600 SW 3rd Street, Suite 2201
Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
1-800-391-8545
PROJECT 0547
Camp Hope Orphanage
Love and care for disabled children
— Quito, Ecuador —
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 18:5
WWW.CROSSINTERNATIONAL.ORG
CAMP HOPE ORPHANAGE
PROJECT 0547
Project Synopsis
Description
Provide daily meals, medicines
and other living necessities for
physically and mentally disabled
children and a few young adults
receiving care at Camp Hope
orphanage.
Location
Ecuador’s capital city, Quito,
located in the Guayllabamba
river basin in the Andes
Mountains.
Cost
$18,480, or about $91 per child
each month, helps provide daily
meals and medicines to 17
physically and mentally
disabled youth.
Highlights
• Camp Hope is an orphanage
for physically and mentally
disabled children from lowincome families. The ministry
also runs an integrated school
where disabled children attend
classes.
• Most of the children at the
orphanage have parents, but
the parents are unable to
provide for their children’s
needs due to their extreme
poverty or ignorance of how to care for a severely disabled child.
• In Ecuador, there is a social stigma against people with disabilities. But at Camp Hope the
children are given the love, care, nutrition and education they might not otherwise receive.
• Cross International needs your help to provide daily meals, medicines and other necessities for
17 disabled children and a few young adults at the orphanage.
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CAMP HOPE ORPHANAGE
PROJECT 0547
The Need
A Life of Hardship and Neglect
Negative attitudes toward people
with disabilities have a long history
in Ecuador. Parents are made to feel
ashamed — especially the mother, who
is blamed for the child’s condition.
The demands of caring for disabled
individuals are often impossibly high
for poor families, many of whom
survive on only $2 a day. Many of these
children require special medications,
which can cost hundreds or thousands
of dollars for just a month’s supply. As
a result, disabled children are left home
alone during workdays or are simply
abandoned.
Maria (left) and Jessica (right) were abandoned by their families as
children because of their cognitive disabilities. They now receive love
Jessica’s mother left her with a 75-yearand care at Camp Hope orphanage.
old beggar and never returned. Maria
was found wandering in a park, abandoned by her family. Jefferson was brought to Camp Hope severely
malnourished; his parents were so poor they could not afford the specialized care and food he needed.
Sadly, special-needs children in Ecuador often face
heartbreaking situations like the ones Jessica, Maria and
Jefferson were rescued from by Camp Hope orphanage.
Negative attitudes toward disabled people are slowly changing
in Ecuador, thanks in part to the efforts of the country’s
former vice president, Lenin Moreno, who became wheelchairbound after being shot in a robbery and is now working to
raise awareness about the disabled and give them more legal
rights.
Despite these improvements, many children with special
needs continue to suffer due to a lack of resources. Currently,
there are only a few dozen special education schools and
rehabilitation facilities in Ecuador. These schools serve less
than 1 percent of people with special needs in Ecuador.
Many families of disabled children also lack the economic
resources and education to adequately care and provide for
Jefferson, who suffers from cerebral palsy — a
their children.
physical disability caused by injury or
This is why places like Camp Hope orphanage are so
abnormal development in an immature brain,
came to Camp Hope severely malnourished.
important. Cross International is committed to the work
His impoverished parents had to give him up
of Camp Hope. Together we are transforming the lives of
because they did not have the economic
resources to care for him.
disabled children and providing the funds needed to give
children like Jessica, Maria and Jefferson the love and care
they desperately need.
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CAMP HOPE ORPHANAGE
PROJECT 0547
Ministry Description
Providing Hope to Children With Special Needs
Camp Hope began in 1983 as a week-long Christian-based event for children with disabilities such
as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and paralysis. Since then, Camp Hope has evolved into a yearround ministry that offers recreation, rehabilitation, education, vocational resources and the Gospel
message for physically and mentally disabled children from poor families throughout Ecuador.
Camp Hope’s integrated schooling center for low-income families serves over 100 students. The
center also serves as a rehabilitation facility, where disabled children receive physical and
occupational therapy.
Seventeen severely disabled children and a few young adults stay at Camp Hope orphanage, where they
receive medical and rehabilitative care from volunteer nurses and doctors. About half of the children are
orphans, while the others have impoverished parents who are financially incapable of raising them.
“We try to create a family environment where the children can feel connected to the people around
them,” said Rita Tobar, the orphanage’s director. “We want each child to feel safe and loved. We have a
‘house mother’ who coordinates the staff and cares for the children with love and patience.”
After seeing the life-improving work being done by the staff at Camp Hope orphanage, Cross
International began supporting the ministry, providing funds to purchase the nutrient-fortified food,
medicines and specialized supplies required to care for the disabled children who live at the orphanage.
Most of the families of the children are too poor to contribute even marginally to the program, so
Camp Hope relies on donations to keep the orphanage running. Without support from Cross International,
these children would not receive the food and medicines they need.
Rita Tobar, director of Camp Hope orphanage, is dedicated to the children and considers them part of her own family.
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CAMP HOPE ORPHANAGE
PROJECT 0547
Help Now!
Give the Gift of Hope
Too often, children with disabilities are ignored rather than loved, their lives regarded as not worth
living. In Ecuador, these defenseless children endure neglect, abandonment and mistreatment by those
around them.
As Christians, we are called to minister to the least and lowest among us (Matthew 25:40) — a charge
that the staff at Camp Hope orphanage takes to heart.
Without the support of generous Christians, Camp Hope could not offer disabled children a safe
home where they can be loved and cared for. The orphanage depends on donations to survive, and
the strained economic conditions in Ecuador have made it even more difficult to go on.
Cross International is committed to providing nourishment, medicines and other necessities for the
precious children who live at Camp Hope. We hope you will prayerfully consider becoming a blessing
in the life of a disabled child by joining Cross International in support of this compassionate ministry.
I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.
Matthew 25:40
Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred during
the current calendar year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project,
the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
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600 SW 3rd Street, Suite 2201 • Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 • 1-800-391-8545
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