Our program in Haiti | Development and Peace

Our program in Haiti

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Our program

Development and Peace has been active in Haiti for nearly 45 years. Following the violent earthquake that struck the island on January 12, 2010, the organization put in place a major five-year reconstruction program, the largest ever implemented by Development and Peace in a single country, covering humanitarian aid as well as the reconstruction of infrastructure, food, reinforcing citizen participation and democracy, equality between women and men, and more broadly, the defense of human rights.

République Démocratique du Congo citation

“Our Haitian chickens are cheaper than those from elsewhere. Merchants are able to make more profits, which allows them to send their children to school... It’s a win-win situation for everyone, and our spending power increases.”

Adonis Medjine, inspector, Bon Poul S.A.

 

The final component of the reconstruction program is a social and solidarity economy program that is currently being put in place. It completes the work of Development and Peace with its local partners in the areas of economic and social development as well as food sovereignty.

 

The issues we work on to build justice:

“Democracy

Democracy
and citizen participation

“Peace

Peace

“Equality

Equality between
women and men

“Food

Ecological Justice

“Food

Food

“Natural

Natural resources

 

The situation

Haiti is a Caribbean country that is regularly struck by natural disasters (earthquakes, typhoons, etc.) and is subject to political instability. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 168th on a list of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI).

Despite considerable agricultural potential, the country currently imports 60 percent of its food, and the Haitian economy is heavily dependent on international aid. Needs vary from one region to another and issues affecting communities are diverse, ranging from agriculture, mining, women's rights, and youth unemployment, to name only a few.

République Démocratique du Congo map

Departments where social and solidarity enterprises were put in place with the support of Development and Peace

1. Artibonite
2. Northeast
3. West
4. Southeast
5. Nippes
6. Grand'Anse

 

 

 

Following the violent earthquake that struck the island on January 12, 2010, Development and Peace collected more than $20 million thanks to the generosity of Canadians.

 

News
September 8, 2021

Bruised but unbowed by a major earthquake, hardy Haitians are rebuilding their lives with our partners’ help and with your solidarity.

August 16, 2021

Reeling from the devastation caused by a powerful earthquake and bracing for weather that could worsen their situation, thousands in Haiti need another surge of solidarity from Canadians.

January 22, 2020

The Development and Peace approach, based on trust, dignity of the person and mutual respect with its local partners, differs from that of many large organizations. We rely on local partners and work with affected communities to implement community development projects that are now bearing fruit.

January 10, 2020

On January 12th, 2010, Haiti was truck by a deadly earthquake that caused grave losses. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, and as many...

Calling for a civil society-led transition to good governance in Haiti
October 18, 2019

The Creole slogan, M’anvi viv tankou moun (I would like to live like a human being), on a young man’s t-shirt summarized...

March 5, 2019

Once a charred brown, the palm lined hills that surround the colonial town of Cavaillon, have, two years after Hurricane Matthew, regained their...

February 22, 2019

For almost two weeks now, the Haitian people have been in the streets of Port-au-Prince, expressing their anger at the government, which they accuse of being corrupt and of, among other things, misappropriating millions...

PROCLIMA Project launched in Haiti
November 9, 2018

On Wednesday, November 7, 2018, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada and its Haitian partner the Institute of Technology and Animation (ITECA)...

Earthquake in Haiti 2018
October 17, 2018

The 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Haiti on Saturday, October 6th, resulted in 17 fatalities, 350 people injured, and many...

Our partners prepare for Hurricane Irma in Haiti
September 7, 2017

Hurricane Irma has already been deemed one of the strongest storms to ever hit the Caribbean. The category 5 storm, which has winds reaching speeds of 295 km/hr, is set to make landfall in Haiti on Thursday evening. 

Joanne Moïse, women’s peasant organization OFTAG - Haiti
December 27, 2016

Joanne Moïse, 28, is a member of the women’s peasant organization OFTAG, which is supported by Development and Peace. As a member of OFTAG, Joanne received training to be a women leader in emergency situations.

December 22, 2016

Women peasants in Haiti are crucial for ensuring the country does not go hungry. Their work contributes to feeding their families and communities.

damage caused by Hurricane Matthew
November 18, 2016

Last week, Canada’s Minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau stepped off a plane in Haiti to assess damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.

November 16, 2016

The church in the parish of St. Joseph Torbeck sits without a roof, completely exposed to the sky above. Inside, it is a hollow shell, all the benches removed to dry in the sun and remnants of the walls piled on the wet floor.

