Earthquakes Leave Scars - Five Years After the 2021 Earthquake

The following is a series of updates from Melinda Miles, Hope for Haiti’s Chief Development Officer, reflecting on the August 2021 earthquake that devastated communities in southern Haiti five years ago.

August 14, 2026

Earthquakes leave scars. Five years ago, on August 14, 2021, the ground shook in Haiti’s south department. Whole mountainsides came down, burying farmers and their gardens. Schools and homes collapsed in an instant, while roadways and water reservoirs cracked open.

When the earthquake struck southern Haiti five years ago, you didn’t hesitate – you helped.

Today, the scars can still be seen across the region in piles of rubble where buildings were never rebuilt, and communities where children still haven’t returned to their classrooms. But because of your support for Hope for Haiti, the town of Ravine Sable tells a different story.

You can see it in the school yard, where students study under fruit trees in front of a new building covered in colorful murals. You see it across the street, where a woman gathers vegetables from the garden in front of her new home. These are just two of the many structures that donors to Hope for Haiti have helped build or repair over the past five years but their restoration has transformed this community.

Students attending college on scholarships provided by donors to Hope for Haiti are telling a different story, too. Five years after the earthquake and ten years after the devastation of Hurricane Matthew, these young people have all survived major natural disasters and faced tremendous challenges. This photo was taken during my recent visit to Torbeck, where I got to meet with some of these inspiring students.

Despite the lasting scars and the ongoing crises in Haiti, they are studying agronomy, nursing, and engineering because they dream of making their communities stronger and more resilient. Haiti is their home, and because of supporters like you, they have never lost their hope for the future.

Will you help us continue healing the scars of the earthquake by making a donation today? Your gift will make an immediate impact in southern Haiti, helping to educate thousands of children and young people and deliver vital healthcare to tens of thousands of families.

For a stronger Haiti,

Melinda Miles,

Hope for Haiti Chief Development Officer

P.S. You can honor what was lost during the earthquake by investing in what survived – please make a donation today!

August 19, 2026

Five years after the devastating earthquake in Haiti’s south, a group of parents and guardians are gathered in a classroom in Boisrond. Hope for Haiti’s Education Manager, Romel Jean-Pierre, is standing at the front of the room while children are lined up outside, poking their faces through the windows to see what’s happening. Romel writes the word “rèv” (Haitian kreyòl for dreams) on the blackboard and then asks:

“Did any of you have a dream when you were little?”

The grandmother near the back of the classroom raises her hand first, and then parents and caretakers around her slowly put their hands up, too. When Romel asks the next question, her eyes get brighter and fill with tears: “When did you stop believing in your dream?” She answers, shaking her head, “A long time ago.”

This is a workshop about dreams, but it’s about so much more. The 2021 earthquake left visible scars – collapsed homes and schools – but there are deeper scars that we can’t see. Even here, in one of the schools that has been rebuilt thanks to the generosity of donors like you, the repercussions can still be felt. Recovering from disaster is about more than bricks and plywood – it’s also about restoring the spaces within, where we dream of the future.

As the workshop continues, the adults are reminded that their job is not only to send their kids to school. Despite all the challenges they face and natural disasters they’ve survived, it is a parent’s job to make sure that their children never stop dreaming, because all children deserve to dream.

With your support, Hope for Haiti is helping people heal the scars of the earthquake in communities across Haiti’s south. Children are learning in safe schools where teachers nurture their intellects and feed their dreams. Workshops hold space for adults to remember and heal from the trauma of natural disaster, displacement, and loss. Families are receiving healthcare that doesn’t stop at what’s visible – because healing goes much deeper than that.

Will you help heal the invisible scars by clicking here to make a donation today? Your generosity is the foundation on which all this work is built.

Wrapping up the meeting, Romel says something that captures the energy shift we all felt as people shared their memories and experiences: “Dreams don’t have an age limit.” I hope you’ll join us in continuing to dream of a stronger Haiti!

Dreaming with you,

Melinda Miles

Parents in Boisrond celebrate at the end of a workshop with our Education team.

September 3, 2026

Dear Friend,

Have you seen the news from Haiti lately? Today, Haiti is dealing with a crisis perpetrated by armed groups occupying large parts of its capital – an unnatural disaster. The violence has forced 1.5 million people out of their homes, the same number who were left homeless after the massive earthquake in January 2010.

People often ask us how the crisis of violence in Haiti‘s capital impacts Hope for Haiti. The truth is that it makes our work more complicated, but more important than ever.

Our team in Haiti provides the services that are the building blocks of Haiti’s future – health care, education, and stronger livelihoods – at a local level in the south. With the support of donors like you, Hope for Haiti is making it possible for families to access doctors and schools. Meanwhile, scholarships for high school graduates to continue their education, also provided by donors to Hope for Haiti, are encouraging young people to stay in the region.

Your support to Hope for Haiti helps families build their lives in the south and out of the conflict zone.

While Haiti’s south remains peaceful, over 700,000 people who were forced to flee their homes in the capital have resettled in the region. However, you won’t find people living in displacement camps. That’s because communities across the south have taken in the tens of thousands of families who have been forced out of their homes during this crisis, and they have done this despite the fact that many are still struggling to recover from the losses of the 2021 earthquake.

Hope for Haiti is supporting this community-led mutual aid in many ways, including:

Operating mobile clinics in remote areas where people have resettled
Providing direct financial support to households with children at risk of malnutrition, many fleeing conflict
Welcoming nearly 600 displaced students into classrooms in our 24 partner schools

Will you make a donation today to rebuild lives in Haiti’s south? Your gift to Hope for Haiti helps people continue building towards a better life across southern Haiti, including families who have fled the unnatural disaster in Port-au-Prince.