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).

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.

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.

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.
 

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.

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.

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.”

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...

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!"

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!)

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 ...

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.

When the earthquake of January 12^th 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.

Watch a slideshow of life in post-earthquake Haiti

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.

Watch a video of the story of peasant women in Haiti

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 ...