Advocate: a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. Also known as a backer, a supporter, a spokesperson, a champion. Child sponsorship often turns out to be much more than an updated photo and neatly penned letters throughout the year. It is about relationship. Advocacy. Championing. The effects of advocacy are… Read more
Neha, a Hindi word meaning love, is a quiet girl with soft, brown eyes, who watches intently as people talk and laugh around her. Receiving a smile from her is a gift – it happens slowly and is always intentional; her smile is something to be savored. At fourteen, Neha lives with nine “sisters” around… Read more
Shailaja is a girl coming into her own. Shailaja is a young girl from a hard place, and when she arrived at the Hope Campus, she was quiet and kept to herself. Over time, she is beginning to use her voice in positive and friendly ways. She is a jokester who can, more often than… Read more
Tutor, a noun, meaning a private teacher, typically one who teaches a single student or a very small group, originates from the Latin word tueri meaning to watch or guard. Tutor is a word, a concept, Back2Back is very passionate about. Our sites believe deeply in the role a tutor plays in the life of… Read more
If you would have asked Nazmin a year ago if she was looking forward to graduating, she might have told you it wasn’t happening. You see, just one year ago, Nazmin was struggling to make ends meet in school. She simply didn’t feel the drive to press into her studies and finish well, but she… Read more
Trauma cuts deep, dark fissures in people’s lives, but hope heals deeper and shines brighter.
One morning, my friend was leading an orphan care training session. “You can lay down your weapons,” she urged us to tell the children. Children from difficult pasts use control and aggression as weapons to protect themselves, she explained. But when we care for children in a way that encourages healing, we are giving them new tools to navigate the world around them.
These are just a few statements you might hear during a birthday celebration at the children’s homes we partner with in Haiti. Birthday celebrations are not commonly celebrated in Haiti.
Each child learns differently, laughs differently and has a different life story. Our desire is not simply to provide shelter and food, but to know and help and love each one of them as individuals.
I love how children tend to see the world with purity, simplicity and wonder. And I love that my job gives me the opportunity to see the world through their eyes so much of the time.