Haiti Partners

Haiti Partners is grateful to Larkspur Builders for their generous support of our annual Haiti Scholarship Benefit and their thoughtful engagement with our mission. Partnerships like these give meaning and strengthen our sense of purpose in this work. We couldn't be more thankful. ?? This year's Haiti Scholarship Benefit will be held Nov 12. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/diP696xu We look forward to seeing you again then! #partnership #haitischolarshipbenefit

Research and experience have taught us that joy, fun, and play are essential for a child’s healthy development. Unfortunately, with the ongoing threat of gang violence in Haiti and the stress and anxiety that comes with it, providing this to our students has become a challenge. Nonetheless, as you do in situations like this, we're adapting and doing our best. With this in mind, in early March, staff at The Children’s Academy and our Partner Schools celebrated Haitian Carnival by working with students to create masks and decorations, and then to hold their own little parades on school grounds. The suffering that Haitians are experiencing breaks our hearts. Yet, we draw inspiration from the courage and determination of our Haitian colleagues, the students and their families, and from you, our supporters, as you respond to Haiti’s situation with such compassion and generosity. #HaitiStrong

Without easy access to medical care, far too many children in Haiti suffer from easily preventable illnesses: chronic coughs, rashes, headaches, stomach and intestinal issues, to name just a few. As a result, kids needlessly suffer and often do poorly in school due to a lack of energy and an inability to concentrate. For these reasons The Children’s Academy has a Wellness Space and a five member Wellness Team. The Wellness Space is equipped with one bed, medicine, and other care resources, and always has at least one wellness staff member available. Two wellness staff members work full-time in the Special Needs classroom, which serves twelve students. Three of these students experience regular seizures. All twelve require specialized care. One child is blind and another is nonverbal. Another wellness staff member rotates as needed, helping in classrooms, the schoolyard, or the Wellness Space. The fifth Wellness Team member focuses on nutrition which includes helping prepare meals, herbal tea, green smoothies, etc. In emergencies such as broken bones or severe illness, Wellness Team members accompany parents to take students to a clinic. Regular check-ups supplemented by periodic visits from a General Practitioner help students feel better physically and emotionally, enabling them to work towards their full potential. The Wellness Team has seen over 300 students so far this school year. The Wellness Program at the Children’s Academy faces difficulties due to ongoing insecurity in Port-au-Prince. Many pharmacies have closed or been destroyed, making it hard to access essential medicine. Transporting medical supplies is also a challenge due to airport shutdowns and roadblocks. Additionally, a shortage of healthcare professionals limits access to regular checkups and vaccines. To address this, we are working on hiring a full-time nurse to move into the community to support the students’ health needs and to do more training for the Wellness Team. If you are moved to support this vital work, we invite you to make a donation: haitipartners.org/donate Thank you for your support!

A lot of people ask us about the current situation in Haiti and how things got to where they are today. If you're interested in these questions, we invite you to watch this interview with Michael Deibert. Michael is a long-time observer of Haiti and someone we have known for many years. He has lived in Haiti and speaks Haitian Creole. In this interview, he provides a thoughtful historical analysis of where Haiti stands today, how it arrived at this point, and its prospects for the future.

Transparency has always been a key priority at Haiti Partners. We believe that transparency encourages accountability, and accountability is vital to doing good work. With this in mind we’re excited to announce that for the 7th year in a row we’ve earned a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (formerly Guidestar), showcasing the progress and results we are making toward our mission. Platinum is the highest possible recognition a non-profit can receive from Candid and puts Haiti Partners in their top 5% of non-profit organizations working in education and community development in Haiti. Candid is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. To learn more, check out our Candid profile here: https://lnkd.in/gSe3U-U3 #accountability #transparency

