By Jennifer Smith
If you’re a native of Bladen County or Columbus County, that in itself, is a gift because of the wonderful people within the hearts of both counties. For 17 year old, Halle Stanley, the values instilled within her as a young child from her early years spent in the small towns of Clarkton and Whiteville, hold true today as she is striving to make a significant impact within the continent of Africa.
Halle is the daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Stanley of All Tied Up Clothing in downtown Whiteville and Dr. Jennifer Smith, an International Superintendent and Consultant from Clarkton.
Halle began her infant and pre-school education under the guidance of her grandmother, Shirley Autry, as a child in her daycare in Clarkton, Infant and Toddlers Day Care. At the age of 4, she then transitioned to Trinity Baptist Day Care in Whiteville before starting Kindergarten at Whiteville Primary. At the age of 6, she spent 1st and 2nd grades in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools before moving oversees to South Korea for 3rd grade. While her mom was transitioning from South Korea to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Halle spent two short months at Booker T. Washington School in Clarkton as a 4th grade student. When moving to Abu Dhabi as a 4th grade student, she then spent the remaining years of elementary and middle school at Manor Hall International Private School in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
At the age of 13, she was accepted as a student at Black Forest Academy, a Private International School in Germany. She will graduate from BFA as a senior in June 2019. Black Forest Academy equips students with the skills to influence the world through biblical thought, character, and action. As a student at Black Forest Academy, Halle and her peers are charged with the goal to empower global missionary initiatives in an effort to improve the lives of others world-wide.
Halle was 11 years old when her mother first exposed her to Africa during one of their summer vacations. She spent the summer exploring the beautiful culture and animals of Africa, but at the same time, she also witnessed the extreme poverty of children and families in Nairobi, Kenya. Children lacking any form of education and living on the streets and villages begging for food was the norm in Africa. Most families from the extremely impoverished areas of Africa earn less than one dollar per day.
Because of her mother’s dedication to the educational system throughout the continent of Africa, Halle has experienced the opportunity to travel throughout Africa several times since the age of 11, with her last journey being this past summer in Nigeria, West Africa. After witnessing the extreme poverty first hand in East and West Africa, Halle and her mom were driven to serve the needs of children within the most desperate areas of Africa. On a mission to make a difference in the lives of starving children within the continent of Africa, the journey finally began with the creation of Halle’s Haven.
Halle’s Haven is a nonprofit organization striving to help children of Africa to receive resources such as food, clothing, medical care and an education. If you would like to sponsor a child’s education or provide food, clothing, or medical care to a child in need, go to Halle’s website at www.halleshaven.net and make a donation. If you would like to make a donation offline, by check, or if you have any other questions about Halle’s Haven organization, you can also reach her by email at info@halleshaven.net.
According to Halle’s mom, Dr. Jennifer Smith, “I’ve done my best to expose Halle to a quality education within and outside of the classroom and a life that will equip her with the skills to be independent, grateful, confident, successful, and happy. Being able to serve those less fortunate than us is also a value that I’ve done my best to model for her as a parent. Her high school in Germany, Black Forest Academy, has expanded and cultivated her spiritual growth and development as a young adult. BFA also gives their high school students opportunities to serve as missionaries to third-world and underdeveloped countries, and once you’ve had the opportunity to serve and support those less fortunate than you, it’s a life-changing experience. My daughter’s high school has provided her with an excellent education. While doing so, the school has also showered her with love, care, guidance, and support that will last a life-time. I consider the teachers, dorm parents, staff, and students at BFA as our family. I’m extremely proud of my daughter, and I’m quite aware that Halle is who she is as a young adult due to the values that were first learned at home in Clarkton and Whiteville and also due to the exposure that she has experienced internationally as a third culture student. It is our hope that our home towns and communities within both Bladen and Columbus counties will support the efforts of Halle’s Haven by making a financial donation to help children with food, clothing, medical care, and an education throughout Africa. Your donations can help improve the lives of starving and helpless children that many times, spend several days without the resources to survive in this world. We sincerely hope that you will help us change a life, change the world, one child at a time.”
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