Recent Projects

Beekeeping in Haiti is a growing but still underutilized industry in Haiti. Beyond the immediate benefit of pollinating agricultural fields, beekeeping creates a cottage industry where beekeepers can sell honey and secondary bee products like candles and waxes adding much needed income. In a collaborative effort to increase the hive technology used by beekeeping associations across Haiti, FAVACA and Partners of the Americas identified hive construction material manufacturing as two areas that could greatly strengthen the capacity of local beekeepers.

Makouti Agro Enterprise, Southern Apiculture Society, Komin Akien Apiculture Association (AAKA), and the Pilate Beekeepers Cooperative were just a few of a variety of beekeeping organizations from the Northern and Southern Departments of Haiti that veteran FAVACA volunteer Sofie Geckler worked from May 23- June 6, 2010. Geckler taught the construction of Kenya Top Bar hives, which is less expensive to construct and easier to maintain than the Langstroth hives commonly found in the United States. Working closely with local carpenters to construct approximately eight hives Geckler was able to provide templates to ensure each wood piece is cut correctly. Beekeeping equipment in Haiti is only found in select areas of the country and is rather expensive, yet also very necessary to maintain healthy hives. Protective gloves and veils are especially important and the latter is in short supply in Haiti, so beekeepers and tailors were taught how to make gloves and veils with locally found materials. Thanks to Geckler's volunteer service, at least 40 beekeepers, carpenters, and tailors can construct Kenya Top Bar hives or protective veils.

COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES IMPROVED IN HAITI

Haiti was the subject of intense, international media interest in the days and weeks following the earthquake, and the Haitian Ministry of Culture and Communications fielded the vast majority of those inquiries, conducting as many as 40 interviews a day. Since that time, media focus on Haiti has slowed considerably. International media coverage now consists of periodic update stories, which are generally negative regarding the competence of the Haitian government, the level of recovery that has been made and the upcoming threat of rainy season. Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue, Haitian Minister of Haitian Culture and Communications, requested the assistance of FAVACA to provide a volunteer to teach her staff how to craft a strategic communication plan to improve the Ministry's effectiveness in sharing information internally with the people of Haiti and externally with the international media. FAVACA in collaboration with the US Embassy in Haiti was able to enlist Michelle Ubben, partner and chief operating officer of Ron Sachs Communications, one of the top independent public relations firms in Florida and one of the top 100 in the U.S., to volunteer her expertise in working with the Minister and her staff to craft a strategic communication plan. Ubben traveled to Haiti April 25-29, 2010. Despite remarkable challenges, including the need to operate the Ministry out of a series of tents on the perimeter of a tent community, the Ministry possesses a number of assets in their continued effort to inform Haitians and the international community on the progress being made toward recovery. Working with a small but motivated staff, Ubben was able to develop a more empowered, proactive communication strategy, which will help to reshape perceptions of the Haitian government's effectiveness in the recovery effort. Ubben suggested the Ministry share more success stories of progress made by both the government and nongovernmental organizations. Upon her return, Ubben composed a detailed strategic communications strategy elaborated with Ministry staff.

FILM CREW CAPTURES FAVACA'S WORK IN THE REGION

FAVACA in collaboration with Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts traveled to Haiti to investigate international development programs and the type of assistance that creates long-term positive outcomes and impact on the country. The Film School enjoys a high level of prestige and recognition that is unparalleled among its peers and has been recognized by members of the industry with honors and awards since its creation. Film producer Sabrina Reisinger de Angulo from Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts and students Patrick Gines and Hali Gardella traveled to Haiti April 25-May 1 to capture images and stories from past FAVACA partners to understand the benefits of long-term commitment to short-term technical assistance that FAVACA has provided for nearly thirty years. Past partners interviewed during their visit included: the Minister of Tourism, the head of the Bureau of Civil Protection, Village of Vision in Lamardelle, the Haitian Hotel Association who shared their inspirational stories of success and positive change that has occurred as a result of FAVACA's technical assistance. Upon their return to Tallahassee, the students created a short documentary and shared their film with other motion picture institutions throughout the nation.

