Rebuilding and Post Earthquake Update - June 16, 2010
After four months of steady rebuilding we now have a fully functional headquarters. We transformed our old vehicle storage area into a seven room headquarters, storage depot and pharmacy. The final phase will be the installation of a solar power system.
Volunteer Residence Construction
Workers clear rubble newly purchased property
Now that we have a functional office HQ, we may begin reconstruction of our volunteer center. The torrential rains, poor sewage situation and stifling summer heat make tent living extremely unpleasant. We began clearing the rubble from the recently purchased adjacent plot and will construct a large volunteer residence. This complex will include volunteer quarters, dormitories for Oblate associates, Fr. Tom’s residence, a chapel, meeting rooms, dining area and space for vehicle storage and repairs.
Agriculture and Rural Development Update - June 17, 2010
The tremendous devastation and loss of life from the January 12th earthquake validated our belief that agricultural promotion and development can help Haiti’s people make huge strides toward decent living. Port-au-Prince and other major cities are sorely overcrowded and cannot support the tremendous needs of such a huge concentrated population. Far too many youth from small villages are leaving their homes and families and migrating to Port-au-Prince looking for work.
In the past few years HT invested a great deal of funding and energy into educating and training young people to care for the environment and honor and respect agriculture and farming vocations. Here is the latest news on these projects and our work outside Port-au-Prince:
HTG Gonaives Office
Our office in Gonaives is the focal point for all our outreach to the poor outside of Port-au-Prince. The primary ministry of our HTG Gonaives office is a combination of education (schools and training programs), intervention (relief and charity efforts), Environmental protection (training and reforestation), Agricultural & development (credit coops, farming, irrigation and water resources) and nutrition in rural villages.
HTG Office in Gonaives - June 2010
News on current HTG projects:
The population in and around Gonaives, where we are located, increased by 20% after the earthquake and forced us to increase our feeding and charity outreach from this office. This creates a real strain on our outreach activities so we’ve increased the funding and are looking to involve more volunteers in water well drilling and agricultural management.
Opening Schools and Making Progress - April 19, 2010
Three months have passed since the January earthquake and in that short time we’ve made a great deal of progress toward restoring our schools and we continue helping thousands of people through water, food, and medical outreach programs.
Fr. Tom sent me an email in late March summarizing the progress, “Doug, I just finished visiting the four schools. At St. Francois, the third floor auditorium is already down. The new kitchen is almost finished and looks good. They have 15 new classrooms constructed of wood panel and tin roofing and they look good. The school is open. Visited St. Margaret and the kitchen is almost finished....building a new wall and almost finished. They too are building classrooms. Visited St. Ann and the kitchen there too is almost finished. I have an official list of 1675 elderly who have received food. We arranged for 300 elderly to receive food this Friday and the following Thursday. It was all good to see.”
Life for Fr. Tom at our temporary HQ has not changed much. We are still in tents, still using makeshift latrines and showers, and eagerly awaiting the completion of our office buildings and small living quarters. There’s a serious rat problem, probably caused by the neighboring, overcrowded tent cities and the large sewage canal behind our compound.
Many Haitians suffer from acute malnutrition and very serious health issues. We provide over 11,000 school meals and elderly nutrition. Our small health centers focus on preventive health and early intervention. We donate supplies and equipment to larger existing organizations whose primary purpose is medical and health related.
Education is the best way to overcome the evils of poverty and affirm the dignity of every human being. We run schools for more than 11,000 of the poorest children in Haiti. Our educational programs in the slums and agricultural training efforts rural areas give people hope and the ability to improve their life.
Hands Together believes that Haiti's hope for a better future lies in Agriculture and environmental change. We focus much of our energy and resources on promoting agricultural development, educating people on protection for the environment, and providing potable water and irrigation wherever we can.
Many people in Haiti endure inhuman suffering. We follow an ethic of "spontaneous charity" that is dictated by the most urgent needs of those closest to us. We seek to provide mercy wherever we can help prevent death or severe hardship.
