Orphan Outreach 2023
The program benefited 69 orphans at the Faith Orphanage. It began on Friday, January 6, 2023 with arrival of LYFT Africa’s team at the Orphanage. The kids at the Orphanage warmly welcomed the organization and offered a place to sleep. A bonfire was lit on the night of January 6, 2023 and during the bonfire, Sunnie Antonio Marcar, Jr, the Executive Director of LYFT Africa explained the history of the organization and introduced his team. The children and staff also made self-introduction. The night ended with movies and pocket discussions amongst volunteers of LYFT Africa and orphans.
On January 7, 2023, indoor activities were held to provide an overview about the program, introduce the team from LYFT Africa and Faith Orphanage, and have few kids performed songs and recitations. Most importantly, a donation of the items were made after which, LYFT Africans took a tour of Faith Orphanage. Thereafter, the program was climaxed with series of games including apple in a water chase, needle race, bag race, a soccer game and a kickball match between Faith Orphanage and LYFT Africa.
PROGRAM PHASES
Phase One: Fund raising
Phase one of the program was centered on raising funds to purchase the needed materials and cover essential program costs. There were personal donations of USD $150.00 from Fatumata Dukuly, USD $100.00 from Mabineh A. Dukuly, USD $20.00 from Mafata Dukuly, USD $20.00 from Best, USD $10.00 from anonymous donor and USD $10.00 from Dorris Johnson.
On Saturday, December 15, 2022, a team of volunteers embarked on an outreach to solicit funds from businesspersons in Monrovia. The team visited business centers, money exchangers, and table sellers to explain our program and request their support. During the outreach, the team received assorted clothing and other materials that summed up to two large bags. In addition, a random financial donations that summed up to LD $2,000.00 was also generated. Volunteers who participated in the activities included Mrs. Mariam Dukuly, Linda T. Kai, Omaru Kanneh Jr, Princess David, Jayah B.D. Konuwah and Francis M. Sayon Jr.
On Saturday, December 31, 2022, two (2) major fund raising events were held in Paynesville and Monrovia respectively: a car wash and sales of stickers. After the event, the total cash of LD $69,300.00 was recorded. Fifteen volunteers participated in the event including Princess David, Sunnie Antonio Marcar, Jr, Linda T. Kai, Francis M. Sayon, Jr., Jayah B.D. Konuwah III, Annita S. Morlue, Amb. Abu S. Kaba, Neejay N. Lewis, Roosevelt D. Logan, Decontee M. Scott, Luisene A.K. Scott, Kadijatu B. Jalloh, Aaron H. Peters, Veenus W. McGill, Hawa Bolay and Patrick S. Kpaka.
There were also random sales of stickers within the community, specifically initiated by volunteer Princess David and others, including Abu Kaba, Jayah B.D. Konuwah.
Phase Two: Trip and Donation
A curtesy visit, bonfire, campus tour, storytelling, fellowship, donation, and games were activities that led to the implementation of phase two of Orphan Outreach 2023. The activities were held on the 6th and 7th of January 2023.
On 6th January, 2023, our team arrived at the Faith Orphanage at around 4:00 PM and was warmly welcomed by placards at the entrance of the Orphanage some of which had inscription like “LYFT Africa, Faith Orphanage Welcomes You”. LYFT Africans were offered a place to sleep on the evening of January 6, 2022. That evening, while few volunteers were preparing supper, others were engaged in arranging goods and wood for the bonfire.
At about 9:00 PM, a bonfire was lit and the children were assembled around it. During the bonfire, the Executive Director of LYFT Africa, Sunnie Antonio Marcar, Jr., narrated the history of LYFT Africa and further introduced LYFT Africa’s team. After his narration, each orphan introduced her/himself and few of the kids were interviewed about how they became an orphan. In addition, during the bonfire, Mother Mercy Jackson, the caretaker of Faith Orphanage also explained her vision and how the Orphanage started. Ms. Jackson explained to our team that it all started during the outbreak of the civil conflict in Liberia in 1990. While people were escaping for safety, kids were abandoned. Many kids were left behind helplessly along the way to die. With passion for children, she picked few of the kids who left behind and brought them along with her. Later, she decided to build an Orphanage to solicit the assistance of others because she could not afford to care for the needs of the kids alone.
After the bonfire, the participants assembled to watch movie that evening and ended the night.
On January 7, 2023, the program began with indoor activities, during which time, Ms. Mercy Jackson officially welcome LYFT Africans and introduced the program to participants. Mrs. Mariam Dukuly, Volunteer and Lead Fundraiser of the program outlined the purpose of the organization’s visit. The heads introduced both teams (LYFT Africa and Faith Orphanage) followed by series of activities performed by kids including singing, recitation, and reading of poems.
Most importantly, five (5) bags of rice, one and a half bale of clothes and two rolls of sanitary pads were donated. At the climax of the indoor program, LYFT Africans took a tour of Faith Orphanage. The day’s activities was climaxed with series of games including apple in a water chase, needle race, bag race, a soccer game and a kickball match between Faith Orphanage and LYFT Africa. In soccer, Faith Orphanage won LYFT Africa three goals to one while the kickball match was won by LYFT Africa 5:3.
NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES
Sixty-nine (69) Orphans
INVENTORY
None. All materials for the program were used.
RISK SUMMARY & CHALLENGES
• Getting in time at Faith Orphanage on the very day of January 7 was a risk because our team has no bus of its own. Moreover, the traffic would have challenged us and unforeseen circumstances like mechanical breakdown, unnecessary checks from officers would have risked our trip. To mitigate those risks, our team decided to travel to Buchanan on January 6, 2023 to avoid delays and be at the orphanage in time.
• Getting donors to contribute funds for reach our targeted budget was a challenge that we foresaw. To mitigate that challenge, we decided to conduct a carwash and sales of stickers to compliment the amount raised through donations from families and friends. Additionally, we engage local business women and men and shared our project concept with them.
IMPACT:
The program directly benefited at least 69 orphans at Faith Orphanage by providing basic needs such as food, clothes and sanitary pads. Females from the Orphanage were provided menstrual hygiene education while males from the Orphanage were provided personal hygiene education.
SHARED STORIES OF PARTICIPANTS
During LYFT Africa’s Orphan Outreach program, few of the orphans shared a stories about how they became orphans and how life for them is at the Orphanage.
Princess, Female
Jayah B.D. Konuwah who is a volunteer of LYFT was fortunate to interview princess, a ninth grader at the Faith Orphanage. She tells Jayah that she became an orphan at age two after she loss both of parents. Princess informed Jayah that she has spent 12 years sat the Orphanage and she expressed happiness about LYFT Africa’s visit to the Orphanage. Though she is an orphan, Princess told our volunteer that she feels happy because the caretakers at the Orphanage are her parents.
Moses Garway, Male
Moses stated that he was only a baby when he was brought at the Orphanage by his uncle. He further stated that he knows no other relatives and since his arrival at the Orphanage, no other relative had visited him. He came from Gbarpolu County.
KEY LESSONS LEARNED
• To engage into fund raising activities at least two months prior to the program;
• To engage potential sponsors/donors from beneficiaries county;
STAKEHOLDERS
1. Ms. Mercy Jackson, Proprietress, Faith Orphanage;
In Pictures
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