ENGINEERS HELPING TO REOPEN UNIVERSITY IN HAITI

The State University of Haiti [Université d'Etat d'Haïti] (UEH) traces its origins to the 1820s with the establishment of the law school and the medical school. Since that time, the university has added a variety of other departments and institutions in Port-au-Prince and across the country. The January 12 earthquake damaged or destroyed much of the university's infrastructure forcibly closing the school and leaving students without an option for continuing their education. Seeing the need to create a sense of normalcy for students across the country, Jean-Vernet Henry, Director of UEH, contacted FAVACA to help reopen sections of the campus by having structural engineers assess some of the damaged buildings and to create plans and blueprints for a whole new campus. FAVACA, in collaboration with Florida International University's Department of Civil Engineering, Miami-Dade Public Schools and the Multicultural Educational Center provided first time volunteers Marie-Elsie Dowell, a Miami civil engineer and Vice-President of Parsons Brinckerhoff; Ronald Colas, a civil engineer from Pembroke Pines and the Principal and General Manager of Burns & McDonnell's Florida Office; and Terrence Lee, a structural engineer with Terrence Lee Consulting Structural Engineers in Santa Rosa, California, and a specialist with seismic strengthening and analyst, traveled to Port-au-Prince March 25-28, 2010. The team of engineers assessed and evaluated the existing buildings for structural damages. The engineers also evaluated a portion of land owned by UEH to house a new campus and temporary structures to allow for some departments to reopen. A comprehensive plan to create state of the art and environmentally friendly campus completed by April 12, 2010 and was submitted to funding agencies.

SIX PROVIDE TRAUMA CARE IN THE CENTRAL PLATEAU

Following the January 12^th earthquake in Haiti, Hosean International Ministries (HIM) opened their complex in Pignon to house, feed, and educate over 350 people seeking refuge from the disaster. While many of the initial needs for food and medical attention were being met, founder of HIM Caleb Lucien noticed that many of the refugees especially the youth were potentially suffering from post traumatic stress. In 2008, after four hurricanes devastated the town of Gonaives, Lucien requested FAVACA trauma counselors to work with Haitians who had lost so much. Seeing similar reactions in and around the camp, again Lucien contacted FAVACA which responded with two recovery teams of three Haitian-American trauma counselors. FAVACA volunteers Lory Servil, Deerfield Beach, Natacha Jean-Francois, Miami, and Hardy Nicoleau, Loxahatchee, traveled to Haiti February 21- March 1 and provided group therapy and individual counseling primarily to youth.

Building on work and needs identified by the first team of counselors, Nikcy Clervil of Jacksonville, Florida, Tania Delinois, Ft. Lauderdale, and Danielle Romer, Miami, traveled March 1- March 8 to reach additional youth and to provide children with additional counseling. Focus was given to coping mechanisms for trauma experienced during the earthquake and to help children cope with the loss of family and friends. The teams recommended that a full time counselor be assigned to the camp for ongoing sessions and to implement more activities such as sports, movies and crafts to occupy the children and reduce time focused on the negative experiences they witnessed. This project was funded in part by a generous donation from MoneyGram Internationa's Global Giving Initiative.

Long-time FAVACA partner and Haitian Minister of Tourism, Patrick Delatour, now head of the Haitian Commission Responsible for Shelter Building and Reconstruction Planning, requested assistance from FAVACA. Volunteer Jack Sullivan, an Orlando-based structural engineer, traveled to Port-au-Prince February 16-23, 2010, to work hand in hand with the Government of Haiti to assess damaged buildings. The analysis and cost assessment are in support of the United Nations' March 31^st donors forum in New York where the Haitian Government will request the necessary funds to rebuild the country.

REGISTERED NURSE AND TRAUMA COUNSELOR PROVIDES IMMEDIATE RELIEF Following the devastating January 12^th earthquake, veteran FAVACA volunteer Lory Servil, North Miami, provided her psychiatric nurse experience to benefit numerous domestic and international organizations providing care to the injured. Supporting the efforts of the United Nations, Relief International, Bread for the Poor, and the Children's Kingdom Orphanage, she spent two weeks providing urgent medical care for the critically wounded and assisting with infection control and the emotional comfort of patients. As a Haitian Creole speaker, Servil also helped assess damaged medical facilities with Relief International including the General Hospital, Hospital Saint Francois de Sales, and a dozen other hospitals and medical facilities. Servil traveled to Haiti January 17-February 1, 2010. This project was made possible due to donations from our generous supporters.

