Our Story and Mission
Special Hope Network is a faith-based organization that was created in order to address serious inequities and insufficiencies in the care for children at risk and orphans with special needs, specifically intellectual disabilities. Special Hope Network sees its primary role as creating partnerships with NGOs (non-Governmental organizations), CBOs (community-based organizations) and FBOs (faith-based organizations) that have been working within the populations of Southern Africa. Our aim is to encourage, support, and train the existing programs, and provide economic solutions in order that they may address the needs of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities within their community.
Why orphans with intellectual disabilities?
*Current reports from the World Health Organization estimate at present there are 15 million children world-wide who have been orphaned by AIDS, 12 million of whom reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. Those 12 million children represent only half of the total orphan population within the region. Nearly all experts agree that the number of orphans will continue to grow significantly over the next five to ten years, in some regions, dramatically.
*The WHO further estimates that 2 out of every 10 children in the developing world are disabled either physically, intellectually or both. Remarkable in its absence or perhaps, in its exclusion, there has been a stunning lack of any focused attention on the plight of the neediest of orphans, those who have special needs, who are regularly rejected from receiving basic health care and even from admission to orphanages and foster care programs.
The vast majority of children who have intellectual or developmental disabilities world-wide are not registered at birth, and have no official or legal status, in the simplest of terms, they are not counted, therefore, they don’t count. However, in the one research project by Yale professor Nora Groce, that focused on the relation of HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities, found that children with special needs were three times more likely to contract the AIDS virus than a typical child, due in part that they are three times more likely to be raped, however they are far less likely to receive medical treatment and therefore considerably more likely to die of HIV/AIDS than a typical child.
So, that is where Special Hope comes in.
We believe we are part of a new movement of God’s Spirit among His people in order to reach and love a people uniquely created to bear the image and glory of God and to display God’s works.
Our purpose is to help remove traditional obstacles or barriers that have limited most orphanages from addressing the needs of all orphans within their community. After consulting with over 40 orphanages and orphan villages around the world, two primary barriers were shared that limited their work with children who have intellectual or cognitive disabilities.
Lack of adequate training for staff is the first, and the increased economic challenges that are typical for children with disabilities is the second barrier. Special Hope Network’s mission and model was developed to address these specific obstacles.
First, we provide on-site training and oversight of staff including assessments and strategies of care and education for all children with special needs who will be included in their programs. Our work also includes ongoing problem-solving and development after the initial training period.
Second, to address the financial challenge which will likely include increased staffing, Special Hope Network will provide special needs donors for each child that is placed within a school or an orphanage. The amounts of each sponsorship will reflect both staffing, educational and medical needs of the child. It is our sincere hope that in removing these obstacles that many orphanages, schools, and day programs will be freed to pursue their fullest aspiration, to care and love all orphans and vulnerable children.
