Hello,
I’ve come to you, full of hope, in order to carry out a project that’s close to my heart. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to help others.
Let me tell you a little of my story: I was born on Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean, into a very modest, even poor, family.
Thanks to my parents’ determination to see me through life, I was able to study in France.
I came to France with my boyfriend at the time, who was studying medicine, and we got married in France. My love for children was so great that I had seven children, I felt that every child coming into the home had to be there, I felt invested with a certain mission; my 6ᵉ and 7ᵉ children were twins, I was excited to live this new adventure, but the universe had something else planned for me: after an unusual pregnancy, I gave premature birth to a boy and a girl : The boy was doing well, but as for my daughter, I knew as soon as she was born that something wasn’t quite right: after genetic tests, the news came through, heavy with meaning and frightening at the time: my daughter was suffering from a rare genetic disease: Prader Willi syndrome. It was a journey full of unknowns and doubts, but also of joys, sorrows, fears, pain, learning and discoveries about myself and others.
My disabled daughter opened up a world I didn’t know, not always an easy one, but she enabled me to develop a heightened self-awareness and to open up to true love for others and myself.
The years went by, with ups and downs, one of them being my life-shattering divorce, but it was a vital decision for me.
Today, I’m remarried to a Togolese man, and I go through life with a different vision, with more gratitude for everything I’ve learned in my life, thanks to my ordeals: I tell myself that I was very lucky, that my children were very lucky to live in a country where they could eat their fill and have everything they needed, that my disabled daughter was lucky to be in a country where she could be cared for properly, and live well with her illness, despite the difficulties.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for all children. My first contact with Africa was in 2017, in Côte d’Ivoire, and I was struck by the misery and distress of the children there. It was the start of a human, humanitarian adventure for me, I just couldn’t stand watching and doing nothing.
I met my husband in Togo in 2019, as he was president of a humanitarian association, during a humanitarian mission I made to Togo in 2019.
We talked a lot about the living conditions of children who were starving, deprived of the essentials, and orphans living in the streets, deprived even of the security, love and comfort that every child should enjoy. I therefore decided to create an association in October 2020: LES AMIS DU MONDE FRANCO TOGOLAIS, in favor of orphaned and destitute children, and together with my husband we launched the “light and life” project, to guarantee a life full of light to children who have very little. We have found sponsors to make a monthly donation of €20 to a child, it’s not much, but it changes their lives: to date, we are still a small association, including 9 sponsors and 24 sponsored children (some sponsors look after several children), we have no shortage of projects to help them and improve their lives, but we need funds, to do more. So many children have vital unmet needs! So many mothers are raising their children alone after the death of their fathers or after abandonment: I can still see in their eyes the hope they place in us to bring them a little comfort!
That’s why I’m turning to you, because we can’t do it alone, there’s so much to do, we have the will, but we need the means. I’m so happy to have discovered this site with such generous people, and I thank you for it.
We’ve collected toys, clothes and shoes for children and adults, and my husband and I are planning to send them to Togo in large boxes by boat, and our plan is to go there to distribute them in the villages to children and women… and we also want to list the needs in these villages, in the schools, the health care needs for the children, so that we can set up other projects to improve the lives of the children and the population in general: single mothers struggling to look after their children, children who sometimes die for lack of health care – because in Togo, as in most poor African countries, there’s no health care without money, young girls who sometimes end up badly because there’s no proper education or access to training to make them self-sufficient; so we need to go to Togo to carry out these projects, and make sure they succeed.
To do this, we need time and money. My husband and I are currently on interim assignments, so we don’t have a stable financial situation, but we want to give ourselves time to carry out this great project for Togo, and give of our time to humanitarian work.
We need between one and two months to go to the villages, talk to the village chiefs and teachers, see the needs of the population, distribute what we’ve sent by boat: we’ll need to have a financial resource during this time when we’re not working to meet our own needs, our rent in France, and the various expenses involved in carrying out the project: buying plane tickets, renting a vehicle, local accommodation, food, and other expenses inherent in this project.
So if this project has touched your heart, which I truly hope it will, we turn to you and ask you to show your generosity, and support us so that we can make it all happen.
My husband and I would like to thank you in advance for your help.
We are going to make a photo report and videos that we can send to you so that you can see the realization of the projects.
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS
You can do your donations on this Paypal link : http://paypal.me/MarieLACAILLE