Victor Crentsil
2009-2010 Essay Contest Participant
2010-2011 Matching Grant Recipient

Help to Orphans (H20)

Project Summary Continued:
Clean water is therefore a scarce social commodity in Haiti, and with the increased number of orphans after the earthquake, the need for adequate water will be greater in orphanages. To address this social need, I have initiated the Help to Orphans (H2O) project through which I will construct a water system at a Haitian orphanage.

Compassion, defined by the collegiate dictionary as "sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it," is an integral part of H2O's mission.  Limitations on clean water have the potential to add to the distress of the loss of family suffered by orphans. Through provision of a need as basic as clean water, H2O will show the orphans our awareness of a source of distress. By providing a basic need without expectation of a reward, H2O will demonstrate an unconditional desire to alleviate the distress of the orphans. Hence, H2O's target of orphans – a group among the most vulnerable in any society – is evidence of its compassionate focus.

Victor initiated the Help to Orphans (H20) project in 2010 to assist an orphanage in Haiti with clean water. In 2010, the Help to Orphans project has gotten closer to reaching its goal by fundraising. H2O has raised over $3,900 through the sale of water and water bottles and generous donations from FFC and the Church of the Resurrection in Ellicott City, MD. H2O is currently in conversation with two organizations with experience in water projects and Haitian orphanages to identify a receiving orphanage and with this matching grant, H2O plans to begin construction of the water system in Summer 2011.