Christine Allen, a Parkway alumni, founded Ark of the Rainbow in 2009 with the goal of stopping human trafficking.
“What I realized during my time in India was that trafficking was a symptom of extreme poverty. It’s impossible to end human trafficking without addressing the root cause and lifting people out of poverty,” Allen said.
An education for children across the world is an opportunity to get out of poverty and something that can motivate many children to walk hours each day to and from school just to have access to their education.
“Families in the slum are typically not able to get an education… the poorest of the poor cannot afford school fees. Education gives job options and helps families to make the money they need to get out of the slum and take care of their family’s needs, Allen said.”
Ark Of The Rainbow provides opportunities that allow those sponsored not just to survive, but to thrive and live a meaningful life. One hundred percent of donations goes directly to those in need.
Allen founded Ark of the Rainbow with funds from her previous job and she uses her salary from that position to allow all funds donated to Ark of the Rainbow to go straight to running the school, medical clinics and more. Ark Of The Rainbow is currently sponsoring 80 children, giving them contact with an American family that they can connect with and feel that someone is there to help them. They currently provide 115 children with an education.
“Sponsoring a child changes not only the life of that child, but also their future family for generations to come… giving a child options and empowering them to rise out of poverty,” Allen said. “Education has proven to be the most effective way to fight poverty. Children who continue to live in poverty without education are often left on the streets to fend for themselves while their parents look for work, becoming easy prey for human traffickers.”
Ark Of The Rainbow has 70 children awaiting a sponsor. Sponsoring a child keeps them in school, gives them an education and has the cost of $250 a year. Ark Of The Rainbow is hoping to keep the current second grade in school–over 20 students.The cost of this will amount to $5000. The money will allow Ark of the Rainbow to both expand their school, and to fund the grade’s next year of education.
“Poverty in a developing country looks different than poverty in the US. In the US, even a poor family typically has access to free education, clean water and even food, but In India, that’s not the case. Children are living in unsanitary conditions without access to free education,” Allen said. Also, the local public schools in India are inadequate. Students can graduate and still not know how to read or write. We’ve gone beyond this by creating our own extremely high-quality, rigorous school that truly equips students for a brighter future.”
