Gift of Caring Ministryhas partnered with communities, government entities and civil society in Haiti since 1983, implementing many multi-sectoral relief, recovery and development programs designed to leverage and strengthen local capacity. These are a few of our more recent major projects:

Earthquake Response and Recovery

On January 12, 2010, a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti resulting in the loss of more than 230,000 lives and massive destruction. Gift of Caring Ministryresponded immediately. With funding from USAID, Gift of Caring Ministrylaunched a major recovery program that focused on large-scale rubble removal and recycling, cash-for-work, construction of transitional shelters and a new type of disaster response using a neighbourhood approach.

Enabling Canaan Program

The Enabling Canaan Program supports the Government of Haiti in its efforts to promote safe, equitable and resilient urban development in Canaan, an emerging city north of Port-au-Prince where thousands of people were relocated after the 2010 earthquake. With funding from the American Red Cross, Gift of Caring Ministryand Haitian partners designed and constructed essential, resilient infrastructure that prepares Canaan to withstand future natural disasters and attract investments that will improve the living conditions for its residents These projects include: a water distribution system, main thoroughfare, public school, community centres, public spaces, solar lighting, and a banking centre.

This infrastructure complements the development of priority public service projects including the expansion of the national electricity network and construction of a potable water system in Canaan.

Haitian Red Cross Blood Bank

Gift of Caring Ministrybuilt the National Blood Transfusion Centre (NBTC) and Specialized Analysis Laboratory (SAL) in Port-au-Prince, with funding by the American Red Cross. Gift of Caring Ministryworked alongside Edifica Sud/Genie Conseil consortium, which designed the blood transfusion centre and the laboratory and supervised the site.
The new blood bank will enable Haiti’s Ministry of Health to maintain a safe and sufficient blood supply service for Haiti’s 11 million people. Haiti now has an appropriate building to accommodate the NBTC/SAL located in an improved compound.

UCLBP/Avenue N 

The UCLBP/Avenue N program involved supervising road construction of Avenue N in the city of Port-au-Prince with more than $200,000 from the AgenceFrançaise de Développement. Gift of Caring Ministrywas contracted by Unite de Construction de Logements et de Batiments Publics to provide quality control during the construction of Avenue N.

KATYE

As part of an integrated approach, Gift of Caring Ministryimplemented the ground-breaking $8.6 million USAID-funded KATYE urban reconstruction program in the neighbourhood of Ravine Pintade in Port-au-Prince. The integrated approach provided rubble removal and shelter building services, while working with the community on green spaces, plots for schools, and proper access roads to cover the basics of sustainable urban improvement. The KATYE program was successful in creating a liveableneighbourhood with adequate shelter, basic services and other physical improvements. Essential to that success were KATYE’s community mobilization and trust-building efforts, since the support and cooperation of residents were required in order to increase the amount of useful public space. Community involvement was valuable in all aspects of the program, and is the key to its sustainability. Community mobilization was fundamental in the ongoing enumeration process, where local participation fostered consensus on the status of occupancy, tenure and family condition and needs, and in coming up with workable plans for temporary relocation of families while new shelters were built.

LAMIKA

LAMIKA (Lavi Miyo Nan Katye pa’m Nan) was an integrated, urban neighbourhood reconstruction and recovery program implemented in Carrefour- Feuilles, a poor residential neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. The area sustained extensive damage from the earthquake and is characterized by extreme poverty, dense housing and limited access to safe infrastructure and services. Funded by the American Red Cross, this program enhanced community and household resiliency in targeted communities through a sustainable and integrated approach that provided socially cohesive, healthy, habitable and secure living spaces and conditions. There were three components: social empowerment, economic strengthening and physical renewal.

Canaan Upgrading and Community Development

The Canaan Upgrading and Community Development (CUCD) program funded by USAID and the American Red Cross supported the Government of Haiti’s vision to promote equitable and resilient urban development in the Canaan zone. The CUCD program consisted of three pillars of which Gift of Caring Ministry was responsible for the implementation of two: Pillar II (Livelihoods) and Pillar III (Physical Renewal), while the American Red Cross was responsible for Pillar I (Community Mobilization)—under its own and separate funding. Gift of Caring Ministryimplemented this program over the course of 35 months ending in May 2018. The CUCD program successfully integrated Canaan residents into the wider electrical, water, road, banking, educational, and labour networks of the country