The earthquake on January 12, 2010 killed 230,000, wounded 300,000 and rendered 1.2 million homeless.  Half the buildings in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and Leogane have been destroyed including 23 hospitals. This crisis is of epic proportions will take a sustained, long-term commitment to meet Haiti's needs.  For more than 25 years, FAVACA has worked in Haiti supporting over 350 training projects with 800 volunteer technical experts impacting 8,000 individuals. FAVACA is currently raising funds to help Haitians recover and rebuild after this tragic disaster. You can help by: 

• Donating to FAVACA by visiting www.favaca.org
• Signing up to volunteer
• Encouraging your friends to get involved, including through Facebook
• Hosting an event in your home or local community

FAVACA is responding to our partners' requests for training in structural assessment, shelter management, emergency telecommunications, logistics, disaster preparedness/mitigation, sanitation, nutrition, emergency response and post-trauma counseling. We have also provided funding for feeding centers in communities around Port-au-Prince. FAVACA is actively searching for Haitian Creole or French-speaking individuals to volunteers in these areas.

Made possible through a grant from Western Union, FAVACA will be hosting a Haitian Hometown Association Workshop to provide training to local Haitian organizations on fundraising, grant writing, business plan creation, and organizational strengthening. Veteran volunteers Terrie Temkin and Gail Meltzer of Core Strategies for Nonprofits will lead the workshop with the aim to help the Haitian diaspora’s efforts to improve conditions in Haiti.

The workshop will take place on Saturday, November 7^th at Broward College, 7200 Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines.Arrive early for the morning registration and network with the many organizations in attending.Coffee and pastries will be available at the registration beginning at 8:00 am. The workshop will be from 9:00am until 4:00pm and we are looking forward to seeing many of our old friends and making some new ones.

For more information please contact Angie Klouthis at angie@favaca.org or call 305.470.5035.

FIRE SAFETY IN HAITI

The Hotel Villa Creole was established in 1948 in Petion Ville, Haiti. The hotel employs 155 people to oversee 70 rooms. In the past, FAVACA has provided fire and rescue training to hotels in Port-au-Prince and Petion Ville but many of the employees who partook in the training have not used the training often or due to the high turnover rate in the hospitality sector, have not been trained in fire and rescue safety.

HISPANIOLA YOUTH LOG-ON TO NEW SKILLS

For the past several years, the Levi-Strauss Foundation and FAVACA have provided small grants and short-term technical assistance to build the capacity of local institutions who work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the free trade zone located on the border region of Ouanaminthe, Haiti and Dajabon, Dominican Republic.

In U.S., young Haitians mobilize to help their nation

Lawrence Gonzalez wants to invest his energy, sweat and time in Haiti. And he believes he has found just the way to do it: Create a corps of Haitian students in the United States to work on service projects in the Caribbean nation.

FAVACA VOLUNTEER BUILDS THE CAPACITY OF A HAITIAN NGO

The Institute of Interuniversity Research and Development [Institut Interuniversitaire de Recherche et Development] (INURED) was created to promote and institutionalize social research and post-graduate training in partnership with academic and non-academic institutions in Haiti and elsewhere.

TWO HAITIAN HOSPITALS RECEIVE ADVANCED LIFE-SUPPORT TRAINING

FAVACA in collaboration with the Haitian Resource and Development Foundation (HRDF), a nonprofit organization helping with the development of Haiti, and the International Medical Equipment Collaborative (IMEC), shipped a variety of emergency room medical equipment to the Hospital de L'Universite d'Etat d'Haiti, commonly known as the General Hospital located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

EVACUATION PLAN AND FIRE SAFETY FOCUS FOR CAP HAITIAN HOSPITAL

Servicing a large majority of the healthcare needs in the Northern part of Haiti, the Justinian Hospital in Cap Haitien, Haiti is a vital resource for providing much needed medical services for a large sector of the population.

FLORIDA NGO BROKERS SHORT-TERM AID

Julienne Gage, a freelance journalist and broadcast news producer based in Miami, published an article on the value FAVACA brings through short-term aid projects.

FUND HELP FOR CARIBBEAN

The year 1982 was a critical one for Florida. The economy had sagged as part of a national recession. As Florida continued to absorb the tens of thousands of Cuban refugees who had arrived from Mariel in 1980, new waves of refugees arrived on our shores to escape the political instability of a communist regime in Nicaragua and the poverty of Haiti. Many Floridians with skills, experience and, sometimes, roots in the Caribbean were eager to help.

FONKOZE PROVIDES FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING

FONKOZE, a microfinance institution in Haiti providing small loans to more than 55,000 women borrowers in rural Haiti, provided training on financial literacy at the Florida International University April 18, 2009 to 15 leaders of the Haitian diaspora in Miami.

HAITIAN HOSPITAL RECEIVES EMERGENCY ROOM EQUIPMENT

Over 2 million people live in the Port-au-Prince and Petion Ville area of Haiti and until recently there were no emergency rooms or ICU units to support any of the population living Haiti.

With Haiti still reeling from the effects of Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike an estimated 600 people have died and more than 70,100 others across the country are homeless. Hurricane Hannah slowly made its way across Haiti dumping down rain on an already saturated country causing damaging floods and dangerous mudslides. Roads are impassable, major towns are submerged by mud and effluence hampering access to many towns and rural areas.

Haiti has many committed Haitian professionals, parents and people working feverishly to assist their devastated country. FAVACA stays committed to its mission of strengthening their hand to do the best job they can. We continue to build capacity during times of crisis.

FAVACA Response

Training in First Responder and CPR assistance

• $20,000 in emergency room medical equipment
• Technical assistance in installing and training on the new medical equipment
• Three professionals volunteering in Emergency Medical Services at the hospital in Cap Haitien
• Volunteer management
• Trauma counseling for parents, teachers and professional relief workers
• Strategies for psycho-social assistance for children

How you can HELP 2 to 1 match!!

• We need to RAISE $25,000 to fill capacity gaps and build disaster resistant communities.
• Each dollar we raise, FAVACA matches it 2 to 1 with the State of Florida's generous support through FAVACA to provide technical support to our neighbors in the Caribbean.

FAVACA has been working with Haiti for over 25 years. In that time, we have been touched by thousands of Haitians and the generosity they have shown our volunteers and staff. Great friendships have been born through our partnerships and these friendships become lifelines during difficult times.

FAVACA urges all of those who have also been touched by Haiti to donate whatever they are able to give. Your donation through FAVACA's secure website will provide emergency technical assistance.

Donate Today!

FAVACA urges you to contribute to the relief efforts of Haiti today.  Click "Donate Today" and help alleviate the suffering of those caught in the effects of all the hurricanes that have swept over Haiti and that are in line to enter the Caribbean.

With Haiti still reeling from the effects of Hurricanes Fay and Gustave, where an estimated 150 people have died and countless others across the country are homeless, Hurricane Hannah slowly made its way across Haiti dumping down rain on an already saturated country causing damaging floods and dangerous mudslides.  Preliminary reports estimate 137 people have died due to Hurricane Hannah while the cities of Gonaives, Saint Marc, and Port-de-Paix are submerged.