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Three days following her return to Vermont from an emergency assistance and assessment trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, VHP co-director Kimball Butler has returned to Hispaniola with fellow director Donna Thomas:
Kimball and Donna Thomas left February 8, with a plan to connect with the Haitian contingent of the Vermont Haiti
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Thomas, Butler and friends (archive photo)
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Project and formulate their plans for the near future. During the next week they will assess the status of the school in Port au Prince that luckily, is still standing, but will need repairs. They will communicate with the teachers and hope to get the school open as soon as they can. The computers that were gathered in VT and shipped last May seem to be in working order. The whole neighborhood will benefit with a way to communicate out if the computers can get up and running. There is much to do!
And that brings us to VHP's exciting vision of a coordinated effort to create a Living and Learning Center on a piece of land that the Vermont Haiti project already has access to just outside of Port au Prince. Many different areas of focus could come together into this one Center. A school, a vocational training center including training in alternative energy sources and sustainable building technologies; a farming project; the Biosand water filter production; and a living space for visiting groups could all be housed on this site. The center would also be the site of health education, check-ups and medical supply distribution. A women's sewing cooperative that recently started up making bags out of recycled fabric and plastic to raise much needed funds could use the space as well. This is all still evolving but with the connecting of resources, ideas and people, we can make it happen! We will post another update about about progress in Haiti upon Kimball and Donna's return.
Here in VT there have been several local fundraisers for the Vermont Haiti Project including the Pennies for Port au Prince coin drive at Richmond Elementary school . Over $4,000 dollars were raised! Amazing! Check the list of upcoming VHP fundraising events. Come on out and bring a friend! A BIG thank you to all!
(reported by various VHP sources)
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