It has been another extremely difficult year in Haiti, especially in the greater Port-au-Prince area. The Children’s Academy, located in the mountains south of Port-au-Prince, has faced significant unrest, providing a constant source of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety. Despite these intense challenges, this International Women’s Day – Saturday, March 8 – we are pleased to share that the all-woman Leadership Team at The Children’s Academy continues to cultivate a culture of dignity at the school and in the community. Under their leadership, students continue to make solid progress both academically and in character development. For example, the Leadership Team spearheaded a staff choir to foster unity and mutual respect and to invite the joy of singing and music. Life in Haiti is hard. Singing and music nourish and strengthen the soul. We’re thrilled at this development and are proud to re-share a short performance by The Children’s Academy Staff Choir below https://lnkd.in/gt-_wK6b In an effort to improve student reading, critical thinking, discussion, and public speaking skills, the Leadership Team also organized a reading competition for the 7th-9th grade students. Students are invited to compete with their classmates by reading a selected text in public from a book they choose together. The competition is hugely popular and continues as an annual event. Haiti Partners is honored to get to work with such an amazing team of women leaders. The fact that they continue to do what they do each day despite such challenging circumstances, just makes them that much more inspirational. #internationalwomensday

It's not uncommon for members of our team to get asked, "How did you end up engaging with Haiti?" https://lnkd.in/gs_E5cEi In this blog post, HP Co-Director, John Engle, shares what led him to a life-long commitment to helping Haitians to improve their country. From a fateful conversation in Hershey, PA, in the late 1980s, to his extraordinary marriage and partnership with HP's other Co-Director, Merline Engle, we think you'll find this account of his personal journey filled with purpose, meaning, and inspiration. #myjourney #PurposeDriven

Friends: Time's almost up! If you haven’t yet, PLS VOTE BY NOON EST TOMORROW (Wed, 2/19). It LITERALLY TAKES 1 MINUTE and it COULD MEAN MAJOR FUNDING FOR STUDENTS IN HAITI! https://lnkd.in/gS8ydM53 Once you vote, PLEASE SHARE to all your social media channels. The more votes we get, the better chance we have to win! HP Ambassador and all-around wonderful human being, Donovan Beck, has created an AMAZING short video about our work and has entered it into Project for Awesome's annual fundraising event. Please click thru, check out the video, and vote for HP. Project for Awesome is an annual online event that raises awareness and funds for charities, "that make the world a little bit of a better place." We're honored to be a part of it and WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR VOTE TO HELP HAITIANS CHANGE HAITI THROUGH EDUCATION! #ProjectforAwesome2025 #VoteHaitiPartners2025

Every year, Project For Awesome brings the internet together to support incredible nonprofits, and we can’t thank Hank Green and John Green enough for creating it. Since 2007, P4A has raised millions to fund organizations tackling education, healthcare, climate change, and more. It’s community-driven philanthropy at its best. Over the years, P4A grants have supported Partners in Health, Save the Children, the Malala Fund, the Against Malaria Foundation, and countless others doing life-changing work. It’s amazing to see what’s possible when people rally around causes that matter. This year, Haiti Partners is in the running: https://lnkd.in/gS8ydM53 We’re working to expand access to quality education in Haiti, and we’d love your vote to help make that happen! Check out our video, cast your vote, and let’s keep the spirit of Project For Awesome going strong! Oh, and a huge thank you to Donovan Beck for lending his voice and creativity to our submission video. ??

FRIENDS: WE NEED YOUR VOTE! Please click thru, check out our video, and vote for Haiti Partners. It just takes a minute and it could mean major funding for students in Haiti! ? ?? https://lnkd.in/gS8ydM53 Once you've voted, PLEASE SHARE to all your social media channels. The more votes we get, the better chance we have to win! ?? HP Ambassador and all-around wonderful human being ??, Donovan Beck, has created an AMAZING short video about our work and has entered it into Project for Awesome's annual fundraising event. Winners are determined by how many votes they receive by Wed, Feb 19 at 11:59am EST. Project for Awesome is an annual online event that raises awareness and funds for charities, "that make the world a little bit of a better place." We're honored to be a part of it and WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR VOTE TO HELP HAITIANS CHANGE HAITI THROUGH EDUCATION! #ProjectforAwesome2025 #VoteHaitiPartners2025