NUTRITIONAL STANDARDS IMPROVED IN HAITI

Since 1979, Village of Vision for Haiti Foundation (VVHF, a non-profit organization, has served the growing need for education and care of preschool and school-age children of working families at Lamardelle, a small Haitian city located near the Dominican Republic border. In collaboration with the Fondation Enfant Jesus (FEJ), they have served more than 450 disadvantaged children in this rural community through several orphanages, a community day care, a primary school, a youth development program, a water distribution project and a women’s micro-business program. To facilitate the development of children and to strengthen and support families, VVHF requested the assistance of FAVACA to help develop a nutritional education program. Sondra Cornett, a nutritional specialist with the Florida Department of Health, traveled to Haiti November 17-28, 2009 to assess the nutritional status of children living in the two orphanages and children attending the two elementary schools in the villages of Lamaradelle and Timache. Cornett was able to make recommendations in each facility based on the local food supply. The training provided included a comprehensive approach for improving the nutritional status of children directed toward infection prevention and reduction, environmental sanitation, immunization programs, early treatment of infections and the feeding of sick children, as well as maintaining good nutritional practices throughout the lives for both the children and the staffs of these facilities. Over fifty people were trained as a result of Cornett’s nutritional assessment and training program which will in turn help the over 450 children that VVHF provides services to in two communities.

 BEEKEEPING EXPANDED IN HAITI

In April 2007, FAVACA supported three beekeepers to travel to Plaisance de Sud, Haiti to train beekeepers in suitable beekeeping methods. Beekeepers were well served by implementing significant advances in hive maintenance technology currently used in Florida.  Veteran volunteer Bo Sterk, St. Augustine, returned to Haiti November 14-22, 2009 to provide a variety of trainings to the Regroupements des Jeunes Progressistes de Mathurin (REJEPMA) located in Plaisance de Sud in the Nippes Department.  Forty participants learned the integral aspects of bee colony and hive maintenance. Sterk provided training to create Kenya Top Bar Hives which allow beekeepers to increase production from the current 1 gallon to 5 per harvest.  Local beekeepers were placing hives in hallowed out logs not conducive for large scale production of honey as beekeepers were forced to destroy the hives at each harvest.   Top Bar hives not only allow for more honey production but also to combat Varo mite which has wreaked havoc on colonies both in Haiti and throughout the Western Hemisphere.  For over a year, Sterk dedicated his time and effort raising donations totaling $1,600 USD to buy the necessary equipment and materials to build hives.  FAVACA would like to thank the Northeast Florida Honey Bee Association and the St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary Club for their generous donations which helped pay for the needed wood and materials to enable this project to take place.   Likewise, FAVACA would like to thank Bert Otto who generously donated beekeeping supplies to be distributed to Haitian beekeepers.  

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. Roger Dunwell, owner and general manager, requested a training in basic medical and water rescue including training on proper techniques for CPR and the Heimlich maneuver to enable the hotel staff to respond to emergencies in and around the hotel premises. Additionally, Dunwell requested training in basic fire safety to teach employees the correct method to suppress fires through the use of fire extinguishers. Experienced FAVACA volunteers Gayl Nye, Vero Beach, works for Florida Heart and CPR and Lt. Nathan Lasseur, of the West Palm Beach Fire Rescue traveled October 4-8, 2009 to train the hotel staff from several hotels in the Port-au-Prince and Petion Ville area. Haitian National Fire Chief, Commander Donald Gregory William volunteered his time and expertise to provide a lecture on fire extinguisher safety. Approximately 50 people from the Plaza Hotel, Citibank and the Hotel Villa Creole attended the training. "Our employees…were very satisfied, to the point where they can't stop talking about what they had learned and seem to be passing on their knowledge to others, including family and neighbors, as well as other employees,” said Hotel Villa Creole owner Roger Dunwell. “I have never seen a reaction like this before, and can only thank Nate and Gayl for their outstanding work.”

