Our Mission.

Our mission in Haiti is to create a sustainable future for displaced and orphaned children in the country’s rural areas. Free The Children is working in partnership with communities in Haiti to create new opportunities for education by building schools and implementing other programs that empower the community. We work to support decentralization, alleviate poverty and contribute to the development of rural areas. Ultimately, we want to bring to life all four pillars of Adopt a Village (education, clean water and sanitation, health care and alternative income) in Haiti.

Where we're Working.

Free The Children's efforts have concentrated on long-term community development and re-building in rural Haiti. Our region of focus is the Central Plateau (Department du Centre), which is considered to be the least developed part of the country. Free The Children’s development projects are located in the communities of Terre Cassée, Dos Palais, Manac and Layeye.

Emergency Response Efforts.

When the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck on January 12th 2010, Free The Children responded immediately. A small delegation, lead by Craig Kielburger, travelled to Haiti to deliver supplies and assist with early response efforts.

Free The Children’s emergency relief efforts were focused on protecting children and supporting the population of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Thanks to the support of our donors and volunteers, we were able to:

• Provide funding to Partners in Health for medical relief
• Support the compilation of IDP lists for the mayoral offices of the Central Plateau
• Provide in-kind donations such as medical supplies for victims of the earthquake and the ensuing outbreak of cholera

Long-term Response Efforts.

The people of Haiti can free themselves from the cycle of poverty with commitment to sustainable, long-term development. That is why Free The Children is proud to have added Haiti as our seventh Adopt a Village country. We are currently implementing our holistic and sustainable Adopt a Village program in four communities, providing them with education, clean water, health, sanitation and alternative income programming.

Free The Children works to empower Haitians in their efforts to recover from the devastation of the earthquake and achieve lasting development. With the help of Free The Children, the people of our Adopt a Village communities have achieved many successes:

Education.

Free the Children has:

• Rehabilitated several classrooms in the community of Terre Cassée
• Built several new classrooms in the community of Dos Palais
• Distributed thousands of school kits and classroom supplies
• Refurnished classrooms with hundreds of desks, shelves and cabinets
• Constructed a playground and painted a mural at Terre Cassée
• Engaged communities through self-expression projects, home visits with displaced and handicapped people and sponsorship of a community radio station

Health.

Free the Children has:

• Delivered life-saving medical supplies for victims of the earthquake
• Built a school kitchen in Dos Palais

Water.

Free the Children has:

• Invested in a water piping project that will benefit 20,000 people
• Built and maintained a water catchment system in Terre Cassée
• Constructed latrines in Dos Palais
• Dug a well in Dos Palais
• Provided clean drinking cooking water for students each day

Free The Children's Future Projects in Haiti.

We are very excited to break ground in Manac and Layeye in the near future. But we cannot do it alone. To succeed in Haiti, we need the continued support of people like you. You can help us by holding fundraisers and awareness raisers in support of the Adopt a Village program.

Over the next 24 months, we plan to implement the following programs in the Dos Palais, Terre Cassée, Layaye and Manac communities:

• Provide additional classrooms to complete the Dos Palais educational complex
• Provide each community with a school kitchen, cafeteria and library
• Build a playground in each community
• Build four new classrooms in Terre Cassée as the student population has increased
• Build new classrooms in Manac
• Secure the premises of all schools with fencing, appropriate security and drainage features
• Rehabilitate and repurpose the original old school structure in Manac
• Install a clean water system in the new communities of Layeye and Manac
• Provide ventilated latrines and hand-washing stations for all communities that don’t have them yet (Terre Cassée , Layeye and Manac)
• Establish nutritious lunch programs and school gardens at all schools
• Institute an economic development program, including micro-enterprise development for women and their families