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Earthquake Response Helping Thousands of Haitians Recover and Move Beyond the Poverty They Experienced Before!
Perhaps you've heard about the slow international earthquake response in Port-au-Prince, but in Fond Parisien, where the Foundation for Peace (FFP) is actively working, the circumstances are different! Great things are happening!
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First, FFP teams provided medical care and the construction of latrines, shower stalls, and gravel paths to repace mud for those fleeing Port-au-Prince in what is now Camp Hope, a tent community of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who fled there for medical care and a place to live. The camp is managed by the Americian Refugee Committee (ARC) and is on the property of the Love A Child organization that is in the process of building homes nearby for all of the families living there.
Next, we recognized that the children of Camp Hope and those of the communtiy needed a school, so we constructed a school adjacent to Camp Hope to replace the existing thatched hut that served as a high school (on left) with a new building (on right below). Due to the generosity of donors, a new school was built providing both primary and high school classes (see below right). The new school serves 600 children, 400 of whom live in Camp Hope and other 200 live in the local surrounding community.)
A few months later, the children received a huge blessing from our investment of $20 per child for their national examinations. Of the 21 who took the test, 17 passed... an 81% pass rate! This is no small achievement, not just because of the earthquake had disrupted school for months. Our Education Director reviewed the exam and found it challenging and comparable to US standardized exams. They are smart children!!
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In September, 2010, we delivered cots and mattresses to pregnant women and nursing mothers who were sleeping on the ground (see grateful mom and child below) and when a wind storm damaged Camp Hope, our staff were there, providing food, linens, water and other support in the aftermath
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Now we are embarking on the biggest project yet, a school complex that will enable education and economic opportunity for all people of the province!
Our work has been noticed by the local Haitian government who has now given us a five acre plot of land in the center of the province on which to build a water purification system, technical training (vocational) school, linguistics school, a school to train middle-level healthcare workers, and an internet cafe for the local community.
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The location was chosen so that we can offer these opportunities to people of the entire province. The photo to right shows our land where we started construction, please help us transform it into the education complex shown on the right!
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We have stepped out in faith on this large project. We are a small NGO by financial measure, but a mighty team of people who trust in a Great and All-Powerful God who we have seen provide abundantly in mysterious ways on many occasions. In faith we have had three of our recent mission groups start the construction of a building (in foreground of the photo above), which we hope will house a water filtration system to serve the local community including the Camp Hope community. The two small buildings in the distance are latrines we have built for use by our construction teams.
We have not yet identified partners for this project, the installation of the water system, and the provision of community training nor have we found sources for the funds needed for the solar power (no reliable electricity in the area). We are talking with several NGOs about the possibility of partnering together to meet these goals for the community and we are working with local churches to build long term working relationships. The time it will take to complete this project is dependent upon how many donors and partners join with us in this effort.
If you want additional information, please contact Ken Culver (Executive Director) at ken@foundationforpeace.org, Wendy Patchin (Associate Director) at wendy@foundationforpeace.org or call Ken at 973-813-6122.