HAITI OUTREACH -- OUR PARTNER IN MISSION

Executive Director, Dale Snyder introducing Haiti Outreach.

Learn more about Haiti Outreach at its website.  Here is the September newsletter.

Why we are partnering with Haiti Outreach:

• Experience 
• Mission & Philosophy
• Communication
• Accountability

The Haiti Mission Team at Forest Hill Church raised the $15,000 needed to provide a community owned and managed well for the village of Gabo.  Our partner, Haiti Outreach is now developing the capacity for the village to take responsibility for operating its new well.  We have received word that drilling should be starting now.  Pray that they find water for a good well.

WHERE IS GABO AND WHAT IS GOING ON THERE?

The Republic of Haiti is divided administratively into ten departments. The departments are further divided into 42 arrondissements, and 140 communes.    In the Arrondissement of Hinche, look for the Commune and Municipality of Maissade. (Here is a map with Maissade located.)

The Commune of Maissade is divided into three administrative districts, one of which in the northern area is called Hatty.   There is not much reported about this very remote, rural spot on the globe.  The little village of Gabo is located in the District of Hatty.  Getting to Gabo is difficult and impossible in bad weather.

According to the census taken by its newly formed well management committee, Gabo is a village of 241 persons in 40 households.  Water source(s) are miles away and not safe for human use.  Most households have latrines, although they may or may not be sanitary.

Taking a census is an exceptional event in any part of Haiti.  It is one of the very first community development tasks that Haiti Outreach trains the local well management committee to do.  It is not only a matter of counting all the people; it is also a way for the the committee members to establish themselves as responsible and accountable community leaders of the entire project.

Here are some photos Haiti Outreach provided to show us the transformation going on in Gabo right now.

This young woman is filling her water bucket for the long trek back home. 

A community meeting in Gabo to prepare for a well. 

                       Learning to lead with authority, responsibility, accountability and transparency
                         requires serious education with Haiti Outreach staff animators and teachers.

DEATH OF DUVALIER

I have selected some of the news coverage on the death of Jean-Claude Duvalier.  His death is an event that highlights profound issues for Haiti and for its relation to the US.

Haiti Libre coverage

Obituary, New York Times

Obituary, The Guardian

Analysis, Amy Walentz, an author and expert on Haiti

Analysis of Baby Doc's return to Haiti, Haiti Libre

Comments by Laurent Dubois, author of Haiti: The Aftershocks of History.  If you only read one comment, this is the one to read.  Dubois book is an excellent source of information about Haiti for Americans.

--kjl

ANOTHER BLESSED SUCCESS!!

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!  An amazing expansion of partnership and commitment to work with people in rural Haiti to help with their community development and transformation occurred September 14!!  Well over 100 people gathered at the SOHO Kitchen and Bar in Cleveland to raise funds for a community-managed well in the village of Gabo.  (This link will take you to a post about Gabo.)

The amount raised was double the 2013 campaign and will provide the entire $15,000 needed for construction of a well for the village.

Members and friends of Forest Hill Church, friends of friends and visitors from out of town were .   Everyone had a great time meeting people, making new connections and hearing some details about Haiti Outreach, whose staff of Haitian community "animators" and construction work every day to deliver community organization and management for operation new sources of clean, safe water to very thirsty people.  Just think: We build community here while raising resources for the capital costs of a new well while our partners at Haiti Outreach build community while putting those resources to work bringing health and saving lives in Haiti.  There is rejoicing and thanksgiving at both ends of this transaction!  

Here is some evidence.

Sharing doggy care information

Selling a painting contributed by Matt Smith

Four quilts were sold, one for $1,100! 

Blown glass vase contributed by Mark Sudduth

The total sale amount of contributed art was matched by an anonymous donor!

Neil Van Dine, Director Generale of Haiti Outreach in Pignon, described for us how the well inauguration ceremony is done. 

Here is Dale Snyder, Executive Director of Haiti Outreach, describing a successful well operation in La Fontan and the difference a community managed well makes.

