Friday, 25 September 2009

• Doma International: An Ordinary Family Helping Others Around the World

  Dan and Julie Clark have a beautiful, seemingly ordinary Ohio family. They have three children, attend church on Sundays, and go to Ohio State football games when they can. The Clark family is, however, much larger than it would appear.

  In 2008, the Clarks created Doma International, an organization whose purpose is, according to Dan's blog, “to embrace and empower vulnerable children and families around the world through prevention, intervention, and long-term care.” The Doma website further states:

  Doma works in the lives of vulnerable children and young families through crisis prevention and early intervention. By removing obstacles to peace, comfort, joy, and stability, we guide children and families toward wholeness, where they can know a definition of home that is more complete than what they have experienced in life so far.

  Most of the children and families Doma works with have never had a home or a mom or dad… Or the homes they know have been filled with abuse, neglect, anger, hostility, or pain. Doma means home in several languages. Doma strives to redefine home.
  

  You might be surprised where Doma seeks to help those without families of their own. While the organization takes trips to some of the more recognizable humanitarian destinations, such as Africa, its outreach starts locally, looking to provide homeless youth in central Ohio the resources to avoid being trafficked or forced into prostitution.

  Other destinations include places in Europe. In Dan's blog, he describes the need for help in Ukraine:

  Every year, 2,000 babies are abandoned in Ukraine’s maternity hospitals. These children grow up with little opportunity for social, emotional, physical, and spiritual development. We want to change that! And we want you to be a part of it because we believe that God is a Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5-6), and that when we visit the orphan in their distress, we are in fact worshiping God through that act (James 1:27).

  One of the ways Doma plans to help these children and families is by going to Kiev and Donetsk, Ukraine, in partnership with Angel Covers and Orphan's Promise, to distribute baby bouncers, clothing and other supplies to hospitals, babyhouses, and orphanages. Dan writes, “We will be leading a team of 12 people, distributing about $20,000 in aid and supplies to more than 10 babyhouses and orphanages.” The team will also be accompanied by a filmmaker to document the trip and raise awareness to the cause.

  Trips like these are not easy, nor are they cheap. While Doma  International and its partnering organizations raise support on a regular basis to fund these trips, the trip to Ukraine, which leaves on October 1st, still has financial needs. For those who want to help prevent social injustice but don't have the time to go on overseas trips, donating financially to a cause such as Doma is a great idea.

  For more information on Doma International, their upcoming trip to Ukraine, please visit the Doma website, Dan Clark's blog, and Julie Clark's blog.

  Would you be willing to donate financially to help others reach those in need? What can you do in your own neighborhood to help give those without families a sense of home?

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