November 8, 2016

Coming over the mountains into the isolated department of Grand’Anse in the southwestern part of Haiti, shocking scenes of desolation and devastation take over the landscape.

Food security major concern in Haiti reconstruction
October 21, 2016

More than two weeks after the passage of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, the damage is still being assessed. Access to the most affected departments of Grande-Anse and Sud remains difficult because of blocked or flooded roads.

October 12, 2016

In the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, several of Development and Peace – Caritas Canada’s partners have reported that preventative measures learned from past disasters helped saved lives.

October 7, 2016

October 7, 2016 - The magnitude of the natural disaster that has struck the island of Haiti is increasing by the hour, but we already know that we are facing a major crisis.

October 4, 2016

Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful storm to hit Haiti in a decade, is currently ravaging the tiny island nation.

March 10, 2015

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the nation received a massive influx of humanitarian assistance. However, assistance was not always allocated in such a way as to respect human rights. In some cases, it was distributed in poor conditions, where people had to line up for hours to receive food assistance, or without taking into account the real needs of communities.

February 7, 2014

More than four years after the violent earthquake that struck Haiti and left an indelible mark on the collective memory of all Haitians, Development and Peace hosted an event in Haiti today to celebrate the completion of its housing reconstruction project in Ti-Boucan (Gressier).

January 10, 2014

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the earthquake that struck Haiti, there are neither particular preparations nor special expectations in the streets of Port-au-Prince. There are no plans on the part of civil society, and there are only rumours that the government will organize something to commemorate this sad event.

January 10, 2014

No need to be in Haiti itself to realize that the world of reconstruction of this country is both disparate and complex, and to see the variety of initiatives that have burst on the scene there.

April 18, 2013

Since the earthquake of January 12, 2010, Development and Peace has been supporting a number of reconstruction projects put forward by various Haitian civil society partners.

April 18, 2013

April 17th marked International Day of Peasant Struggles. This day was launched in Eldorado dos Carajas, Brazil, in 1996, after the assassination of 19 peasants who were members of Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST), a Development and Peace partner.

March 27, 2013

On the occasion of the Good Friday Fast, a number of people are preparing to raise funds in solidarity with Development and Peace so as to support our partners in Africa, Asia, Latin American and the Middle East. Hundreds of Canadians from all across the nation will be taking part. Fasting represents a symbolic choice in favour of solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and the hungry, and provides a time-out to concentrate on what really matters.

February 12, 2013
“I’m a mother of three children and I work five days a week. I’ll sometimes come to the construction site on weekends too because, three years after the earthquake, what matters most to me is the reconstruction of my country,” says Ismène Elismar Garçonnet, one of the chief engineers tasked with producing houses in Ti-Boucan.
February 12, 2013

The Year of Faith, declared by Pope Benedict is a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world” (Porta fidei 6). Throughout the Year of Faith, Catholics are being urged to study and reflect on the documents of Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.
 

February 12, 2013

A crowd of nearly 300 people gathered in Ti-Boucan on February 5, 2013 for the inauguration ceremony in honour of our house-construction project.

February 5, 2013

Mr. Franklin Montina is the Justice of the Peace responsible for the commune of Gressier. In the Haitian judicial system, the justice of the peace is responsible for a variety of issues having to do with civil, criminal, commercial and correctional or criminal law. Thus, he receives the deliberations of family councils and accusations of misdemeanours or crimes within his jurisdiction, but he is also responsible for ascertaining that families are actually the owners of the land on which they build their houses.

Raphaël Sene, Foreman of Door and Window Production
February 5, 2013

Development and Peace’s housing project in Haiti would not be possible without the residents of Ti-Boucan, the workers and craftsmen in the factory that was set up to create the materials, and the Institut de technologie et d’animation communautaire (ITECA). And after several months of non-stop work, the first houses are springing up from the ground!

February 5, 2013

Three years after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, Development and Peace is today inaugurating the first 50 houses of its 400-house construction project in Ti-Boucan (in the municipality of Gressier) in the presence of Haitian and Canadian officials, religious authorities and the media.

February 4, 2013

Madame Yvonne Delcamize Simon is a 62-year-old widow who has lived her entire life in Ti-Boucan. Her father left his house to her and she lived in it until the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

February 4, 2013

Micheline and her husband Jean-Philippe, AKA Frantzé, are going to live with their 12-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son in their brand new house. They will receive the keys to their new house next Tuesday at the project's official inauguration.

