Archive for the ‘Core Values’ Category

Meet Remi: An Example of Empowering Lives and Families

Posted: August 23, 2023 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Empowerment, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Sponsorship
0

Every Child and family that comes into the CARE program have one thing in common, irrespective of how different their backgrounds might be. It is the lack of stability in their lives and their environments. CARE Africa started as a family preservation ministry that sought to provide stability and allow the children a proper environment to flourish. However, we soon realized that a holistic approach to care for the children and their futures needed to extend beyond their educational, health, or spiritual needs. We also needed to impact the environment that the children returned to after school or CARE programs and activities.

This led to the initiation of our Caretakers department, which includes our collaboration with the parent(s), grandparents, or closest relatives of the children enrolled in our program. Our children have better chances of a stable and flourishing environment to grow if they can return home to caretakers that are equipped behaviorally and financially to parent. 

Meet Remi, one of the caretakers with CARE Africa. Her journey with us started in 2016 when she worked as a cleaner at a guesthouse in the Egbe community. Remi could only assist others with laundry and cleaning to get paid, as she did not have a secondary school degree to be considered for a full-time job. This lack of employment stability affected her self-confidence and judgment, particularly with potential life partners. The resulting chaos from these decisions and unstable employment started to affect her ability to care for her children.

Remi was encouraged to attend more counseling sessions with our caretaker manager; however, we wanted to do more to aid her healing progress, so we decided to brainstorm with her and decide on a means to have her own small business and provide for her family. Much of the food that the locals in the Egbe community consume; are grains, seeds, roots, and vegetables, which often require a grinding machine (large food processor) to process the food into powder or paste. Remi decided on a grinding machine. We proceeded to upload the project on DonorSee, and it got funded!

Remi has now started her food processing business and can work to effectively support her family.

Our Caretaker Manager has seen substantial improvement in Remi’s engagement and behavior, and this impact has trickled down to her son, as we have witnessed a significant change in his countenance as well. Some of our caretakers have similar stories to Remi, and we are thankful for the opportunity to provide a comprehensive approach to caring for the children, their families, and the Egbe community. 

You can visit all our projects for empowerment at https://donorsee.com/icareafrica/projects   

Leaving an Impact

Posted: March 21, 2023 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Empowerment, Fundraising, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Sponsorship
0

There are many ways we can impact lives across the globe and truly make a difference. DonorSee is one of those platforms and what a blessing it has been to the ministry. A couple of months ago, I did a blog on how DonorSee emerged as a platform and eventually upscaled to impact hundreds of lives in 38 different countries, see Why DonorSee?

It has been two years since C.A.R.E. Africa came on board the platform, and now we have a community that is familiar with the ministry and has given us the opportunity to impact the lives of our children, staff, and the community at large!

You truly get to see lives transformed and improved on DonorSee. We have been able to empower some of our caretakers through the community from DonorSee, maintain our ministry vehicles, send our children to computer camp, and even assist with several community needs. I have included pictures of some of those funded projects below.

Ever since C.A.R.E. joined the platform, we have been able to raise $81,093, of which many of you reading this have contributed to that number. We are thankful that we can utilize a platform such as DonorSee to positively impact so many lives.

Would you like to see more of what God has been doing at C.A.R.E Africa through DonorSee? I have included links to some of the projects that are currently still waiting to be funded on DonorSee.

Check out these new videos on DonorSee

Do join us in this journey of impacting the lives of families in Egbe Nigeria and beyond!

Do You Pray For Us?

Posted: March 7, 2023 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Prayer, Sponsorship
0
We hope that you do! Prayer transforms us as we seek our father’s face and plead for his will. At C.A.R.E., we recognize that the ministry entirely relies on the prayers and support of believers across the globe. We are a family preservation ministry, which means that at our core we are constantly working to undo the enemy’s influence in the lives of our children and the community at large.
This is why the newest addition to the CA.R.E. team is so crucial to the entire ministry. Alison Douma is our prayer advocate, and she will be working closely with the Nigerian staff as well as the American team to communicate situations and needs to the prayer group in a bi-weekly prayer letter. Alison will also be sharing our prayer requests regularly with churches and others to have as many people praying for C.A.R.E. Africa as possible. We currently have 230 prayer warriors, and we would like to continue to grow that number. We are excited to have Alison join the team because we know with this addition, we are well on our way to achieving our goal. Here is the link to our most recent Prayer Letter. The past few months have been quite busy for the ministry and we are very thankful that God has continued to direct and provide for the team in Nigeria and America. If you would like to subscribe to our prayer group and advocate for us with your prayers, please click on this link and join us as God continues to do tremendous things through C.A.R.E Africa! Prayer Warriors!

C.A.R.E. Africa Core Values, Empower

Posted: August 18, 2022 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe Nigeria, Empowerment, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, People of Egbe, Seamstresses
0

By Jolene Eicher,

Over the next few weeks, we want to share C.A.R.E. Africa’s core values with you. We hope it will resonate with similar values you use in your own life and that of your family/friends.

EMPOWER
Empower describes the process of change wherein an individual with a prior inability to choose has the access and freedom to make choices (Kabeer, 2005).

The solution to slowing poverty isn’t about how much money you can give or about inserting western interventions. It’s about providing people with the tools to build their own better future.

Here are some empowering tools C.A.R.E. Africa is providing:

EDUCATION
Over the past 7 years, we have provided orphaned and impoverished children with an education that gives them opportunities to become future leaders in their country and across the world. We equip them with biblical values and basic skillsets needed to become strong, independent young adults.

The SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
This allows some of C.A.R.E. Africa’s most promising students to continue their education through the post-secondary level. This higher education provides them with skills needed for life-altering employment so they can lift themselves and their family from the depths of poverty. Once selected, scholarship students receive full financial support including tuition, books, room and board, clothing, requirements, and health care.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING and MICRO-FINANCE
The empowerment of vocational training such as tailoring, barbering, and computer/information technology provides success in a challenging economy. It is ideal for those students who are looking for a way to become gainfully employed in a small business.

Bank loans are almost impossible to obtain. C.A.R.E. Africa provides micro-finance loans to young adults and the women of C.A.R.E. Africa. We become “the bank” and provide the loan to start and grow small businesses. Small businesses are the lifeblood of African economies and a significant way to empower those looking for a way out of poverty.

Hopefully, you can now understand why EMPOWER is the first of the four core values in the mission objectives of C.A.R.E. How we are empowering the children and women of C.A.R.E. is not much different than what we do with our own children, family and friends to help them secure a successful future.

View all empowerment programs at https://donate.icareafrica.org/projects