Tag Archives: Haiti earthquake

Haiti Earthquake: Heifer’s Work Continues

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It’s not news: the world’s poor are the most vulnerable to natural disasters. The 2010 Haiti earthquake highlighted this truth to a shocking degree. There are many factors that contribute to the dire poverty that exists in places like Haiti. Heifer International’s work is to help farming families build resilient livelihoods, making them less vulnerable to natural disasters, economic changes (like rising commodity food prices) and political shocks.

What does a farm family with a sustainable and resilient livelihood look like? They:

Haiti earthquake survivor

Jean Pierre jumped out of a third-story apartment just before the building collapsed into rubble, one of many destroyed during the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. She is photographed here, sitting in a field in Cance, in rural western Haiti, a year and a half later. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee, courtesy of Heifer International.

  • Have stable and diverse sources of income
  • Own secure and productive land
  • Have savings and can access formal financing (banks, loans, etc.)
  • Can meet their food needs all year, both through their own production and by affording supplemental food from other sources
  • Have access to health, education, water, energy, transportation and communication services
  • Have a strong voice, especially the women, through cooperatives and associations

Heifer’s Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti Project (REACH) is making the above a reality for more than 100,000 Haitians. It’s our largest project in Haiti to date, and it will help participating families and communities far less vulnerable to events like the Haiti earthquake of 2010, because they will have the resiliency to bounce back with minimal assistance.

We need help fulfilling our fundraising goals, and you can give directly to REACH today. What will your gift do? This:

  • Start family-run breeding centers that will improve the local economy by creating jobs and training participants to provide for improved livestock breeds– something that has never been done before in Haiti.
  • Improve Haiti’s soil so it will produce better crops, increasing crop production and quality, and ultimately growing enough food that farmers can use to sell for income and build businesses.
  • Train Haitian farmers in disaster preparedness and teaching them  how to protect their biggest assets–their livestock.
  • Protect the environment by placing animals where they are complementary to the crops, and train participants techniques such as zero-grazing, which protects ground cover and makes collecting manure for organic fertilizer easy. Our goal is to leave the environment better than we found it.
Post Haiti earthquake rebuilding.

A Haiti REACH goat breeding center. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

We cannot predict the next time a major natural disaster like the 2010 Haiti earthquake will strike. Through REACH, however, we can help ensure at least 100,000 Haitians will be less vulnerable.

Give to REACH now to become part of this important work.

Haiti: Three Years After the Earthquake

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Today is the third anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti.

Haiti earthquake

Photo by Bryan Clifton, courtesy of Heifer International.

Recovering from Haiti Earthquake.

Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

This week we have highlighted the work Heifer has been doing in Haiti both before and since the earthquake. Here’s a quick roundup:

Our current major effort in Haiti is our extensive project called Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti (REACH). The project aims to help 20,250 families with gifts of livestock and by strengthening communities through the construction and management of goat and swine breeding centers, many of which will be owned and operated by women.

You can learn more and donate to REACH by visiting heifer.org/reachout now.

Recovering from Haiti earthquake.

Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

Of course, Heifer’s work alone is not nearly all the help Haiti needs as it continues to recover from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The good news is that we’re certainly not alone. Here’s a list of recent posts from other great organizations applying their work in what has long been the most impoverished and vulnerable country in the Western Hemisphere:

Heifer International Marks 3rd Anniversary of Haiti Earthquake

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On the third anniversary of the devastating January 2010 Haiti earthquake, Heifer International remembers the quake’s victims – those killed and those dislocated – and affirms our commitment to help Haitians emerge from the tragedy stronger than before.

Post Haiti Earthquake

Port-au-Prince tent camp almost 8 months after Haiti earthquake in 2010. Photo by Bryan Clifton, courtesy of Heifer International.

The magnitude-7 earthquake affected nearly 3,000 Heifer project families. Since the Haiti earthquake, Heifer has built and repaired dozens of homes; provided water filters and hygiene kits to prevent cholera; and helped rejuvenate rural agricultural activities with training and resources such as animals, equipment and seeds.

