Project Report
| Mar 11, 2024
Quarterly Report: March 2024
Dear valued donors and dedicated supporters:
We would like to share an update from the past few months.
State of unrest in Haiti:
Haiti is going through one of the most difficult times in recent history, with growing violence and 5.2 million people in need of humanitarian support. During situations like these, it is more important than ever to empower, inform, and secure communities. LFBS is committed to supporting and protecting vulnerable children and families in Haiti.
Despite everything you may see in the news, there are still child protection actors and government bodies working to protect children. Our team is continuing to respond to the needs of the families and communities we work alongside. Family reunification is still very possible and happening, and it is still safer for children to be with their families rather than in orphanages.
We thank our supporters for your thoughts and continued support. Your contributions are invaluable, and we cannot do this work without you, especially during such times of crisis.
Family Tracing, Mediation & Reunification
- As of January, LFBS is actively working with 231 children.
- After successfully reuniting three children with their families between December and January, we currently have two children in our safe house.
- In late February, GTPE (the working group on child protection in Southern Haiti), led by IBESR (Haitian Social Services), removed 51 children from an illegal and abusive orphanage. As a partner in GTPE, LFBS is supporting the care of these children in the aftermath of their removal, as there are a lot of family tracing, mediation and reunification activities that must happen. The orphanage claimed that other children had been previously sent home before GTPE intervened, and we must verify that those children were, in fact, sent home rather than being trafficked elsewhere. Of the 51 children who were removed by GTPE, over half of their parents arrived to get them the next day. We are working towards tracing the families of the remaining children. All of these children and their families will need follow-up support, which we are currently working to identify and implement.
- Between November and February, we successfully traced five families and conducted 11 mediation sessions.
Education & Vocational Training
- Our Youth Mentor has been developing a tool to streamline the identification process for high-quality vocational schools.
- Currently, 4 youths are on a waitlist for vocational training opportunities.
- An additional 4 youths have been identified and selected for vocational training.
- 2 youths have commenced their internships.
Income Generation Opportunities
- 10 families have been carefully selected and evaluated for participation in our Business Start-Up project. Their selection was based on their level of vulnerability and capacity to manage small businesses.
Community Reinforcement
As of February:
- 207 children are receiving ongoing medical follow-up.
- Between November to February, 22 children were accompanied to the hospital for necessary care and 61 children received various forms of medical assistance, including evaluations, testing, lab work, or medication.
- In November, we organised two weeks of community training sessions to commemorate World Children’s Day across over 5 communities. The events drew over 1000 attendees and covered important topics such as various forms of violence and their impacts, people’s rights and responsibilities, and cholera prevention.
- Additionally, we conducted 6 health education sessions.
- In December and January, we held community training sessions involving 8 parents of street children, focusing on topics such as parental responsibility and the significance of education in families and society.
Advocacy and Awareness Raising
- We are advocating and actively pursuing longer-term plans to address the situation of three children who were abandoned at a maternity ward in Les Cayes. Despite the hospital being on strike, we have been conducting regular visits to ensure their well-being and supplying essential items such as mosquito nets.
Thank you for your shared commitment to our mission to protect vulnerable children in Haiti by reuniting families and empowering them with resources and opportunities to build a self-sufficient future.