Paula Prince, Program Manager – June 12012
For 23 years, Hope for Haiti has built strong relationships with its program partners. Our partnership with one Parish, in particular, has evolved to include salary subsidies for two schools, a bookshare program, support for a doctor salary, and school improvements such as new benches for the school year. Last week , I conducted our biannual site visit to the seven partner schools and partner health facility that we support in the region of Côtes de Fer. Because of the treacherous mountain roads, the trip involves an overnight stay at the Parish of a small community.
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| Community members work hard to finish constructing a new school building | School Director stands in front of the cloud covered school. | School Director stands waiting as Hope for Haiti truck approaches the rural school. |
The trip started off at 6:00am with a long 3.5 hour drive down harsh mountain roads to a rural community where, over the past year, Hope for Haiti teamed-up with buildOn and community members for the construction of two beautiful new school blocks. When we arrived, community members were hard at work painting and putting the final touches on the second school block. After visiting neighboring schools in the mountain communities of Platon and Labiche, we headed to the Parish of Gris Gris, where the Parish head and deeply respected local community leader, welcomed us with a huge smile and a warm plate of rice and sauce pois (black bean sauce).
The overnight stay in Gris Gris was quite an experience. Most rural towns in Haiti have no electricity and Gris Gris is no exception. For entertainment that evening we headed to the one restaurant in town that has a generator and a television. We joined community members who were huddled around the only television in Gris Gris watching konpa music videos.
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| Preschool student poses for a picture. |
Preschool students work in a church that was severly damaged during the earthquake. | Primary school student. |
The second day began at 6:30am when we left the Parish of Gris Gris to visit the remaining schools that Hope for Haiti supports in the region. We first headed to a school, which is so high in the mountains, it oftentimes gets overrun by the clouds. The weather here is unstable and the school’s poorly patched together tin walls and ceiling do a poor job of shielding students from the elements. After finishing all of our site visits, we stopped by the house of Hope for Haiti Support Team Manager & Cooking School Director, Carmen Alverbe’s family to say hello, before heading back to Les Cayes. The family filled our truck with gifts of black beans, corn, fruit and a live chicken.
Upon returning to Les Cayes, we were reminded of why partnerships are so incredibly important. Not only do we assess and try to help with the many needs of our program partners, but we also build strong and lasting relationships with the individuals and communities that we serve.