, Kari located a larger property in 1995 and increased the capacity of the school to 250 students. Mi Refugio is currently located 15 miles outside Guatemala City. Now in its 15th year of operation, the school provides education at the preschool through 6th-grade level.
Mi Refugio wants to expand its program to include high school grades. The goal is to build two classrooms each year for the next four years. Each classroom costs only $7,000, for a total of $56,000 for this much-needed project. The cost is low and the labor is provided free. All Mi Refugio needs is capital to pay for the building materials.
Our request is simple. As we celebrate this holiday season, think about this program. Every penny of your donation will go directly to construction of classrooms for Mi Refugio's school in Guatemala-a program that has a chance to break the cycle of poverty that traps these children and their families. If you are able to make a contribution, however small or large ($25, $50, $250 - or even more!), please make out your check to World Child Foundation-Mi Refugio School Project and mail it in the enclosed pre-addressed envelope.
Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to call me at (703) 620-3639.
Sincerely,
Dennis Light
Chairman
P.S. We have enclosed a letter from Beatriz Barbery (see complete Mi Refugio Document), a former World Child International staff member who now resides in Bogota, Colombia. She recently visited Mi Refugio and can share her personal observations of the school.
For more complete information about this extremely worthy cause, download the complete
Mi Refugio Document
(349kb).
Adobe Acrobat Reader
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