Disaster Response Haiti Project #25604

Creating Local Jobs in Southern Haiti

by Peace Winds America

Project Report | Jul 25, 2022
Livelihood Activities for Women's Groups

By Sarah Maraschky | Communications Associate

NAPB Members

Peace Winds is working to promote and improve processing technology of cashews and peanuts, which are an important source of income for Haitian women’s groups like the Nouvelle Association Paysanne de Balix (NAPB) in Balix, Saint Jean du Sud district in Haiti’s southern region. Peace Winds has partnered with groups like these to support women whose livelihoods were affected by the earthquake in August 2021. We are also helping community members to understand and carry out disaster prevention and preparedness activities.

From January through April 2022, Peace Winds upgraded a Balix community center, built by Peace Winds in 2018, that doubles as a processing site for cashew nuts and a training site for quality improvement. We installed windows, solar panels, and batteries to ensure that the center has enough power for cashew and peanut processing. Because the area is remote and does not have a supply of electricity, using solar power is the only option. To learn more about how the program is going, Peace Winds interviewed the representative of NABP, the local agricultural consultant in charge of training, and one of our staff members.

NAPB Representative Premiere Randy

Cashew and peanut production is an important source of income in the southern provinces where we live. Thanks to your support, we NABP members will be able to learn the skills needed to improve the processing and storage of cashews and peanuts and increase profitability. I would also like to work on improving food safety and quality control by introducing risk analysis and management systems. We believe that these activities will create employment in the local community and lead to the productivity improvement of farmers and the development of the region.

Agricultural Consultant Jean Rene Clerget

I am in charge of training to improve cashew productivity and promote sales. This area has high potential for agricultural development and is suitable for cultivation. However, growing crops requires expertise and spontaneity. Therefore, it is important for Peace Winds to support NAPB for processing and selling cashews and peanuts, and I expect that it will greatly increase incomes in the southern prefectures. Thanks to your support, we can contribute to regional development and poverty reduction.

Water Sanitation and Disaster Prevention Facilitator Jean-Baptiste Rose Francereine (Peace Winds staff member)

Water hygiene training deals with public health such as proper water storage methods and basic hygiene practices. In the wake of COVID-19, we are working to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Haiti is socially, politically, and economically unstable and is also susceptible to extreme weather, so drinking water, water purification, and water services are inadequate. This means that many people are vulnerable to illnesses such as typhoid fever, cholera, and diarrhea. It is also estimated that one in six children under the age of five die of diarrhea. In rural areas such as the southern prefectures, most inhabitants are unable to attend school, and many are unable to read or write. Still, women’s groups are motivated to learn, and even if they are illiterate, they are working to improve communication and better learning through dialogue and group sessions.

Peace Winds will continue to carry out training for sales promotion and techniques needed for successful cashew and peanut sales as well as disaster prevention and water hygiene training. We hope to mitigate the effects of future natural disasters while rebuilding existing disaster-stricken areas. This project is made possible by funding from the Kuraray Foundation and by contributions from our individual donors. Thank you so much for your continued support!

NAPB Representative Premiere Randy

Agricultural Consultant Jean Rene Clerget

PW Staff Member Jean-Baptiste Rose Francereine

Community center used for processing and training

Cashew nuts growing from cashew apples

Links:

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May 3, 2022
Mobility Aids for 120 Haitians

By Sarah Maraschky | Communications Associate

Peace Winds local staff in Haiti

With your support, Peace Winds was able to distribute mobility aids, such as crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs, to 120 Haitians with disabilities who are particularly vulnerable, creating an environment where they can live with as much freedom and peace of mind as possible.

There are more than 1,600 people with disabilities in Haiti’s southern prefecture, but it is estimated that more than 3,200 people have new physical disabilities following the earthquake on August 14, 2021 (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, September 2021 report). Additionally, more than 12,000 people have been injured and need ongoing rehabilitation services. The earthquake has also created difficulty accessing roads and a shortage of medical care due to large numbers of injured people visiting the hospitals at once. As a result, many people with disabilities have delayed medical attention to their injuries, only causing them to worsen. Public support and social welfare programs for people with disabilities in Haiti are also underdeveloped.

Before the earthquake, the “MCPHPSH: le Mouvement Citoyen des Personnes Handicapées Physiques Sud d'Haïti” provided accommodations for people with disabilities, including recreational activities and events. However, the facility was completely destroyed by the earthquake. Beneficiaries were forced to evacuate to tents, shelters, and relatives’ homes, and the facility canceled all of its activities. Before the earthquake, about 120 people used the facility, but now that number has doubled to about 240. Forty percent of new registrants are people with disabilities due to the earthquake. While the number of users is increasing, it is extremely important for people with disabilities to be able to move on their own to build independence, self-esteem, and social participation. However, there are rarely enough mobility aids to allow people with disabilities to get around on their own. With the donations Peace Winds received, we were able to distribute mobility aids for 120 people who use the facility. Beneficiaries are now able to move freely and have expressed plenty of gratitude.

Check out our project report below to hear from some of Peace Winds staff members and beneficiaries.

Links:

Attachments:

Haiti_Report_PWJ_2.pdf (PDF)

2 Attachments

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Jan 13, 2022
Hygiene and Disaster Resilience for Southern Haiti

By Sarah Maraschky | Communications Associate

Peace Winds Team in Haiti

Peace Winds recently concluded our resilience enhancement project in remote southern Haiti, helping to create a community that is more resistant to natural disasters. The project began in March 2020, and since then, our teams in Haiti have faced challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the assassination of the country's president in July, and the earthquake in August whose epicenter was right near Peace Winds' project site. Fortunately, we were still able to complete the project, and with four new community centers in the Chantal commune and measures like natural disaster response training, hygiene training, and evacuation drills, Peace Winds has helped build a safer, more disaster-resilient community.

One major achievement of this project was helping children use the toilet to provide the community with better sanitation. Before, many children saw the toilet as a dark and scary place, but with the help of some paint and a bit of creativity, they are now greeted with colorful images of local landscapes and reminders to wash their hands. Toilet usage for children has increased nearly 20 percent.

Peace Winds also held hygiene and disaster prevention workshops where community members learned about the infection route of pathogens, preventative measures, and how to use the toilet as an educational activity in schools. Children learned songs and dances to help make the activities more fun and engaging. In the disaster workshops, residents participated in evacuation drills with local experts and learned how to use Peace Winds community centers as shelters in the event of a disaster–a vital resource following the August 2021 earthquake.

When community centers aren’t being used as shelters, they are part of Haitians’ everyday lives by hosting livelihood activities, meetings for residents’ associations, school classes, and more. Because they are solar powered, residents can even use the centers at night in places where electricity is scarce, increasing opportunities for the community to connect.

Peace Winds is still working toward recovery and reconstruction for residents of southern Haiti whose livelihoods and loved ones were taken from them in the earthquake, but we look forward to continuing our work in the region and bringing updates to our followers. Thank you for all you have done to aid our efforts so far, and we appreciate your continued support.

Artwork to encourage children to use the toilet

Artwork reminding children to wash their hands

Disaster preparedness drill

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