Opportunities for Orphans

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PROJECTS

Did You Know? Every Day 5,760 more children become orphans. 143,000,000¹ Orphans in the world today spend an average of 10 years² in an orphanage or foster home. Approximately 250, 000 children are adopted annually, but... Every Year 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT³ of the system. Every Day 38,493 Children AGE OUT Every 2.2 SECONDS, another orphan child AGES OUT with no family to belong to and no place to call home. Every 15 SECONDS, another child become an AIDS orphan in Africa.⁴ Every Year 2,102,400 more children become orphans (in Africa alone). In Russia and Ukraine: Studies have shown that 10% - 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen. Also these studies show that 60% of girls become prostitutes and 70% become hardened criminals.⁵ In Uganda: For more than 20 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been at war with the government of Uganda. The war created a humanitarian disaster, leaving generations of children in crisis. LRA leader Joseph Kony created his army primarily through violent abductions and forced enlistment of children resulting in nearly 25,000 children forced into hard labor, frontline soldiers, and in the case of girls, sexual slaves. According to the UN, more than 1.7 million people have been forced from their homes into displacement camps. They are unable to farm due to war, and international food assistance is inadequate. Illness is rampant since humanitarian aid agencies and the Ugandan government are viewed very skeptically by the public. Please remember these statistics as a reminder to advocate and to give. You can make a difference right now in the life of an orphan. Our First Fundraiser will be _____________ Opportunities for Orphans First Local Project: Opportunities for Orphans will be offering scholarships for Los Angeles County and Orange County orphans. Opportunities for Orphans First International Project: Opportunities for Orphans will be offering scholarships to cover school fees for street kids or orphans in Gulu or Kampala Reference for projects http://www.iorphan.org/projects/index.asp And please check out sublinks... http://www.iorphan.org/sponsor_child/index.asp Reference Links 1 According to figures from the United Nations. These statistics include children in the American Foster Care system. 2 This is an estimate. Infants may stay as long as 18 years while children who become orphans at an older age stay a shorter time. 3 To AGE OUT means to grow to the age where a child is forced to leave the orphanage or foster home with no place to call home. 4 http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/current_appeal.htm 5 http://skywardjourney.wordpress.com/orphan-statistics/