January 14, 2013

Interview with Jean-Claude Jean, manager of the Development and Peace office in Haiti. He is responsible for overseeing the reconstruction program and monitoring projects.

Three years after the earthquake, what is the situation in Haiti? Can we consider that the emergency is definitively behind us?

If we look around today, we can see that things have changed in Haiti, especially in Port-au-Prince, even if it is as simple as the absence in the streets of the tons of rubble and debris left behind by the earthquake.

January 11, 2013

Haiti is commemorating the third anniversary of the devastating earthquake that wreaked havoc on the island on January 12, 2010. Already present...

May 9, 2012

The Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI) is hosting a Forum on Haiti on May 9th and 10th to discuss the work of the various organizations from Quebec and Canada that are working on post-earthquake reconstructio

January 24, 2012

A Development and Peace project will soon result in new permanent houses for 450 to 475 earthquake-affected families in Haiti...

January 18, 2012

In their mission report, the president and vice president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) note that, “Development and Peace has earned a reputation in Haiti for its sense of partnership, respect for the capacity of the local community, and insistence on a sustainable, long-term approach to projects.”

January 12, 2012

In December 2011, a joint CCCB-Development and Peace delegation travelled to Haiti to visit some of the reconstruction projects supported by Development and Peace. They met with...

January 12, 2012

It has been two years since Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake that sent this already impoverished nation into a state of emergency ...

December 20, 2011

"It's not the earthquake that is the root cause of all these damages and all this loss of life. The real cause is rather in our way of living and the way we inhabit this piece of land." That is what the Haitian National Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace said in a recent paper entitled "Should Haiti Be Left to Die?"

December 19, 2011

On the porch of the Fanm Deside house in Jacmel, Medjine Adonis, whom we met yesterday, was awaiting the return of the members of the delegation from their day of field visits in the countryside. Speaking to the Most Reverend Richard Smith, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, this woman who has been living in a tent in a camp since January 12, 2010, said: “Your Excellency, pray for us.” And the Archbishop of Edmonton replied, "And you, madam, pray for us!"

December 18, 2011

"I've been living in tents since January 12, 2010," says Medjine Adonis. "Fortunately, Fanm Deside is there to help us." Services are rudimentary in these makeshift camps. These little canvas houses don't have a door. Consequence: constant insecurity. Theft and rape are commonplace. And there are injured women who have been victims of sexual violence coming to Fanm Deside in Jacmel every day.

December 17, 2011

Today we're in Duval, a remote village an hour from the capital. There are 34 houses here that were built with subsidies from Caritas. The house of Marie-Rose Kébreau is sandwiched between two buildings. To the right is what remains of the house she occupied before the 2010 earthquake. On the left is the makeshift temporary house she built out of sheet metal and wood.

December 17, 2011

Up into the mountains today just outside of Port-au-Prince. The goal was to visit some of the projects of the Port-au-Prince bureau of Caritas Haiti which are supported by Development and Peace. We spent hours on steep and unbelievably rough mountain roads, largely washed away by the deluges of the rainy seasons. (Someone remind me NEVER AGAIN to complain about the quality of Edmonton streets!)

December 16, 2011

The place where Father Miguel Jean Baptiste asks us to meet him doesn't exactly inspire complete confidence. There can be no doubt that this building was heavily damaged during the earthquake of January 12, 2010. From the street, we can see that the roof on the right side has been twisted and that there are stones missing.

December 15, 2011

"It was no good living on the street with young children," says the young father we meet in the model village initiated by Mouvman Peyizan Papay (Papaye Peasants' Movement), a longstanding partner of Development and Peace.

December 15, 2011

We returned this morning from Hinch to Port-au-Prince. Words simply cannot describe the squalor in which thousands upon thousands are striving to live in this city. Yet words are even more inadequate in the face of the interior devastation wreaked upon thousands of children who are referred to as the "restavek". This is creole for the French "reste avec" (stay with). It refers to the terrible reality of what amounts to human trafficking. Families in the city "acquire", through intermediaries, children of the country to do domestic work in their homes.

December 14, 2011

Walgens Pierre Jean and Patrick Lafontant, two young Haitian painters, have good reason to be  proud. Their works, large paintings on the theme of reconstruction, are currently on display at the Musée du Pantheon National Museum in Port-au-Prince.

