GlobalGiving.org: Support Community Based Disaster Recovery in Haiti

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Emma Taylor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:21:40 GMT

A Big "Thank you" from Haiti!

As 2011 draws to a close, we can’t believe all that you’ve helped us achieve. With your support, we’ve been able to build classrooms, put teachers back to work, and offer a primary school education to 50 children. Much remains to be done, but thanks to your generosity, hundreds of Haitians will be able to start 2012 with hope.

As we approach Christmas, we hope you’ll encourage friends and family to follow in your footsteps by sharing this page and encouraging them to make a tax deductible donation.

You can also help us win extra funding this holiday season by giving gifts to friends and family through this page.

To give a gift to a loved one, simply go to the project page and find the “Gift idea” button over the donation amounts. The project that raises the most through these gifts will win extra funding!

One last time, we’d like to extend our sincerest thanks to you for your generosity over the past year. Merry Christmas, and we hope you have the happiest of New Years.

Links:

Learn more about EDV

Happy ThanksGiving from Haiti!

Emma Taylor — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:01:48 GMT

One of the English students (ALM Photography)

As the Holiday season begins, we can’t believe that our volunteers have been in Haiti for nearly 18 months!

Some of you have been watching EDV’s growth since before we even arrived in Haiti. Without you, we never would have been able to even make a start here.

Today, as we look back at the last year and a half, we see 36 classrooms built, health care and education provided, 120 adult English students learning English, 50 children back in school, and more than 40 children living in safe housing thanks to our work. That work was made possible by your donations. Thank you so much.

As Americans across the country get ready to gather their families and give thanks, we hope that you’ll take a little extra joy in the knowledge that your donations have given more than 3,000 Haitians a reason to be thankful.

You can help extend hope for this Holiday season to more Haitians by letting friends and family know how easy it is to Give the Gift of Education this Holiday season.

Thanks so much for all you’ve already given, and Happy Thanks Giving from Haiti!

Back in School - Thanks to you! (ALM Photography)

Attending school in a classroom you helped build!

An English student receiving his certificate!

The finishing touches for five permanent classroom

Volunteers working on a computer lab (ALM Photos)

Links:

Classrooms, Education, and our Plans in Haiti

Emma taylor — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:10:43 GMT

Volunteers raising the roof at Instution Classique

It’s been an extraordinary several months for EDV! We’re excited to have secured funding to keep 50 children in school until the middle of next year, finished five permanent classrooms at Institution Classique, and started five more transitional classrooms at College Adonai . Together, these classrooms will provide safe space for more than 150 children.

Combined with the drainage system we’re installing at La Main Tendre Orphanage, our construction crew is in overdrive because they now have a hard deadline.

On December 1^st, our international volunteer leaders will leave Haiti, and our Haitian staff and community leaders will take over the running of our scholarships and English programme. While our volunteers will leave, with your support EDV’s presence will continue changing lives.

Over the next month, we’ll focus on providing our Haitian English teachers with all the skills they’ll need to keep the English students learning without outside aid, teaching orphanage directors all about how to keep kids healthy, and ensuring that the children in the scholarship programme have everything they need to stay in school. And then we’ll leave the Haitians who originally proposed these great projects to take full ownership of all their positive effects.

Your support will be integral to these projects’ continued success, and we hope that you’re as excited as we are to see these projects placed exactly where they belong – in the hands of Haitians.

Showing your support has also just gotten a little easier – it is now possible to text your support of community based recovery in Haiti.

Just text “Give 4170” to 80088 and reply with a “yes” to the confirmation text you’ll receive. Text Giving is a great, hassle free way to give and makes it easy to encourage friends and family to give.

If you have any questions or concerns about Text Giving, or any other part of this project, please don’t hesitate to email Media@EDVolunteers.org.

Thanks so much for your generous donations to help Haitian earthquake survivors, and our warmest regards from Haiti.

The Legal Bit: $10.00 donation to GlobalGiving. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 80088 to STOP. Text HELP to 80088 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy policy: goto.gg/privacy

Roof nearing completion at Institution Classique

Volunteers and kids enjoying a break

Mixing concrete for a drainage system

Planning the next day's work

La Main Tendre Orphanage Director Andre

Links:

English Changing Lives

Emma Taylor — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:00:21 GMT

Happy English Students - Thanks to you!

For this update, we wanted to draw your attention to our English Education programme. In Haiti, English is a pre-requisite for joining the business world, or even simply working in high-end hotels and restaurants. In other words, it is an essential job skill.

We asked one of the most promising students in the elementary class, Wilkens, why English was important to him.

Speaking English was one of my goals. I tried little by little to learn English, so when I came in the English class in EDV I became better by listening to all my teachers. I try to improve my pronunciation and have a good accent by practicing with my teachers and classmates. The English class is very important for me. It helps me to realize my dreams.

Thanks to your donation, we’re able to ensure that Wilkens and more than 100 other young adults have access to free, high quality English classes. You can hear from more students here.

It’s our hope that, with the support of donors like you, we can keep the English school open, running, and free to as many students as possible for years to come.

Combined with our focus on building classrooms and providing scholarships, the English classes ensure that we address the need for education in Haiti from all angles. Your donations make this life-changing work possible. Thank you so much.

Paying Attention

Taking Internationally Recognised Exams

Students are Provided with Books Free of Charge

Haitian Teachers Work with EDV Volunteers

Games and Activities Help Students Learn English

Links:

Marking One Year in Haiti

Emma Taylor — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:37:52 GMT

One of the kids in his new classroom

Hello all,

We hope this finds you well!