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. Two organizations in Ouanaminthe who work with at-risk youth to provide safe environments to the young men and women of the city requested assistance in computer diagnostics, networking and basic computer maintenance: the Group d'Initiative pour la Promotion de la Technolologie (GIPTO), a cyber cafe which runs educational programs for the youth in the community, and Volontariat pour le Developpement d'Haiti (VDH), an organization that provides HIV/AIDS education aimed at local youth.  

FAVACA volunteers Kerry Dera of Dera Computers, Naples Florida, and Samuel Perales, an independent consultant, traveled to Ouanaminthe September 25- October 3, 2009 and taught the 39 participants how to dismantle and reassemble their desktop computers, which included lessons on basic diagnostic skills.  Participants were also taught basic networking skills. Both organizations brought computers to the training, many of which were old and the majority was not functioning properly.  Before leaving, the volunteers were able to work with the participants to fix many of the computers and provide a diagnosis for the remainder of the computers.  Several nonfunctioning computers will need new parts most of which can be found locally. 

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.  INURED has developed trans-disciplinary research and training activities in a wide range of fields. Its scientific programs as well as exchanges and agreements among researchers from various institutions is complemented by ongoing activities in Haitian universities and research centers.  For the past several years, INURED has had incredibly successful programs in Cite Soleil and has developed the reputation of a Haitian organization that is serious about activist research, which has encompassed not just research but research skills that teach community members to learn to reflect on their own situation and to create recommendations for the donor community.  Brooklyn, New York resident Jocelyn McCalla traveled to Port-au-Prince to help INURED formulate a clear strategy to assist Haitian institutions in different social categories at INURED's first ever board meeting.  McCalla is the President/CEO of JMC STRATEGIES LLC., which provides management, fundraising and development expertise, and grassroots campaign consulting services to public and private sector entities, for profit and non-profits alike.  INURED's board retreat allowed the group to increase their exposure and relations between organizations and groups in Haiti.

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.  Following up on an April 2009 FAVACA volunteer project to assess and ensure the condition of the medical  equipment, the FAVACA volunteers began training hospital staff on how to maintain and use the equipment in emergency situations, FAVACA and HRDF secured two Haitian-American medical personnel to travel to Haiti to provide training to hospital staff from the General Hospital and the Community Hospital (located in Petion Ville, Haiti) on the recently donated medical equipment.   Dr. Jocelyn David from Seminole, Florida is a staff physician at the Veterans Medical Center in Bay Pines and Anssie Blot, a registered nurse from Davie, Florida traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 19-26, 2009.  The FAVACA volunteers trained approximately 40 hospital staff in advanced life-support techniques such as using an EKG machine, advanced respiratory and ventilation techniques in emergency situations, and urgent care in the emergency room just to name a few.  On the final day of training all participants were given an exam to ensure that everyone learned the new techniques.

EVACUATION PLAN AND FIRE SAFETY FOCUS FOR CAP HAITIEN 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.  Unfortunately, fires in the recent past have caused an entire wing of the hospital to be shut down which has forced the hospital to cut some services and has forced the hospital staff to merge  hospital units together which has caused overcrowding and could lead to more serious problems such as an outbreak of a major disease.  In order to help provide the hospital staff with the basic knowledge of fire safety, Konbit Sante, a nonprofit organization in Maine with the mission to save lives and improve health care in northern Haiti works in the Justinian hospital and requested assistance from FAVACA to provide training on fire safety such as prevention methods and hazardous materials recognition, creating an emergency evacuation plan which incorporated the local municipal fire department in the hospitals fire prevention plan, and basic first responder training for ambulance drivers.  FAVACA Volunteers Nathan Lasseur from Palm Beach, Florida; Gayl Nye from Vero Beach, Florida; Robert Belizaire from Lake Worth, Florida; and Gina Lasseur form Palm Beach, Florida traveled to Cap Haitien, Haiti June 14-19, 2009.  The four volunteers were able to have several Florida fire departments donate four boxes of fire alarms to place throughout the hospital.  The training served as a first step in helping the hospital staff to identify many potential fire hazards as well as providing a working relationship between the hospital and local fire department.