According to a report received on September 15, the well digging has started and the management training is going forward.  Inauguration of the well in Gabo will be set soon for a date in October or November.  People from here are invited to travel to Haiti Outreach in Pignon, Haiti to attend that inauguration celebration.  That event will be announced at Forest Hill Church and on this blog when the details are decided.  Anyone who would like more information about making that trip should contact one of the following persons: Jeff Smith, Deanne Lentz or Kermit Lind.

To all who participated in this amazing gathering of resources, THANK YOU.

To anyone who would like to join this mission program, WELCOME.

--kjl

A WORD FROM DALE SNYDER TO FOREST HILL CHURCH

Dale Snyder is Executive Director of Haiti Outreach.  He recently spent a few hours in Cleveland with Deanne Lentz, Jeff and Ann Smith, and Kermit Lind.  Dale told us about how he got involved with Haiti Outreach and we told him about how the Forest Hill Church Haiti mission has developed.

At the end of our visit, Dale made a statement intended for the Forest Hill Church community about its fundraising event for a well in Gabo, Haiti.  Here it is.

A Word From Dale Snyder

Here is a video of Dale telling the story of the well managed by the community of La Fontan and the difference access to clean, safe water is making. 

La Fontan Community Well Video

WHERE IS GABO AND WHAT IS GOING ON THERE?

The little village of Gabo, Haiti is not an easy place to find on a map.  First, it helps to know something about how Haiti is organized. 

The Republic of Haiti is divided administratively into ten departments. The departments are further divided into 42 arrondissements, and 140 communes.    In the Arrondissement of Hinche, look for the Commune and Municipality of Maissade. 
(This link will help.) (Here is a map with Maissade located.)

The Commune of Maissade is divided into three administrative districts, one of which in the northern area is called Hatty.   (Here is what I could find about Hatty.)  Notice that there is not much reported about this very remote, rural spot on the globe.  The village of Gabo is located in the District of Hatty.

According to the census taken by its newly formed well management committee, Gabo is a village of 241 persons in 40 households.  Water source(s) are miles away and not safe for human use.  Most households have latrines, although they may or may not be sanitary.  

Taking a census is an exceptional event in any part of Haiti.  It is one of the very first community development tasks that Haiti Outreach trains the local well management committee to do.  It is not only a matter of counting all the people; it is also a way for the the committee members to establish themselves as responsible and accountable community leaders of the entire project.  

Here are some photos Haiti Outreach provided to show us the transformation going on in Gabo right now.

This young woman is filling her water bucket for the long trek back home.

A community meeting about the community managed well.

 Learning to lead with authority, responsibility, accountability and transparency 

requires serious education with Haiti Outreach staff organizers and teachers.

You are invited to participate in this partnership with the residents of Gabo.  

• Attend the fundraising event on Sept. 14 at SOHO.  Click on this link for your invitation.

• Make a donation to the Gabo community managed well project payable to Forest Hill Church - Haiti well project at Forest Hill Church, 3031 Monticello Blvd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118.

• Learn more about the sustainable development mission of Haiti Outreach and its Adopt-A-Well program from this website.

--Kermit Lind

HOW HAITI OUTREACH BUILDS COMMUNITY WITH WELLS

The Adopt-a-Well Program

Haiti Outreach Community Well at La Fontan

Haiti Outreach operates a new program that should interest many individuals, churches, and schools, along with Rotary Clubs and other civic groups and foundations: The Adopt-a-Well Program!  In its 17 year history of community development, Haiti Outreach has earned a reputation of excellence as an organization that works with Haitian communities to build sustainable facilities for transforming life.  

The Forest Hill Church Haiti Mission has committed to raising funds to sponsor a well for the little village of Gabo in the Central Plateau region of the country.  The community there has asked Haiti Outreach for a well, with the blessings of the municipal mayor and the national clean water authority.  And at the same time, village's leaders have made a commitment to develop their capacity to manage the well permanently with their own personnel and resources.

