Salesian schools and programs are located throughout Haiti—including Port-au-Prince, Fort-Liberté, Cap Haïtien, Les Cayes, and Gressier. With an established presence throughout the country, the emergency response has been efficient and comprehensive. A warehouse that was built using funds raised by Salesian Missions (after the 2010 earthquake) has been utilized as a staging ground where missionaries and other volunteers assemble survival kits for distribution. In addition, a delivery truck, also funded by Salesian Missions, is making the transport to Les Cayes possible. The town—which is located in the area hardest hit by the hurricane—is home to Salesian schools and programs for the poor.

The Salesian-run Rinaldi Foundation of Haiti, which has been heading up the Salesian response to the hurricane, sent a delegation to the south of the country to assess the damage caused by the hurricane and distribute emergency aid. The emergency relief kits are able to sustain five people for four days and contained rice, beans, salmon, sugar, olive oil and milk. Salesian missionaries have also been providing clean water and soap to prevent the spread of cholera, which has already killed 13 and sickened 62 more people. The concern is with the lack of available water and proper sanitation, there will be another deadly outbreak of cholera.

Salesian missionaries are also looking to reconstruction efforts with the Rinaldi Foundation which is preparing the distribution of building materials for those affected so that they can repair their homes or rebuild them. Missionaries are also planning to start distributing seeds and agricultural tools to those who lost their crops and with them their livelihood. About 500 farmers will benefit from this project, which will also allow the resumption of economic activities in selected areas.

With an eye on long-term sustainability and ensuring reconstruction efforts in local communities, the Rinaldi Foundation is also planning an education project that will provide intensive training for 300 youth in the construction industry including courses in metallurgy, carpentry and welding. Students who might not otherwise be able to continue their studies will also be able to access scholarships.

“Salesian missionaries are helping those in need with the distribution of food and water kits, but this phase should not last long. The second phase is the creation of a canteen to provide warm meals for all, but especially for the children and young people who access our programs,” says Father Jean Paul Mesidor, Superior of the Salesians of Haiti. “A third step will be to provide working tools to people so that they may begin to till their land so that the food source will remain accessible. Lastly, but most important, we will provide construction materials and offer education so people can get back to work reviving their own livelihood and rebuilding their communities.”

Slamming into the southern part of the island on Oct. 4 with wind speeds of up to 145 miles per hour, Hurricane Matthew ripped tin roofs from the fragile makeshift shelters in which tens of thousands of people had been living since the earthquake. Vulnerable to the storm’s fury, more than 1,000 people are confirmed dead. Roads and bridges collapsed, and communications systems failed—stranding victims from critical aid. The storm surge flooded entire farmlands, destroying up to 80 percent of food crops and killing significant numbers of livestock. Mudslides have clogged wells and sanitation systems. More than 50,000 people are now homeless, with food and safe drinking water desperately scarce.

The need is great, and time is of the essence. This is why Salesian Missions, along with other Salesian NGOs around the globe, has launched an emergency fundraising drive. Those who want to help victims of Hurricane Matthew are urged to make a donation online at www.salesianmissions.org/haiti-relief/give.

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PHOTOS: Salesian Missions / ich.tv – Bahare kh 2016

(Photos may be re-published as long as the above credit line appears.)

Sources:

ANS – Haiti – After Hurricane Matthew: New Forms of Solidarity

ANS – Haiti – Salesians continue to distribute aid and are already planning on rebuilding

Salesian Missions

The post HAITI: Missionaries Continue Relief Efforts After Hurricane, Plan for Long-term Recovery and Reconstruction first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The rebuilding efforts are made possible by CISC with its partnerships between the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), the Association de la construction du Quebec, British Columbia Construction Association, Builders without Borders and the Rinaldi Foundation, which has committed to supplying and fabricating 70 tons of structural steel valued at more than $500,000. In addition, Atlas Tube, a division of JMC Steel Group, has donated 16 tons of steel hollow structural sections.

“Donating steel to help rebuild Lakay is not only critical to the future students of Haiti, but to the future of the construction industry,” says David Seeger, president of JMC Steel Group in a recent press release on the rebuilding efforts. “Ensuring the ongoing education of Haiti’s skilled youth in construction trades will allow these graduates to help rebuild their country and help ensure that the future of the trades and construction industry is bright.”

Lakay is a Salesian-run trade school that teaches street youth carpentry, cabinetry, electrical and tailoring skills. The new building will feature 16 classrooms, workshops, washrooms, offices, storage areas, covered walkways and a shaded outdoor space. The cost to rebuild Lakay is projected to be $1.2 million with a targeted completion date in the beginning of 2013.

Student enrollment has increased significantly since last year and the new building will be able to accommodate 200 students. The school fulfills an important socio-economic mission by teaching underprivileged and street youth skilled trades to help them escape poverty and establish a sustainable livelihood.

“Programs at Lakay provide an important role in communities in Haiti,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions – the U.S. arm of Salesians of Don Bosco. “Youth are able to learn a trade, find a path out of poverty and give back directly to the communities they are from.”

ABOUT SALESIAN MISSIONS IN HAITI:

Salesian Missions, headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, is the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Salesian Missions Office for International Programs was assigned the task of coordinating international Salesian relief efforts in Haiti immediately after the January 2010 earthquake. The Salesians have served Haiti for 75 years, operating schools, feeding programs, orphanages, and youth programs and building educational infrastructure. For more information, including a 2-Year Progress Report, go to www.SalesianMissions.org.

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Sources:

Haiti Libre – Haiti- Canada – L’École Lakay Will Reopen in Early 2013

The post HAITI: Rebuilt Salesian Trade School to Open in Early 2013 first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The issues include lack of qualified engineers, poverty and corruption—as well as few national building standards in the country. To ensure their new buildings meet established safety standards, Salesians worked with architect Micheline Baptiste to meet fundamental safety requirements outlined in the Model Building Code for Earthquakes established by the Association of Caribbean States.

“We need to unite for the reconstruction of Haiti,” said Father Jacques Charles, director of the Rinaldi Foundation, at the dedication of the warehouse—a permanent Salesian structure completed after the earthquake. He adds that new construction techniques are being taught in the Salesian vocational schools, which each year educate youth in construction, carpentry and electrical maintenance.

“We are making every effort to ensure safety is a priority in Haiti—now as we rebuild and well into the future,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, NY.

The addition of the warehouse will help Salesian Missions improve its capabilities for serving vulnerable youth. It will allow coordination of the distribution of all supplies being sent to support its programs throughout Haiti. To date, 59 containers of relief supplies—including food, water, clothing, medical and personal hygiene supplies, computers, religious goods, water purification plants, water purification tablets, schools in a box, 10 industrial generators, and forklifts—were shipped, as well as two school buses and nearly 2,000 tents.

To ensure the most effective use of supplies, Salesian Missions evaluates the situation at each of its sites to match needs with available resources. The warehouse will also ensure that Salesian Mission can prepare to effectively overcome any disruptions in supplies, such as many expect with the announcement of the upcoming election results, adds Fr. Hyde. Salesians are fully committed to rebuilding their educational infrastructure in Haiti, which sustained tremendous damage.

Since 1935, Salesians have worked to educate Haiti’s most vulnerable youth and trained the best and brightest to become future business people, teachers, construction workers and leaders. Salesian Missions is raising funds to help rebuild its schools and programs in Haiti and donations are needed.

Source: “In Haiti’s Rebuilding, Calls for Stronger Structures.” (NPR, Jan 14, 2011)

For more stories about progress in Haiti, visit ProgressInHaiti.org.

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