Do you know what the term “flourish” means? Personally, I do not use this word often. But it has a very powerful meaning if you look it up. It means to “grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.” Some similar words are “grow, thrive, prosper, do well and develop.”

We chose this word as our theme for our October 20, 2018 auction, “Flourish, Planting Seeds of Life” because it perfectly illustrates what Serve the Children does.

We help children grow in a very healthy environment, surrounded by people who care about them. We offer education opportunities to children who do not have free educational choices like we do here in the United States. Our facilities offer a safe environment to allow children to flourish as our staff gives them hope by providing an education that will improve their lives. They are growing into educated adults even though many of their parents cannot read or write. They are thriving.

Look at some of our examples of providing a healthy environment to grow in:

1. In Liberia and India, we teach English, Math, Social Studies, History, Science and other subjects to provide the children with a well-rounded education.
2. In Zambia, we offer a quality early education program in English, giving students a head start in school readiness.
3. In 2017, we started teaching computer skills to our children in India and in September 2018, we will start teaching computer skills to the children at our Sinkor school in Liberia.
4. This summer, in Liberia, we will provide vocational training to some of our older kids, teaching them how to make furniture to provide them with a career option.
5. We are starting our fourth tailoring (sewing) class in Mumbai, teaching women who live in a local slum how to sew so they can have a better future and provide for their families. Many of them currently support themselves by collecting rags from the dump to sell. While the moms are learning a new trade, their children are in our school learning how to read and write.
6. In Zambia, we address the problem of high child malnutrition rates through our daily feeding program at the school. By developing a local business to raise chickens and sell the eggs, we are also changing the local economy by providing jobs and training other egg farmers while bringing desperately needed food security to the community.
7. In all three countries, we provide medical help to children who are sick and have no access to medical care or cannot afford it. This allows the children to develop and have a healthy future.

We are providing hope and a future to children and families in a healthy environment and they are flourishing. Why? Because you care enough to pray for them, donate, or sponsor a child for $25 per month.  Your giving makes flourishing possible.

On June 12, 2018, five of us leave for Liberia for two weeks. John, Rondell, Ricky, Shaun and I will be teaching first aid to our staff and older students. We will also be setting up 40 laptop computers so the teachers can start learning how to use them over the summer and teach their kids how to use them starting in the fall. We will spend a lot of time playing and hanging out with our staff and kids at both schools. Flourish; we will be helping our staff and kids grow and develop in a healthy environment.

Do you want to come to India with me in November for 2 weeks and see how our children are flourishing? The team leaves the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 23rd) and returns two weeks later. We will spend some time in Mumbai supporting our staff and students there and the rest of the time at our school in Lasina. The cost will be about $2,500. This includes travel, meals and housing. This trip will rock your life. Come andflourish with us, and see our staff and kids flourish.

– Dr. Doug Collier