Over 2 million people live in the Port-au-Prince, Petion Ville and surrounding areas of Haiti and until recently there were no emergency rooms or ICU units to support any of the population needing emergency medical treatment. Individuals that required emergency care were only able to find minimal treatment to alleviate their medical problems, forcing many Haitians to seek treatment outside of the country. The Hospital de L'Universite d'Etat d'Haiti commonly known as the General Hospital located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been unable to find the monetary resources necessary to institute an emergency room ward within the hospital. The Haitian Resource and Development Foundation (HRDF), a nonprofit organization helping with the development of Haiti, requested help from FAVACA in providing the necessary medical equipment to perform emergency procedures for hospital patients. In addition to providing medical equipment, a request was made to FAVACA to provide Haitian-American medical personnel to train the doctors and nurses of the General Hospital on how to use the new the emergency room equipment. FAVACA agreed to support this venture and established a relationship with the International Medical Equipment Collaborative (IMEC) to facilitate the shipment of the medical equipment and provide the necessary logistical support to guarantee the emergency room equipment arrived safely at the General Hospital. Once the medical equipment arrived at the General Hospital, veteran volunteer Pierre Bertrand, a biomedical engineer, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida traveled to Port-au-Prince April 9-14, 2009 to assess the condition of the medical equipment and ensure all the equipment is working before providing training to hospital staff on how to provide maintenance on the equipment.

SECONDARY TEACHER TRAINING SEMINAR

Pwof Ansanm, a nonprofit organization in Haiti, supports programs and individuals whose mission it is to improve Haitian education through teacher training, curriculum development and material development. Pwof Ansanm holds biannual trainings for secondary teachers and requested the assistance of FAVACA to provide experts who could provide lessons in democracy (civics) and children’s rights, and provide organizational development expertise. Veteran FAVACA volunteer, Bapthol Joseph, a Haitian-American educator and President /CEO of Changing Directions 4 Youth & Families in Pompano Beach, Florida agreed to travel to Ouanaminthe, Haiti to provide the assistance from April 4-8, 2009. Accompanying Bapthol was Joy Miksic from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who is a volunteer fundraiser and teacher trainer for Pwof Ansanm and who has been partnering with the organization for more than ten years. Miksic traveled to Ouanaminthe April 4-11, 2009 to train secondary school teachers by providing lectures on how to create lesson plans in math and science as well as providing additional hands-on activities to further develop secondary school teachers in Ouanaminthe and the surrounding area. As a result of the training on organizational development, the group realized that they did not have a clear understanding as to the reason they were formed. After the first several days of training, the group formed new ideas for their roles in the organization, developed a mission statement, decided to reorganize the group and create a working board of directors. A board of eleven members was subsequently formed.

Hosean International Ministries in Pignon, Haiti has been actively involved in the relief effort from hurricanes Gustave, Fay, Hannah, and Ike by providing much needed relief supplies to those areas that have been most affected by the four hurricanes that have devastated the country in 2008.  Although Hosean International Ministries has been able to provide supplies there was a noticeable need in some of the population who were exhibiting signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PSD) due to the tragic losses each person has faced due to the storms.  Many of those exhibiting signs of PSD were children who were unable to attend school due to the trauma they have suffered. In order to help with the psychosocial stress, Hosean International Ministries' country director Caleb Lucien requested FAVACA's help in sourcing several counselors to travel to affected regions of the country to provide trauma counseling to storm victims.  Four Haitian-American counselors traveled to Haiti December 26-31, 2008 to work with families and children in Gonaives to relieve the fears and stress caused from the storms.  Israel Francois, from Margate, Florida, Tania Delinois, from Coconut Creek, Florida, Nikcy Clervil from Jacksonville, Florida and Lory Servil, from Deerfield Beach, Florida provided counseling for 300 Haitians in Gonaives, Haiti. The team of counselors was able to diagnose several individuals and families who need follow up trauma counseling within the coming months.

