Friday, March 1, 2013

Help us build Hope!


"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

Meet S.  She is a teenager living at a special needs orphanage.  She needs a wheelchair to get around.  In the past 6 years she has only been outside once when the orphanage was having remodeling done and the children needed to move to another facility.  She does not go outside because it is quite heavy for someone to carry her down 3 flights of stairs.

The special needs orphanage in Almaty, Kazakhstan is home to approximately 150 orphans from ages 4-18, with disabilities ranging from small to severe.  We visited this orphanage in 2010 when we brought wheelchairs and were overcome with sadness as we saw children who were unable to leave their beds or get around at all.

In 2011 the building was scheduled to undergo major renovations but unfortunately money ran out.  One of the most anticipated improvements had been the addition of an elevator.  With wheelchair-bound and bed-bound children living on the 3rd floor, there is no easy way to get them downstairs and outside.  So they don't go.  Now think about that for a moment.  Can you imagine never being able to go outside?  Never feeling the warmth of the sun or a gentle breeze.  Never seeing a spring in Kazakhstan with the beautiful tulips in bloom.  Nothing but staying inside, in your bed, or if you're "lucky", in your chair all day.  Every day.  Simply because the orphanage does not have a working elevator.

Imagine the difference an elevator would make in the lives of these children!  Not only the wheelchair-bound and bed-bound children, but for any child living there lacking the ability to manage the dilapidated, Soviet Era staircases.

How many times have you stepped on an elevator?  How many times have you been upset if an elevator is broken and you need to take the stairs?  In this day and age children should not be stuck inside.  We CAN change this!

Our goal is to raise $7,000 which will repair the broken roof on the elevator shaft and install the entire hydraulics and electrical systems.  The project will begin as soon as we raise this money.

Please consider making a donation to support this project.  Every child deserves the chance to go outside, to live.

Tax-deductible donations can be made visiting our websitewww.twoheartsforhope.org/elevatorproject.html

The next time you step outside, think about what it would feel like to never do that again.

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