2012 Program / Service Accomplishments
Water purification
This ongoing program operates in Port-au-Prince as well as in mountain villages, with four trained technicians. 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 four filters each month, and they replaced two covers each month. They provided education to the family members and reinforced clean water practices. In the village of Duchity, the Baptist Minister’s home has a Bio-sand filter and his wife gives out full buckets of water to people, to their great pleasure, as they leave Church on Sundays.
With grants and donations from USA-based organizations and individuals, VHP has continued its commitment to this program through 2013.
Ecole Foyer D’Espoir (House of Hope School)
This Port au Prince elementary school now has 200 students and seven teachers. The home of Ismay Felix and Maria Maude has been changed into classrooms where the living room, dining room and two bedrooms used to be. Maria is the Haitian director; she, along with her staff, provide 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. In 2012, four children completed their studies, all successfully passing their government mandated exam.
Duchity Organization for Vocational and Voluntour Experience (DOVVE)
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. A foundation for a stone wall around the perimeter of the land has been built, with a commitment for completion in 2013. Construction on the main lodge has continued, and is over half-way completed. Furniture, including several bed frames have been installed. A solar powered lighting system is in place, thanks to donation from a USA-based group, and a joint Haitian-American construction project. Water continues to be piped in from the mountain source and collected in a cistern. A composting toilet and hand washing station, completed in 2011, remain in place. Visitors from the U.S. have been able to stay on the property while volunteering to give classes, provide activities for young and old, collaborate to make a small improvements to the land, and share artistic, musical and social pursuits with the people of the village. For this mountainous region, 2012 was particularly rainy, although no major hurricanes effected development. A plan is in place for the next phase of building, as well as a educational and business plan leading up to when the Vocational School will be ready to start classes.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Vermont Haiti Project provided fiscal sponsorship for Stone By Stone from April 2012 to December 2012. This Massachusetts-based organization is partially responsible for the funding and management of a rural-based medical clinic in Desab, Haiti. This clinic was formally a VHP program. Stone-by-Stone is currently going through the measures of becoming it’s own 501(c)3 not-for-profit. It is the practice of Vermont Haiti Project to consider providing fiscal sponsorship to requesting organizations that, a) share a like-minded philosophy towards improving conditions in Haiti, b) have proven to possess credible personnel, c) are taking active measures to create their own not-for-profit status.
Fundraising events
· Fund raising activities in 2012 included:
· Letter writing and Email campaigns (Spring & Late Fall/Holiday season)
· Talks at schools, receptions, and organizations
· Online and Social Media public relations and solicitation
· One organizational fund raising party, featuring music, silent auction of donated goods; speeches by our Haitian partners, who traveled to the US
for this purpose.
· Table at community events (farmers markets, International Festival)
· Grant writing and application
Miscellaneous 2012 Accomplishments
1. Through a donation, VHP acquired a used Sport Utility Vehicle. After processing the paperwork, and having the vehicle shipped to Haiti, it is now available for use, for Vermont Haiti Project business.
2. A Haitian-based organization- named “Vermont Haiti Project: Haiti” was created, and a board was established, for the sole purposes of partnering with VHP (USA), and providing local representation in pursuit of our shared goals.
3. The organization’s web site was renovated.
4. VHP continues to work with other USA-based not-for-profit groups, with the intent on “program-sharing” any of it’s currently existing endeavors.
5. A close friend to the organization is working, with VHP’s endorsement, to create a documentary film on the needs of Haiti, with particular interest in the programs VHP is involved with. This film is being sponsored, in part, by kickstarter.com.
6. Members of the VHP board, on their own time and at their own expense, continue to make regular contributions to the organizational goals including, but not limited to: traveling to Haiti, spending office hours planning and administrating; consulting with and, in some case, financially assisting Haitians in need.
This ongoing program operates in Port-au-Prince as well as in mountain villages, with four trained technicians. 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 four filters each month, and they replaced two covers each month. They provided education to the family members and reinforced clean water practices. In the village of Duchity, the Baptist Minister’s home has a Bio-sand filter and his wife gives out full buckets of water to people, to their great pleasure, as they leave Church on Sundays.
With grants and donations from USA-based organizations and individuals, VHP has continued its commitment to this program through 2013.
Ecole Foyer D’Espoir (House of Hope School)
This Port au Prince elementary school now has 200 students and seven teachers. The home of Ismay Felix and Maria Maude has been changed into classrooms where the living room, dining room and two bedrooms used to be. Maria is the Haitian director; she, along with her staff, provide 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. In 2012, four children completed their studies, all successfully passing their government mandated exam.
Duchity Organization for Vocational and Voluntour Experience (DOVVE)
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. A foundation for a stone wall around the perimeter of the land has been built, with a commitment for completion in 2013. Construction on the main lodge has continued, and is over half-way completed. Furniture, including several bed frames have been installed. A solar powered lighting system is in place, thanks to donation from a USA-based group, and a joint Haitian-American construction project. Water continues to be piped in from the mountain source and collected in a cistern. A composting toilet and hand washing station, completed in 2011, remain in place. Visitors from the U.S. have been able to stay on the property while volunteering to give classes, provide activities for young and old, collaborate to make a small improvements to the land, and share artistic, musical and social pursuits with the people of the village. For this mountainous region, 2012 was particularly rainy, although no major hurricanes effected development. A plan is in place for the next phase of building, as well as a educational and business plan leading up to when the Vocational School will be ready to start classes.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Vermont Haiti Project provided fiscal sponsorship for Stone By Stone from April 2012 to December 2012. This Massachusetts-based organization is partially responsible for the funding and management of a rural-based medical clinic in Desab, Haiti. This clinic was formally a VHP program. Stone-by-Stone is currently going through the measures of becoming it’s own 501(c)3 not-for-profit. It is the practice of Vermont Haiti Project to consider providing fiscal sponsorship to requesting organizations that, a) share a like-minded philosophy towards improving conditions in Haiti, b) have proven to possess credible personnel, c) are taking active measures to create their own not-for-profit status.
Fundraising events
· Fund raising activities in 2012 included:
· Letter writing and Email campaigns (Spring & Late Fall/Holiday season)
· Talks at schools, receptions, and organizations
· Online and Social Media public relations and solicitation
· One organizational fund raising party, featuring music, silent auction of donated goods; speeches by our Haitian partners, who traveled to the US
for this purpose.
· Table at community events (farmers markets, International Festival)
· Grant writing and application
Miscellaneous 2012 Accomplishments
1. Through a donation, VHP acquired a used Sport Utility Vehicle. After processing the paperwork, and having the vehicle shipped to Haiti, it is now available for use, for Vermont Haiti Project business.
2. A Haitian-based organization- named “Vermont Haiti Project: Haiti” was created, and a board was established, for the sole purposes of partnering with VHP (USA), and providing local representation in pursuit of our shared goals.
3. The organization’s web site was renovated.
4. VHP continues to work with other USA-based not-for-profit groups, with the intent on “program-sharing” any of it’s currently existing endeavors.
5. A close friend to the organization is working, with VHP’s endorsement, to create a documentary film on the needs of Haiti, with particular interest in the programs VHP is involved with. This film is being sponsored, in part, by kickstarter.com.
6. Members of the VHP board, on their own time and at their own expense, continue to make regular contributions to the organizational goals including, but not limited to: traveling to Haiti, spending office hours planning and administrating; consulting with and, in some case, financially assisting Haitians in need.