Hope for Haiti’s mission is driven by the fundamental belief that there is always a pathway to a better life in Haiti despite the numerous challenges that exist. To accomplish our mission, we implement an integrated model for development that has been proven to reduce poverty by working with community leaders in rural areas in five key program areas: education, healthcare, infrastructure, access to clean water, and economic opportunity.
Hope for Haiti has been operating for 32 years and has team of 62 full-time Haitian team members.
To make a donation to Hope For Haiti, click “Donate”
2 Comments
Nathanw
Haiti was never given a fair chance. France did not recognize Haiti’s independence for another 20 years and when it did, King Charles X said that Haiti had to PAY FRANCE – 150M Francs for “reparations” This amount was more 10x of the Haitian government’s entire revenue, and required Haiti to take on deep debt from French banks with high interest rates. Haiti paid France from 1825 right up until 1947 as “compensation for slave owners” following their “loss of property.”
And in between all of this, during the US occupation of Haiti, the equivalent to $13M worth of gold was transferred from Haiti to New York in 1914. Widely considered to be the poorest country in the Western hemisphere (more than half the population lives below the poverty line), is this any surprise given the centuries of exploitation the nation has faced? And while natural disasters cannot be attributed to these exogenous causes, the extent of the damage and lives lost largely stems from poor infrastructure like gaps in disaster preparedness, healthcare, sanitation and more.
I didn’t expect to come on here today and write a mini essay, but it had to be said.
Nia
@NathanW I completely agree with you. It is so incredibly sad how Haiti has been forced into this position by France and could have had the resources to build better infrastructure to avoid disaster in these situations. Thank you for sharing the AirLink resource – just donated. Some more resources can also be found in @KamilleJ ‘s recent post. Let’s continue to amplify and educate on this, so many are overlooking the historical context.