by Brian on April 19, 2010
Hi all – things in Fondwa are moving slowly.
APF partnered with the World Food Program to distribute food to more than 2,000 beneficiaries.
Tents arrived in Fondwa – both from donors and also President of UNIF Riche Zamor who visited Fondwa this past week. UNIF finished off the first semester 2 weeks ago. UNIF opened on March 10 for 3 weeks to finish two weeks of class and one week of exams. The majority of the students returned and stayed the three weeks in Fondwa, but fewer professors returned to teach courses. Nevertheless, some classes were still held and some professors still gave exams while others just awarded students the grade they had prior to the quake. All the students have returned to their homes and a couple students have found work with international organizations, including with Tearfund who is working in Fondwa.
Water filters from Safe Water were also distributed to students in the University of Fondwa.
Also, Gito, an agronomy technician for APF passed away last Wednesday as a result of a stomach problem. The community held several days of prayer that ended this past Sunday.
APF has placed its temporary office in the Solidarity House at Miso.
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by Brian on March 23, 2010
My apologies for taking such a large break from this blog.
Fondwa is starting to progress. The School of St. Antoine and the Univeristy of Fondwa have opened their doors again, but it is still a huge struggle. 75% of the UNIF students returned on March 15 to finish the three remaining weeks of their first semester. Some professors taught their courses, but there is a shortage of professors as some have left the country and others have found other jobs with international relief organizations. However, the students are dedicated and are staying in Fondwa until they have finished their final exams. As previously noted, CARE had donated 4 tents for the students to sleep in. Unfortunately, the tents are not waterproof and this will soon become a huge problem. However, thanks to donations from friends back home, we were able to purchase waterproof tents to house the students.
Safe Water Today donated 30 water filters. A good friend who is visiting, Meredith Pierce, and I trained the UNIF students to use the filters and will train others to also use the filters. We will be buying two buckets in the Wed market tomorrow to give each recipient. We will be tracking the usage of the filters to evaluate the success of filters in rural Haiti. The students are an integral piece in this project.
We hope to receive 100 solar lamps from Biogreen within the next two weeks. Shipping has been slow…as is expected.
The Radio is being set up! AMARC has been visiting to set up Radyo Zetwal Peyizan Fondwa. They came with all equipment and are setting it up with Radio personnel Enel and Francy in a temporary shelter. We are still looking into the possibility of purchasing ship containers to protect the equipment, as well as house other activities, as hurricane season will come.
Fondwa has set up a Cash-for-Work program that employs 50 daily labors to clean up the damage from the University, university dorms, and APF Guest Center. With two teams of 25, they have almost finished clearing the land.
Other projects in Fondwa are a temporary shelter project which includes the construction of plywood structures. This is serving as a temporary Guest House for visitors.
Tearfund, a Christian UK NGO, is setting up a base in Fondwa. Tearfund has committed to working in Fondwa for the next five years…both in the zones near APF as well as further areas such as Citronnier. They are looking to set up an office close to the APF site and have talked about working closely with APF.
Save the Children has a mobile clinic in the Citronnier zone and are also working with Foundation Feuilles d’Hier to finally set up the Child Friendly Space.
APF is also working on a seed and agricultural tool project. As the planting season approaches, it is now more important than ever that Fondwans receive the resources they need to grow food. Many, many marmites of beans have been purchased and distributed to the farmers.
APF also has established a partnership with the World Food Program and will be distributing TBA. This is a huge step up in rural attention during the quake.
However, as rainy season begins, there is a great possibility that the road to Jacmel from Port-au-Prince will become impassable. This will also block of FOndwa. The quake caused many points of the hillside hugging the road to Jacmel to fall and the hills are now partially in the road. When the rains fall, this could very well cause more landslides and block the roads to Jacmel off. This is going to create a huge problem for Fondwa, an area that was hardly a recepient to aid pre-rainy season. The base that Tearfund sets up will help in this regard and Save the Children is working to make the mobile clinic more permanent and to pre-stock it with medications, supplies, and human resources so that these areas are not left empty handed within the next few months.
Although activities are happening, the pain is still as pungent as ever. As the adrenaline from the earthquake fades, the perpetual pain still stings. The earthquake has exacerbated the pain that normally exists in Fondwa and reminds us that their “normal” lives were never “normal” or acceptable at all.
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