Aid Still Required (ASR) is a nonprofit organization based in the U.S. whose mission is to create self-sufficiency in marginalized communities that have been left behind after natural disasters and human crises. Our focus for the last 13 years has been on Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, where the vast majority of people subsist on $1 to $2 a day, living in makeshift huts without electricity, water, or sanitation. 

When we introduced Carolyn to Rose, a Haitian child with a sunny smile and a heart full of love who suffers from acute sickle cell anemia, Carolyn responded with characteristic compassion and generosity. Most Haitian children who are born with sickle cell die before age five, and Rose was quickly approaching her fifth birthday with progressively worsening symptoms and excruciatingly painful episodes. Without hesitation, the Ubuntu Foundation generously agreed to fund lifesaving medical treatment for Rose at a highly regarded pediatric hospital in the Dominican Republic (DR).

Given the dire humanitarian crisis encompassing Haiti, getting Rose across the border to the DR has been an uphill battle. Child visas were suspended. And just when we finally obtained a visa for Rose, the DR government closed the border between the two nations. 

We are hopeful that the border will soon reopen. In the meantime, the grant from the Ubuntu Foundation has enabled Aid Still Required to fund better treatment for Rose near her home in Haiti. The result: At age six-and-a-half, Rose is still with us, a miracle in itself. 

Rose is beloved by the entire community where she lives. Her parents, who both work for ASR as program administrators, are incredible human beings and vital to our operations. Better medical care for their daughter has allowed Rose’s parents to put their attention on educating over 500+ children in one of the most impoverished communities in Haiti, children who would otherwise be bereft of hope. 

Of course, around Rose, optimism and hope abound. And hope is contagious. 

Thank you, Carolyn and Ubuntu Foundation, for this lifesaving gift.