Project Living Hope exists to empower Haitians to build a stronger Haiti and does this through athletics, job skill training, community development, and disaster preparedness. The political unrest over the last few months has led to a major humanitarian crisis where people are struggling to feed their families. Food prices have increased a great deal and the value of the Haitian currency has dropped. People have been unable to work and students have been unable to go to school. As a result, we are not exaggerating when we say people are going whole days without eating.
Over the last few weeks, we have continued to have regular meetings with our staff and leaders in Camp Marie and they have assessed the needs within the community. Our Camp Marie Operational Manager, Benedic Maxime, met with the pastors of the nine churches in Camp Marie and he heard the same thing over and over. All are discouraged about the current state of Haiti as they say the political situation is leading to a severe food storage and inability for people to work. All expressed a strong desire for people to work and have a purpose. The majority of Haitain people have no control over the current political situation or the protests that have been shutting down the country since early September.
As a response to this crisis, Project Living Hope has devised a multi-faceted relief strategy. Our mission is to empower, not to enable or create dependency. This is why we choose to offer short-term relief in times of crisis by empowering individuals and partnering with churches within the community. We have devised the following strategies.
Emergency Food Relief: We will partner with the local churches of Camp Marie to help with emergency food assistance. The nine local churches will organize the purchasing and distributing of food to those who need it most.
Planting for Tomorrow: We will invest in local farmers to help bolster the agricultural efforts within the community. This food crisis has the potential to increase over the coming months, so creating opportunities for the Haitian people to grow more will empower them to sustain themselves through this challenging time.
Youth Programs: We will hire a few individuals who have participated in PLH’s English and athletics training programs to hold camps for the kids in the community. All schools are closed due to the country shutdown. These English, basketball, and soccer camps will offer kids a fun, positive activity to participate in.
Employment: We will create as many short-term work opportunities as our land projects allow, hiring local people to cut brush, clear fence lines, and clear out drainage ditches.
We would like to invite you to join us in providing short-term relief to the community of Camp Marie. Would you consider giving a financial gift to support these four efforts?
We will be running this campaign for the next ten days. Please consider sharing this need with your friends, family, and church, and keep an eye out for an update from us as we close out the campaign November 25th.
Your gift makes an impact!
$50 empowers a Camp Marie church to feed a family for a week.
$100 plants a crop of beans.
$250 sends kids to learn English, basketball or soccer.
$600 employs a crew of locals to complete a land project.
Thank you for being a champion of Haiti and the community of Camp Marie and empowering locals to press on during this difficult time. Please continue to keep Haiti in your prayers.
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40