In this program, the sponsor raises the money for a specific community managed well in rural Haiti. Each community has a name, population, and its own story about where and how far people have to go to get contaminated water that they bring home daily for their families to use.  In order to receive its well, each community must have its own organization responsible for permanently managing its well and the distribution of clean water.  

This newer method of developing a local community well management group to take responsibility, be accountable to the whole community, and do their work in a transparent way is transforming life in rural Haiti.  The success rate for clean water wells in operation steadily over more than five years has dramatically increased from about 50% to more than 90%.  That translates into better health and fewer deaths from contaminated water.  It leads the way to better sanitation and living standards.

Once the funds are raised and donated to Haiti Outreach, their staff begins the process of engaging the people of that community and training a volunteer water management committee. When they have been sufficiently trained, the well will be developed on community owned land and completed with a ceremonial inauguration. While that process is underway, the sponsors can be informed as to the progress of the well management training and drilling.

Haiti Outreach produces 50 community managed wells a year. That impacts 18,000 – 20,000 people every year.   But in order to do this,  need to raise the money to maximize our capacity.  Each well costs $15,000, so that is the sponsor’s goal. Of course, if the sponsoring group could raise funds for more than one well, that would be great! If the sponsor can only raise half that much, another group is recruited to add funds in order to reach the goal.

If some members of the sponsoring group wanted to travel to Haiti during this process to visit the community, or to attend the well inauguration, Haiti Outreach will do its best to facilitate that as part of a trip to see Haiti and other community development projects of Haiti Outreach.

Here is a very specific and concrete way YOU can make the difference in the lives of hundreds of people in one of the poorest countries in the world, not only for today, but for years to come as they maintain their well. Become a sponsor and literally save lives with clean water and sanitation education.

For more news and information about Haiti Outreach click on this link.  For a video telling this story click on this link.

NGO'S AND HAITI'S GOVERNMENT: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO HELP HAITI'S PEOPLE?

Since the Haiti earthquake of 2010, attention has been focused on the miserable records of both the international community of NGOs and the government of Haiti to effectively deliver relief and reconstruction to the people directly and indirectly hurt by catastrophes.  Actually, that problem preceded the earthquake and has dogged Haiti for most of its history as a nation.

Now comes an article in Foreign Policy by Clare Lockhart and Johanna Mendelson Foreman suggesting an approach to better cooperation between NGOs and the Haitian government.  They prescribe dialogue.  Rick Cohen, an editor for the Nonprofit Quarterly responds with doubt about the possibility of successful dialogue.  Both of these articles are linked here below.

I urge my friends reading this blog to take a look at these two articles.  I have attempted in my blogging to distinguish between help and development that is toxic and hurtful, on the one hand, and the work of building community-based capacity in Haiti that can receive and sustain our well-intended aid to the Haitian people on the other hand.  In doing so, I have observed and pointed to the mission and methods of Haiti Outreach as an example of how to do things better.  

The Haiti Outreach difference is that it finds ways to work with local communities to develop the capacity of the intended beneficiaries of capital resources to maintain clean and life-giving water systems. They partner with local and national officials to establish community-based authority.  They make sure all who have responsibilities carry out those responsibilities with integrity and transparency.  That includes Haiti Outreach, whose financial records, for instance, are published right on their website.  Their program staff is virtually all Haitian.

So with those kinds of principles in mind, take a look at these two articles below.  They aren't that long or difficult.  See what you think about how we in the NGO world might act to be more effective in Haiti.

"Four years after a devastating earthquake, Haiti remains a mess. It's time to bring Haitians from all walks of life into a national conversation about the country's future." 

Why Haiti Needs a National Dialogue

"Given the challenges that Lockhart and Forman detail in the article, a Haitian national discussion seems well intentioned but difficult to imagine getting very far." 

  A Prescription for Haiti’s NGO-Related Problems: Heal Thyself