2011 Program / Service Accomplishments
Duchity Organization for Vocational Education (DOVE)
This construction project in the village of Duchity, 125 miles southwest of Port au Prince, has made remarkable progress over the past year, especially considering the tools used are hammers, buckets, wheel barrows and a manual cinder block maker. The stone wall around the perimeter of the land has been extended and there is now a road to get to the building site. Huge rocks were broken up- the smaller pieces placed for the road and the larger pieces used for the wall. The dormitory, including a dining room, is half-way completed. Water is being piped in from the mountain source and collected in a cistern. A composting toilet was built on the property by a not for profit organization specializing in composting toilets in Haiti. Visitors from the U.S. have been able to stay on the property while volunteering to give classes in anything from bicycle repair to English, provide art activities for young and old, and collaborate to make a simple hand washing station called a Tippy Tap. A plan is in place for the next phases of development, leading up to when the Vocational School will be ready to start classes and meet the need for resources in this rural area.
Water purification
This ongoing program operates in Port-au-Prince as well as in mountain villages with 4 trained technicians. Four to five new Bio-sand water filters, which are made and purchased in Haiti, were installed in family homes each month this year. Approximately 20 follow-up service visits were conducted each month. The technicians replaced the diffusion plates on 2-4 filters each month, and they replaced 1-2 covers each month. They provided education to the family members and reinforced clean water practices. In the village of Duchity, the Minister’s home has a Bio-sand filter and his wife gives out bucketfuls of water to people, to their great pleasure, as they leave Church on Sundays.
Ecole Foyer D’Espoir (House of Hope School)
This Port au Prince elementary school now has 170 students and 6 teachers. Maria’s home has been changed into classrooms where the living room, dining room and two bedrooms used to be. Maria is the Haitian director and has a huge heart; she provides quality education in a caring and safe environment. The kids in this neighborhood do not have other opportunities for schooling. In addition to the school day, there are educational and recreational activities on weekends for the children. Maria was recently trained in acupuncture and now offers acupuncture clinics to the community to help with post-traumatic stress; 100 people showed up to the school for the last clinic.
Medical Clinic
Financial support was provided for the Haitian physician, nurse and support staff to operate the medical clinic twice a week, the dentist twice a month, and for the Haitian administrator. It is estimated that 200 people a month were seen in the clinic over the past two years. This rural region was previously lacking medical care, prenatal care and health promotion services. Vermont Haiti Project decided to suspend its involvement in the medical clinic November 1, 2011 while another organization supports this clinic and possibly starts building a new bigger facility for the region.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Vermont Haiti Project provided fiscal sponsorship for the Haiti Emergency Relief Organization (HERO) from July 2010 to December 2011. This organization now has its own 501c3 not for profit status under the name Haiti Circle of Friends. Their accomplishments this year included the relocation of vulnerable children to a newly managed and healthier environment and providing urgent medical intervention; providing support for community economic business development with a bakery project; and health care workshops for women.
Fundraising events
Because of the large amount of money it will take to complete the Vocational School in Duchity, Vermont Haiti Project has devoted a great deal of effort to fundraising this year. This included bringing Despagne Felix, the Haitian overseer of the Vocational School project, to the U.S. for fundraising events in which he spoke about his hopes for this project- on the radio, at house parties and at school presentations.
This construction project in the village of Duchity, 125 miles southwest of Port au Prince, has made remarkable progress over the past year, especially considering the tools used are hammers, buckets, wheel barrows and a manual cinder block maker. The stone wall around the perimeter of the land has been extended and there is now a road to get to the building site. Huge rocks were broken up- the smaller pieces placed for the road and the larger pieces used for the wall. The dormitory, including a dining room, is half-way completed. Water is being piped in from the mountain source and collected in a cistern. A composting toilet was built on the property by a not for profit organization specializing in composting toilets in Haiti. Visitors from the U.S. have been able to stay on the property while volunteering to give classes in anything from bicycle repair to English, provide art activities for young and old, and collaborate to make a simple hand washing station called a Tippy Tap. A plan is in place for the next phases of development, leading up to when the Vocational School will be ready to start classes and meet the need for resources in this rural area.
Water purification
This ongoing program operates in Port-au-Prince as well as in mountain villages with 4 trained technicians. Four to five new Bio-sand water filters, which are made and purchased in Haiti, were installed in family homes each month this year. Approximately 20 follow-up service visits were conducted each month. The technicians replaced the diffusion plates on 2-4 filters each month, and they replaced 1-2 covers each month. They provided education to the family members and reinforced clean water practices. In the village of Duchity, the Minister’s home has a Bio-sand filter and his wife gives out bucketfuls of water to people, to their great pleasure, as they leave Church on Sundays.
Ecole Foyer D’Espoir (House of Hope School)
This Port au Prince elementary school now has 170 students and 6 teachers. Maria’s home has been changed into classrooms where the living room, dining room and two bedrooms used to be. Maria is the Haitian director and has a huge heart; she provides quality education in a caring and safe environment. The kids in this neighborhood do not have other opportunities for schooling. In addition to the school day, there are educational and recreational activities on weekends for the children. Maria was recently trained in acupuncture and now offers acupuncture clinics to the community to help with post-traumatic stress; 100 people showed up to the school for the last clinic.
Medical Clinic
Financial support was provided for the Haitian physician, nurse and support staff to operate the medical clinic twice a week, the dentist twice a month, and for the Haitian administrator. It is estimated that 200 people a month were seen in the clinic over the past two years. This rural region was previously lacking medical care, prenatal care and health promotion services. Vermont Haiti Project decided to suspend its involvement in the medical clinic November 1, 2011 while another organization supports this clinic and possibly starts building a new bigger facility for the region.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Vermont Haiti Project provided fiscal sponsorship for the Haiti Emergency Relief Organization (HERO) from July 2010 to December 2011. This organization now has its own 501c3 not for profit status under the name Haiti Circle of Friends. Their accomplishments this year included the relocation of vulnerable children to a newly managed and healthier environment and providing urgent medical intervention; providing support for community economic business development with a bakery project; and health care workshops for women.
Fundraising events
Because of the large amount of money it will take to complete the Vocational School in Duchity, Vermont Haiti Project has devoted a great deal of effort to fundraising this year. This included bringing Despagne Felix, the Haitian overseer of the Vocational School project, to the U.S. for fundraising events in which he spoke about his hopes for this project- on the radio, at house parties and at school presentations.