Our program in Haiti

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.

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...

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...

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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).

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.”

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

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!"

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.

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.

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.

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

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 ...

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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