Today, Heifer International is implementing an extensive project called REACH (Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti), which is helping Haiti build its agricultural sector and improve the lives of rural Haitians.

Post Haiti Earthquake Goat Breeding Center

Goat breeding center, part of Heifer's Haiti REACH project, in Tet Kole. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

The five-year project will assist 20,250 rural households in Haiti through not only the distribution of livestock but also through improved market linkages and construction and management of goat and swine breeding centers.

Heifer will build 97 goat and 50 swine breeding centers that will provide quality livestock for Haitians, and project participants will own the centers. Twenty-five breeding center owners have been selected already, and 19 breeding centers are under construction.

Post Haiti Earthquake Goat Breeding Center

Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

Heifer International worked in Haiti for 10 years before the earthquake and is committed to working with families for many years to come. Recently, Heifer provided help to families and communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, which, before striking the northeastern United States as Superstorm Sandy, inundated the struggling island nation.

As the world remembers the catastrophe that occurred on January 12, 2010, and considers how far Haiti has yet to come, Heifer International vows to open a new era of hope in the lives of thousands of Haitian people.

Be a part of our Haiti earthquake rehabilitation work by donating to our Haiti REACH project today.

A New Beginning With Heifer in Milot, Haiti

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Editor’s note: As we approach the third anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the lives of so many Haitians, we are asking for your help in raising funds to continue the important work of rebuilding livelihoods in post-earthquake Haiti. Visit www.heifer.org/reachout to learn more and give.

Author’s note: In 2012, I traveled to Haiti to spend a couple of weeks visiting projects with Heifer Haiti staff. For previous posts on my trip, see my page.

Toussaint Christophe lives just off the road that takes travelers to nearby Milot, Haiti. There, he earns money by breaking limestone and selling it as construction material.

Toussaint Christophe

Toussaint Christophe and his goats in Milot, Haiti. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

But not too far from his house, Toussaint also cultivates yams, bananas and beans and takes care of four goats and a cow–all of which came from Heifer through the From the Ground Up project. The crops and livestock will supplement both his diet and income.

“Since I was a young man, I’ve seen people with cows,” Toussaint said. “This is the first time I’ve had one.”

Goats are a more familiar sight to Toussaint. His parents raised and bred goats, and he began helping the effort as soon as he was able. At age 14, he received his first goat. Shortly after, Toussaint’s family was robbed of all 15 of their goats, and he, his parents and six siblings had to rely solely upon selling bananas and yams to the market.

Compounding the situation, the family’s house burned down a few years later. The fire killed one of his brothers and left another paralyzed. Toussaint’s family never found out how the house burned down, but they suspect it was arson. Around the same time, four of his siblings became ill with asthma problems.

After the fire, Toussaint dropped out of school to help support his family.

“The first time I went to school, I was 17 because my parents were not supportive of that kind of thing,” he said. “When the house burned, we lost everything. (My parents) wanted me to work.”

Toussaint Christophe 2

Toussaint Christophe near his home in Milot, Haiti. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.

Toussaint’s children, however, are getting the opportunity he never had. Both of his sons, who are in their mid-20s, are in secondary school in Cap Haitien, about 12 miles away.

And Toussaint’s informal education has continued through Heifer trainings.

“I have had many trainings… (including) techniques for dividing yam roots and goat production,” he said. “I can now treat some of the kinds of diseases that goats have. In the past, I (would have) to pay a veterinarian for everything the goats needed. Now, I can give a first examination or first aid to the goats.”

The project with Heifer marks the first time Toussaint has owned goats since his teenage years, and this is not something he takes lightly.

“I take care of (the goats) as well as I would a person,” he said. “I like to see them right.”

Toussaint Christophe 3

Toussaint Christophe smiles near his home in Milot, Haiti. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.