Hello, my name is Brooke Shigley and I am an advocate for abandoned, abused & exploited youth. 
July of 2015 I was honored to serve just a fraction of Jamaica's orphans. The reality of how both an average Jamaican child and an average orphan lives - was shocking. Both struggle immensely, both with vital needs rarely met.  During our mission, our team built a security wall around a safe-house for sex trafficked girls as well as paid to install a security system to ensure their safety. See some of our photos >>  Learn more about our 2015 Jamaica Mission >>

In March 2017 our team headed back to Jamaica. Our efforts went toward four big projects to serve and protect sex trafficked youth. Many projects and needs still need to be met in the future. I'd love to tell you how YOU can be part of that or get involved, but first, let me share some information about Jamaica's children.

Psalm 82:3 - Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

JAMAICA'S CHILDREN

The Average child in Jamaica faces many horrors. 

Poverty is the #1 reason numerous children in Jamaica are orphaned. Mothers and Fathers have no choice but to place their children into orphanages just to assure their basic needs are met: food, shelter, medical and education.

While orphanages are able to provide those basic needs: staff is very few in comparison to orphans. Love, attention, patience & individuality is nearly impossible to provide each child. 

Among poverty, there are other reasons so many children are orphaned in Jamaica:
  • Their parents have died from HIV/AIDS
  • The child has HIV/AIDS
  • Violence

Sadly, Jamaican orphans age-out of the government system between ages 13-16 years old. If a child is not placed into foster care, they are forced to live on the streets.

Child Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Abuse are extremely common in Jamaica. Street children are easy targets for traffickers to entice or kidnap. Exploited children range in all ages and often times are sold by an adult family member.

With no access to education and care, children feel forced into prostitution as means to provide food and shelter for themselves, and in some cases, for their families as well.  Studies show that Child Prostitutes are as young as 10 years old.

Jamaica's children face even more horrific dangers. There is a high risk of unwanted pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted diseases from unprotected sex and rape. These horribly abused children experience severe psychological trauma which can lead to violence, and repeated patterns into adulthood.

Jamaica has a devastatingly high crime and homicide rate - higher than America's. Young Jamaicans are traumatized and suffer major psychological issues very early on due to witnessed attacks, robberies and gang wars.

Find more information about Jamaica's orphans here >>

James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Brooke Shigley  - God has blessed us all with unique ways to change the world. It is our job to eradicate the atrocities of this world and be a voice for the oppressed. I ask you PLEASE fight this war with me.

Thank you. I love you. God bless you.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Together, with your help, we can make a HUGE impact.

JAMAICA 2018 IS ALREADY IN THE WORKS!!!! 

I would still love to purchase needed items for the disabled orphans of Westhaven Children's Home which I can ship for free through personal contacts. I am in the works of finding a way to help Westhaven Children's Home feel more like a home and less like dark, concrete buildings. My vision is to replace the roofs and add solar panels to bring natural light into the buildings.

Westhaven's List of Needs ยป

Goal: $10,000

Here are two ways to make donations:

PayPal or GoFundMe (PayPal donations DO NOT require fees. GoFundMe DOES require a fee from the donation amount.)