OFCB (Organization of the Christian Force of Bayonnais) operates the ICB school, a medical clinic, and a Christian non-denominational church in the mountains of the Bayonnais region of Haiti, 100 miles north of the capital, Port au Prince. The area is home to tens of thousands residents, struggling for daily survival, many trying to support families with subsistence farming. Educational opportunities are limited, and the ICB school is a light of hope for the entire region. World of God, through your generous support of sponsorships and donations provides significant support for the school and the 2,000 students attending. You are invited to travel with World of God to Haiti to see first-hand and experience the culture, the people, the children, and the work OFCB is doing.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with a population of over 10 million and 80% live in poverty. Eight out of every 100 children die before they reach their 5th birthday. There are more than 420,000 orphans in Haiti. School fees in Haiti are prohibitively expensive, therefore the literacy rate in Haiti is just 50%.
OFCB, founded in 1994, now has 2,000 students in K-13, and since 2003 has been providing scholarships for gifted students to attend university in Port au Prince.
OFCB ROOTS – A brief history
From an open air classroom more than twenty years ago, and under the leadership of Actionnel Fleurisma, OFCB has grown into 2,000 students on four campuses offering K-13 education. After completing sixth grade and the only school available in his Bayonnais community, Actionnel, with the help of a US sponsor was able to finally complete high school at age twenty-six. He was invited to the US by his sponsor and spent two years living in Charlotte and attending college. Actionnel felt a strong call to return to his community in Haiti, and with the help of a few friends, he started an elementary school. Today, that school offers one of the best educations in Haiti to young people who otherwise have very limited options. A strong Christian non-denominational church has grown to become the light of the Bayonnais region, and after many years, a new medical clinic is offering care for the entire community. Much of today’s leadership at OFCB were once students in the school and have returned as teachers, doctors, nurses, agronomists, and a dentist. Actionnel and the leadership team have dreams for a future that includes vocational training and educational opportunities that create jobs in a country with high unemployment.
World of God is dedicated to developing a close, personal relationship between the sponsors and student. You will receive several letters from you sponsored student during the year, and you are invited to begin a relationship with your student by writing to them. The World of God staff in Haiti work with sponsored students not only help them understand letter writing (a new concept to most of the students!), but to also to express their lives through the words they use in the letters. You are encouraged to visit your student as part of a mission trip.