When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. announced his dream from atop the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, it seemed impossibly idealistic.

In the midst of the deeply ingrained racism of the early 1960s, he dreamt that his “four little children would one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their hearts.”

Who would have believed that less than five decades later, Dr. King’s children would sit at the other end of the National Mall and witness the nation’s first African-American president take office?

In honoring Dr. King today, let us remember what he showed us — that even the most idealistic dreams for a better world, when born in love and nurtured with determination, perseverance, and prayer, will one day be made real.

In Haiti, the people, communities and partners we work with are committed to dreams that are equally daring. They dream of a day when every child can go to a good school and no child becomes enslaved. They dream of a day when no woman or child lives in fear of domestic or sexual violence. They dream of a day when even the poorest parents can find dignified work and feed their children without handouts.

The unflinching commitment of people like you makes it possible for us to serve as allies to the powerful movements that our partners in Haiti are building in pursuit of these dreams.

Because of your commitment, together with our partners in Haiti we have:

• built a nationwide network of community-based anti-slavery groups, trained thousands of Child Rights Activists and organized the first-ever adult survivors group;
• created a network of 35 rural schools and trained teachers in non-violent, participatory classroom management and started school gardens at each;
• trained thousands of women and men to prevent violence against women and girls and created the first-ever anti-violence secondary school curriculum;
• equipped farmers with techniques to improve crop yield and organized seed and tool banks and small-scale savings and loans in their villages.

Dr. King knew how the power of a dream and the commitment we make to it can fortify us in the face of impossible odds.

You fortify us in ways just as profound with your support and we are grateful for it everyday.

With deep gratitude,

David Diggs
Director, Beyond Borders