Haven Announces Target to Raise €10m in Three Years for Haiti
Second Anniversary of Catastrophic Earthquake and over Half a Million People Still Living in Camps
Today is the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Haven will be launching the first ever Haiti Week in Ireland. Through this initiative Haven will be launching a fundraising programme to raise €10million euro in the next three years to fund the construction of a further 8,000 homes and community development programmes to help build sustainable communities throughout Haiti.
Haiti Week aims to bring the business, arts and music community together to raise awareness of Haiti and demonstrate the many links between Ireland and Haiti. It is the first initiative of its kind in Ireland and is bringing seven leading Irish charities who work in Haiti to the table.
According to Leslie Buckley, founder of Haven “It is vital that we focus on the continued reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Haven has already built over 2,000 homes for people who were displaced by the earthquake and we plan to build a further 8,000 by 2014. Today there are over half a million people still living in tents and under plastic sheeting in Port-au-Prince. While progress is being made, there are still scenes of devastation littered throughout the city.”
Anne Maguire, CEO of Haven, implemented Haven’s relief response in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. In her opinion “one of the most difficult obstacles the Haitians are facing is still the lack of basic infrastructure in Port-au-Prince. The open sewage system and conditions in the many Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps contributed significantly to the recent cholera outbreak that killed nearly 7,000 people.”
Despite the many obstacles and challenges facing Haiti, progress is being made. Over 50% of rubble has been removed from the streets which equates to 5 million cubic metres. One initiative that Haven has been pioneering is the construction of Gabion houses, a sustainable house building method, which uses the rubble left behind by the earthquake as the primary material. A number of families are currently living in these houses and Haven is hoping to develop the method for the construction of community buildings. According to Maguire “this is a sustainable practice that is teaching locals new skills and providing employment to the area. Currently we employ over 600 local people on our projects and we hope to increase that number in the coming year”.
Since the earthquake, Haven has brought over 1,000 volunteers to Haiti to assist with the construction of houses. “The experience for a volunteer is a once in a lifetime. Not only do they gain from it, they are sharing skills and experience with a local workforce in a win, win situation”, says Maguire. Haven is currently looking for 45 volunteers to spend a week this coming May in Haiti, working under a Haitian workforce, to assist with the build of 100 homes in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince.
About Haven
Haven was set up by Irish businessman, Leslie Buckley and his wife, Carmel Buckley, in January 2009. The NGO is working solely in Haiti, building houses and sustainable communities, while providing emergency relief in the wake of the earthquake which struck last January 2010, killing 230,000 people and leaving 1.5 million people homeless.
Examples of work to date:
- · Haven has to date built, repaired and upgraded over 2,000 homes in Haiti.
- · Over 1,300 latrines, 308 showers and 20 community shelters have been provided in IDP camps.
- · Over 3,000 local people have been trained in hygiene promotion, conflict resolution and vocational training to empower communities to pursue their livelihoods.
- · Haven has employed 600 local people in their projects.
- · More than 10,000 children in schools have been provided with clean water, sanitation facilities and hygiene training.
- · Over 1,000 volunteers have travelled with Haven to Haiti to assist on house building projects.
- · Haven is currently recruiting 45 volunteers to travel to Haiti in May for one week.
- · For more information see www.havenpartnership.com
