HR President Isson Joseph arrived in Haiti again on July 13th to begin on the first step of our project, which is to clean and excavate the land. The land itself is beautiful and the surveyor told us many good things about it. Water will be easy to get to through wells but the land is not swampy. The soil is very fertile and we should have no problem growing about anything we’d like on it, so we are excited for the agricultural aspects of the project. He told us it is just a very “prime piece of land”. However, right now it is covered with huge thorn bushes and not much else.
It is imperative that we clean and secure the land (with a wall) as soon as possible to avoid any possibility of having the Haitian government seize our property. Right now the govt is trying to relocate many of the displaced people who are living in dangerous and overcrowded tent cities in Port au Prince to other more rural areas. We are working hard to make sure that our land stays safe and in our possession!
The project of cleaning the land is no easy undertaking. Isson, Harry Mardy (who will direct the orphanage run by Bel Haiti in the village), and our coordinators have worked very hard to organize and begin the project. We have hired 45 Haitians to help complete the project. The majority of these workers are parents of our Haitian Roots children. They are so grateful to have a job, even if it is a very difficult one! Their first payday was last Friday (they are paid weekly) and Isson said that they were very happy and proud to receive their envelopes of money that they had worked so hard for. The unemployment rate in Haiti before the earthquake was 80% and is much higher now, so our workers are grateful for the job and we are grateful for them! Some of them just stay out on the land under a tent at night to save money from taking tap-taps back and forth to home. The heat is extreme and the rain continues to fall nearly every night, but they are working hard and we are so appreciative!
We have raised the funds necessary to start this project but are only about 2/3 of the way towards the estimated cost of $42,000 for the project. Please consider donating to help us complete this stage of the project! THANK YOU!
A shelter and latrine were the first things that needed to be built before the project could be underway.
The thorn bushes on the land are brutal but in under a week’s time, they cleared nearly 3/4 of one hectare. Good job guys!
Workers are ready for some lunch.
The female workers cook lunch under a tree. Generous donors have made it possible for us to feed our workers at least one meal a day…for now…