December 13, 2011

We had the first meeting of the members of this solidarity mission to Haiti in which leaders of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and Development and Peace will be participating (see December 7 Press Relea

December 7, 2011

The President and Vice-President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will be in Haiti from December 14th to the 21st, 2011 ...

November 14, 2011

When I visited the Mère Delia Institute in Haiti last year, this all-girls’ school run by the Sisters of Immaculate Conception didn’t actually exist. The school had collapsed during the 2010 earthquake ...

January 12, 2011

One year after the earthquake in Haiti, progress has been slow. However, Development and Peace and its local partners are finding hope in the many steps forward that have been achieved in helping the ...

January 6, 2011

Fritz Ner-Sérénien remembers how he almost saw his wife and daughter die on that fateful day in January when the earthquake struck.

January 6, 2011

Development and Peace is supporting a housing reconstruction project in Haiti. The project is community-driven and will result in permanent houses for 1400 people. Watch the video.

January 6, 2011

When Port-au-Prince was struck by a massive earthquake a year go, images of crumbled buildings filled television screens and newspapers. At the same time, however, hidden away in the mountains of Haiti an untold story was unfolding.

January 6, 2011

Watch a video of the story of peasant women in Haiti

January 6, 2011

It is just a few days before Hurricane Tomas could potentially storm through Haiti and further threaten the lives of Haitians, and radio host Francy Innocent is putting together radio messages explaining to people how best to prepare for this oncoming storm.

January 6, 2011

JACHA, a youth organization in Jacmel, has long been working to improve the future of Haiti by looking after two of the country's best resources: its youth and the environment.

January 6, 2011

The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, a religious order that was founded in Montreal by Délia Tétrault in 1902, has been striving to provide education to Haitian communities since the congregation arrived in the country in 1943.

January 6, 2011

When the earthquake of January 12th struck in Haiti, it spared no one from its destructive power. Many partner organizations of Development and Peace lost friends and family members, their homes, and even the offices out of which they pursue their work.

January 6, 2011

In the aftermath of the January 12th 2011 earthquake, even as religious communities faced their own losses and difficulties, they were immediately ready to get back to work to help those in need and Development and Peace wanted to stand in solidarity with them in their efforts.

January 6, 2011

Watch a slideshow of life in post-earthquake Haiti

November 8, 2010

Development and Peace has just announced its support for a cholera-prevention campaign in Haiti. The organization is sending $123,000 to Caritas ...

July 14, 2010

When a massive earthquake struck Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas on January 12th, Development and Peace immediately launched ...

July 2, 2010

Development and Peace has collected close to $20 million from Canadian donors to go towards ...

June 13, 2010

The Mouvement paysan Papaye (MPP), an association of small-scale farmers in Haiti that is supported by Development and Peace, organized ...

Resources
Report: Haiti 10 years after the earthquake

Report: Haiti 10 years after the earthquake

Ten years ago, on January 12, 2010, one of the worst natural disasters hit Haiti. A deadly earthquake struck the island, killing thousands of Haitians, leaving torn-down homes, collapsed buildings and uprooted trees in its wake. Beyond the destruction and injuries, the psychosocial impacts, too, were significant. In response to this exceptional situation, Development and Peace — Caritas Canada, which had been working with the most vulnerable communities in the country since 1972, expanded its scope to support survivors.

Brochure: The social solidarity economy in Haiti

The final part of Development and Peace’s reconstruction program in Haiti consists of putting in place a social solidarity economy program. This $3 million program is aimed at supporting the development of a dozen social enterprises involved in agriculture, poultry farming, textile production and handicrafts. The profits from these businesses will help fund the social programs offered by the organizations that launched them and help guarantee their financial autonomy.

Report: 5 years of action

The report Looking back on 5 years of action presents a summary of the reconstruction program put in place by Development and Peace in Haiti following the violent earthquake that hit the country on January 12th, 2010. It presents the humanitarian aid, human rights, reconstruction and food security activities that were carried out in collaboration with our local partners.

Videos

Social and Solidarity Economy in Haiti


 

Human Rights and Human Dignity at the heart of Haiti’s reconstruction


 

On the Road to Food Sovereignty

Poster

- Download Poster 8.5x11 jpg image
- Download Poster 8.5x11 pdf

Screening guide

- Download Screening Guide

Video

- Download "On the Road to Food Sovereignty" (180 Mb)

If you have trouble viewing the video, we highly recommend installing VLC media player.


 

A House For Life! Yon Kay Pou Lavi Fleri!

Pictures
Mission en Haïti (août 2015)