Our Work in Haiti

ABOUT HAITI

The Republic of Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean.

Population 10,120,000
Life Expectancy, 62 years
Literacy Rate, 49%
Access to Safe Water, rural, 51%
Undernourished, 45%
Under Age 5 Mortality Rate, 70/1000
Birth Rate, 24/1000
School Enrollment, 50%
Average Annual Income (GNI), $700
Population Growth Rate, 1.5%
WHO Human Development Index Ranking, 158

FAST FACTS

Haiti is the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. About 80% of the population lives below the poverty line.
The 2010 earthquake leveled significant portions of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, killing around 220,000 Haitians and leaving millions homeless. Many are still homeless.
The cholera epidemic is one of the most significant health challenges Haiti faces today, with nearly 600,000 cases diagnosed since October 2010.
Only 26% of births are attended by skilled nurses, doctors or midwives leading to increased infant mortality, birth complications and death of mothers.
The World Food Program estimates that about 2.4 million Haitians cannot afford the recommended minimum daily calories.
Deforestation has occurred in Haiti at alarming rate in the last 70 years. Deforestation can lead to severe flooding and landslides, wreaking havoc on rural communities.

Sources: United Nations Development Program’s 2011 Human Development Report; The World Bank’s 2011 World Development Indicators; United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization Country Profiles & the United States Library of Congress; Wikipedia.org

“You didn’t come to bring us food which lasts a day. You came to bring us education, which lasts a lifetime.” — Ganthier Mayor Ralph Laponte

Since Foundation for Peace started working in Haiti, our short-term mission teams have built (or are completing):

2 Churches

4 Schools

2 Water purification facilities

In 2006, FFP expanded its ministry into Haiti, beginning with a church, school and water system construction project in Anse-a-pitre. After the 2010 earthquake, FFP’s Dominican Republic staff immediately responded to the massive relief needs at a field hospital in Jimani.

This outreach led us over the border into the Ganthier province of eastern Haiti. There we worked in an IDP camp run by the American Refugee Committee (ARC), providing medical care, constructing a school and offering other relief assistance.

After observing our work in Fond Parisien, Ganthier’s Mayor approached FFP with an idea for a vocational/linguistics school that could serve the entire region—he even arranged for the donation of five acres of land for the project.

This educational complex in Ganthier—Complexe Educatif Men Nan Men—is FFP’s largest Haiti initiative to date. Hundreds of mission trip team members have partnered, and continue to partner, with FFP to make this vision a reality. In October 2012, we inaugurated the first phase of the school and it now educates more than 600 students who are learning English and Spanish.

Haiti Partner Communities

MAP_Haiti

Anse-a-Pitre
ARC IDP camp (Camp Hope)
Despizo
Fonds Parisien
Ganthier
Kwa Kok
La Hatte Cotin
Vilaj Kanes

KEY FOR PROJECTS

MEDICAL OUTREACH includes nursing clinics, one-day medical clinics, home health visits, medical training, hearing assessment and disease prevention education.

MINISTRY OUTREACH includes worship, children’s ministries (e.g. vacation Bible school) and evangelism efforts.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT includes building latrines, gardens, houses, basketball courts and playgrounds, distributing food and clothing, and providing special assistance to individuals and families.