Haitian Teacher Training Focuses on Planning Skills

The International Coalition is a small nonprofit organization with members in both South Florida and in the Northwest Department of Haiti working to help provide education to children in Mare Rouge and just outside of Mole Saint Nicolas.  Education is a priority for nearly every Haitian however the cost of schooling is often a deterrent as well as the poor quality of schools across the country.  Many of the teachers in both public and private schools lack the necessary teaching tools to provide quality instruction and often the teachers themselves have little more education than the students they are trying to teach.  The Government of Haiti and the International Community have all listed training teachers as one of their priorities for improving education in the country.  The United Nations has set up several teacher training schools across the country however these schools are only able to work with a limited number of teachers each year.  The International Coalition requested FAVACA's help to provide an expert in the field of pedagogical training for approximately 120 teachers to participate in a teacher training.  Jacques Pierre of Miami, Florida and Kent, Ohio is the main instructor for The Latin American and Caribbean Center's Creole Summer Institute at Florida International University and who agreed to volunteer his experience in pedagogical training.  Pierre traveled to Mare Rouge December 12-21, 2008. 

HAITI: Exploring the Naturalness of Disastrous Outcomes

The twentieth annual Haitian Studies Association Conference took place November 6-8, 2008 at Club Indigo in Montrouis, Haiti.  It featured a variety of roundtable discussions and presentations by leading Haitian and Haitian-American experts.   FAVACA supported Cornell University graduate student Crystal Felima to make a presentation entitled "Haiti's Disproportionate Casualties After Environmental Hazards: Exploring the Naturalness of Disastrous Outcomes" which focused on the existing environmental conditions that exasperate natural disasters.  The Haitian Studies Association works with Haitian diaspora and provides variety of resources including: the Journal of Haitian Studies, symposiums, public lectures, available through their website.

CIVIL LAW INSTITUTION'S CAPACITY INCREASED IN HAITI

The Catholic Law School of Jeremie (Ecole Catholique de Droit de Jérémie - ESCDROJ) provides pro bono representation through the voluntary efforts of its students and faculty for most of the criminal defendants in the city.  Even with the pro bono work of ESCDROJ, the court system in Jeremie is so overwhelmed with cases that most prisoners will not receive a trial for several months to a year.  In order to help expand their reach and help deal with the exhausted court system, Director Fr. Jomanas Eustache requested legal experts from FAVACA to examine the current court structure and offer recommendations on what could be implemented at the law school to help the overburdened system.  Troy Elder, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at Florida International University's Law School and Margaret Maisel, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Clinical Program also at Florida International University's Law School traveled to Jeremie, Haiti July 28- July 31, 2008 to examine the current legal system and work to implement new courses.  Elder and Maisel recommended that ESCDROJ work with the local community to help explain the legal system especially in the areas of legal rights and access to justice.  A second recommendation made by the attorneys was to help with the unmet legal representation by establishing a law clinic that would incorporate recent graduates and many of the law students; however, current Haitian law states that students need to finish a post-graduate thesis before entering into such a forum.  Lastly, ESCDROJ needs significant help working with gender crimes specifically with rape and domestic violence victims who often don't testify which often lead to the dismissal of the case.  Next steps would be to help create a funding proposal and identify funding agents in order to expand the program as well as working with ESCDROJ in programmatic planning. 

FLORIDA BEEKEEPER CREATING A BUZZ IN HAITI. 

Benito Jasmin, Field Officer for the Farmer to Farmer program in Haiti, requested assistance from FAVACA in order to help local beekeepers in the Department of the Northeast to strengthen the health of their hives while also increasing the production of honey.  First time volunteer Doug Corbin, Panama City, Florida  and long time inspector for the State of Florida's Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection, volunteered from April 12-28, 2008 in order to work with local farmers in helping to identify harmful diseases and pests such as the varroa mite and the wax moth.  Diseases and pests can create havoc on the health of a hive and Corbin provided hands on training on how to identify these disease and pests and how to treat a hive that is infected and how to take preventative measures so that hives continue to remain healthy.  In addition to helping to identify harmful diseases and pests, Corbin was able to participate in a beekeepers seminar where participants from throughout the country received training on creating new hives out of recycled materials, tools for evaluating the hive food supply, and they learned how to better manage their colonies using the nectar flow. 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SEMINAR IN GONAIVES.

