Haiti

Concern has been working in Haiti since 1994, focusing on improving the health of those in need, preventing violence in the slums and fighting HIV and AIDS.

Haiti’s multiple vulnerabilities hit home last year. Food riots in April followed by months of political instability, topped off with four hurricanes in the space of three weeks in August/September 2008. The National Food Security commission reported 206,607 people at risk of serious food insecurity by the end of last year.

Concern provided-post hurricane relief to 1,269 families and helped more than 8,000 others restore their ability to produce food with cash-for-work opportunities. We continue to distribute seeds, tools and livestock to affected communities.

Education

Concern provided health and hygiene training for 1,271 teachers, parents and members of management committees in 120 schools. A total of 331 teachers and school directors received training on children’s rights, lesson planning, French written and oral comprehension and Creole. This will enable them to obtain state certification.  

Maternal and child health

Our maternal and infant health programme was improved with the addition of a nutrition element. This project now has an integrated outpatient treatment service for severely malnourished children. The new approach has received a lot of interest and support both at community and national level. 

Peace building

Our peace-building project in poor neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince has trained more than 300 local people in dialogue and conflict management. This work has already shown positive results. During the food riots which swept the country in April 2008, the St Martin area of the capital remained without looting and demonstrations.

Concern’s HIV and AIDS work informed the new national HIV and AIDS strategy, which includes councillors in health centres. To overcome discrimination against HIV-positive people we developed an awareness raising model used by our health personnel. This has also been taken up by the public medical training university and nurse and midwife training schools

Working with communities in Haiti

Michael Londra is an Irish singer who performs around the world and now lives in New York. With the help of Concern’s American office, Michael went to Haiti to see some of the work being done there. This is a video of his experiences.