I am a volunteer experienced in orphanage care and management. As a volunteer with Kitechild, I was able to travel to Mexico to visit a couple of member orphanages with the staff.

I witnessed meetings between the founders of Kitechild and various orphanage directors. The Kitechild team maintains close professional relationships with the orphanage directors. They collaborated with the directors to brainstorm sustainable solutions to address some of the directors' biggest concerns for their children.

One of the orphanage directors in Tijuana explained that their electricity costs were close to 1/3 of their budget. The Kitechild team built out a project to bring solar energy to the home, allowing a large percentage of their budget to be reallocated towards food, healthcare, and education. They tailor fit this simple solution for the home. The is going to greatly improve the quality of living for their 65+ orphaned children.

I have years of experience volunteering for orphanages around the world that were not connected to the Kitechild network. They lack the knowledge, time, and bandwidth to build an internet presence. Orphanages are the last to receive training on best caretaker and child psychology practices. They're the last to learn about solar energy and other clean energy options as a way to free up the funds in their very limited budgets. The children they care for are often emotionally disturbed and/or mentally or physically disabled, yet orphanages high an extremely high turnover rate. Orphanages - as a concept - have the potential to provide a child with the stable, loving environment that is so necessary for the healthy growth of a child, but their lack of resources, knowledge, and connectivity more often than not prevents them from reaching that potential.

With the ultimate goal of improving the lives of orphans in a permanent way, Kitechild addresses these problems on a global and local scale. The Kitechild network connects orphanages around the world to donors, training opportunities, and other orphanages. The Kitechild sustainable projects target a specific problem at an orphanage and looks to provide lasting solutions to the problem.

I am so impressed with the way that Kitechild is revolutionizing orphanages' status in the world. Their projects are feasible, affordable, lasting, and provide a huge value to the orphanages and most importantly, to the children in them. As a Kitechild volunteer and donor, I have been thrilled to receive updates on their work and see real changes taking place because of some small donations.