The city of Gonaives is the fourth largest city in Haiti and is a bustling port city which is still feeling the effects from the destruction of hurricane Gene in 2004. Due to the hurricane, a large section of the population lost their businesses due to the collapse of infrastructure and the loss of resources such as supplies and materials to maintain the initial store operations. Pierre Robert Auguste, President of Solidarites Pour Le Developpement des Entreprises et de L’emplois (SOLIDEE), contacted FAVACA because his organization felt a great need to provide the people of Gonaives with the necessary training to reopen businesses or create new enterprises. In order to reopen or create new businesses, SOLIDEE wanted to invite entrepreneurs in the area participate in  trainings that would provide information on how to create businesses and to learn how to access the necessary capital in order to grow. First time volunteer Dufirstson Neree, Miami, Florida traveled to Haiti February 14-18, 2008 to provide a two day seminar covering topics such as business development, business investment strategies in the U.S. especially in capital venture and capital risk, and how to convert a business from the informal sector to the formal sector of the economy.

THE SECOND GANGS, GUNS, AND GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE COMES TO HAITI. 

On October 24-27, 2007 the Interuniversity Institute for Research (INUR) held a research seminar on armed gang violence and urban transformation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  The seminar focused on the idea that youth gang violence is not an issube that is limited just to Haiti but that it also affects other countries thorughout the Caribbean and Latin America.  Countries such as Jamaica and Guatemala have been formulating research based intervention strategies and public discussions that ultimately inform citizens on public policies and civil society’s involvement.  Haiti and other countries could adapt similar stategies to help eliminate youth gang violence.  Participants in this seminar were collected from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, and the United States.  FAVACA supported two volunteers to participate and add their expertise to this conference.  First time volunteer Laura Kallus from Miami, Florida is the Executive Director of the PanZou Project Inc. an organization which provides gang prevention and intervention servises to gang involved and/or high risk youths and their families especially for Haitian Americans.  Also a first time volunteer, Dr. Mikaila Brown, anthropologist and consultant for AOW Consultants Inc. added her expertise on development related projects such as researching best practices and helped explain methods that are currently being used in the field.  Brown has done extensive research on the Jamaican diaspora repatriation and the socio-economic status and the effects  on the development of self-perception and nationalism. Carolyn Rose-Avila, President of FAVACA, also attended this event.

MINISTRY OF TOURISM DOCUMENTS HAITIAN HISTORICAL SITE HISTORY.

The Haitian Ministry of Tourism requests FAVACA’s assistance to help record and archive the history of the Citadel, Haiti’s most famous historical site and one of the wonders of the world, according to UNESCO. The Ministry of Tourism requested FAVACA’s assistance to provide a volunteer with the technical knowledge to create the first living document of the historic site of the Citadel and San Souci palace through a video documentary host on-site by the current Minister of Tourism, Patrick Delatour.  Prior to becoming Minister of Tourism, Mr. Patrick Delatour was one of the principal architects in the resotration of the Citadel for over fifteen years.  Likewise, Minister Delatour has a post doctorate degree from Columbia University where his dissertation covered the history of the Citadel.  FAVACA utilized renowned Haitian-American filmmaker and director Jacques Roc who has committed to volunteering his time, as well as a portion of his crews time, in order to make this momentous production possible.  Roc who created his own production company entitled Renaissance Film and is a well established producer and director from Brooklyn, New York.  Assisting Roc in the production of the documentary were Renaissance Film's crew, Romel Celestin, Director of Photography; Steve Alhoun, Gaffer; Magdala Blasie, Script Supervisor and Wardrobe; who all provided their technical knowledge and experience to create the documentary.  Other Renaissance expertise for the project included Production Manager Susan Lavlin, who has sound experience and holds a degree in film production from NYU and Evans Ocvil a sound technician who assisted with Post montage and music.  The Renaissance Film crew started a preliminary scouting of the Cap Haitien area as well as the Citadel National Park from September 13-16, 2007 to gauge the necessary equipment to bring and the logistics of shooting a documenary on top of a mountain.  Additionally, from September 27-20, 2007 Roc and his crew were able to complete a second round of scouting the Cap Haitien area in order to start filming with the Minister of Tourism from October 8-14, 2007.  Roc was able to complete a 44-52 minute documentary which took several weeks to complete and an additional few weeks to edit and add music.