Last month, EDV passed the one year in Haiti mark. It’s been an extraordinary year for our charity. To review all you’ve helped us accomplish in Haiti, we’ve prepared a one year report. Many of you have probably already received this report in our Newsletter, but for those of you who have not, we wanted to ensure that you had the chance to see all that you’ve made possible.

With your support, we’ve ensured that 308 Haitian school children have safe classrooms where they can learn, put 93 children back in school, and provided ongoing adult education for more than 100 adults. Not to mention all our work in Health Education and community support.

In the course of the past year, our work has directly touched 2,104 earthquake survivors. That work would not have been possible without each and every person who gave to EDV. Thank you so much for your generosity.

As we mark our one year anniversary in Haiti, we are also looking forward to more classroom construction, which will allow 200 more students to join the 308 already studying in EDV classrooms. We're also looking forward to providing scholarships to 100 children over the next three to five years, ensuring the orphanages we work with are sustainable, and extending a helping hand to community groups so that they can become self-sufficient.

The coming months hold much excitement for EDV, and we hope you’ll be there to share in our growth. Thanks so much for your support over the past year, and we look forward to sharing our future successes with you.

Warm regards from Haiti,

Learning English through Art

Building Classrooms

Relaxing on site with EDV Volunteers

Links:

Spring Time and New Projects!

Emma Taylor — Fri, 06 May 2011 21:05:38 GMT

The current state of Institution Classique

With your support, our work in Haiti just keeps growing. We’re continuing to focus on long-term change for disaster survivors by repairing damaged infrastructure and increasing the capacity of our local partners to act even once we leave.

Our most recent new projects will achieve these goals and more. At the Foyer d’Orelph Orphanage, we’re building roofs over four classrooms. These roofs will provide safe, dry space for the 53 children who live and attend school at the orphanage, as well as space for the free school to accept more children from the area who would not otherwise receive an education.

Once the classrooms and other improvements to the property are finished we’ll provide financial support for the school, allowing at least 50 more children to enroll.

We’ll also soon start work at another local school, Institution Classique . The school is attended by more than 200 children and already provides scholarships for ten community children who would not otherwise be able to attend school.

However, because the earthquake destroyed the school’s security wall and several roofs, the children are often in class without proper protection, and the entire property is insecure. Adding to the school’s problems, the entire property is very prone to flooding.

We’re planning to reconstruct the security wall, install a drainage system, and build roofs over three classrooms. While this project is not yet fully funded, we wouldn’t even be able to consider it without your support. Thanks so much for making our work here in Port au Prince possible!

Until May 20th, it’s even easier than usual to support our projects. During Global Giving’s Recurring Donation Challenge, the group that gets the most distinct recurring donors is eligible for $2,500! That means that simply by committing to donate $10 a month, you could help us win more than $2,000.

Please consider becoming a monthly donor – and ask your friends to do the same! Thanks so much for all your help, and our warmest regards from Haiti.

One of the kids at Foyer d'Orelph

Building drains at Foyer d'Orelph

Building classroom roofs at Foyer d'Orelph

This child will benifit from our roof building

Links:

On-going Growth in Haiti

Emma Taylor — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:44:27 GMT

EDV staff and two children we've helped

Following Global Giving’s visit in January, our work in Haiti continues to grow. We’ve recently begun providing scholarships to children in our community who would otherwise be unable to attend school.

As education is the key to long-term recovery, we’ve coupled these scholarships with reconstruction and transitional classroom construction in high achieving schools. As the rainy season approaches, these reconstruction projects become even more essential. Unsafe roofs and walls are difficult in the dry season, but deadly in the rainy season when high winds and flooding affect all of Haiti.

We’ve also begun a new programme with our partners Medical Relief and Education International to address the urgent health needs in Haiti. This health education programme combines clinics with health education with the ultimate of giving Haitians the information they need to place their health firmly in their control.

We launched our health programme with work in several orphanages as well as a cholera and a disease prevention programme in the rural community of Fond de Negres.

Combined with our on-going work in English education and community development, our reach in Haiti continues to expand, and it would have been impossible without your support. We hope you’ll continue to follow our work in Haiti and support us in any way you can.

Thanks so much for all you’ve done, and our warmest regards from Haiti.

Deworming a baby as part of health education

Two orphans with their volunteer english teacher

Links:

GlobalGiving Visits European Disaster Volunteers

Marisa Glassman — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:46:46 GMT

Becca, an EDV volunteer, pouring filtered water

From the minute Britt and I walked into EDV’s house/office on January 10, 2011, it was obvious how involved in and on top of their many projects Emma Taylor, the organization’s logistical coordinator, was. Between questions from us about their work, she’d alternately answer a phone call about where and what time six of EDV’s current 8 volunteers were to be that afternoon, how many copies of their educational materials they needed for the next day’s teacher training – to teach Haitian teachers how to instruct on health topics such as cholera prevention - and when they would pick up their left-over wood and tin from the classroom they’d finished building that day. All of these are examples of the community-based work EDV has implemented since arriving in Haiti last summer.

A true community-based disaster recovery organization, EDV entered Haiti in June 2010 to assess the country’s post-emergency recovery needs. Their first step was to organize a community meeting, in which people were invited to discuss what was needed most to improve life and livelihoods in their communities. That one meeting was pretty much all it took for EDV to be flooded with a long list of projects, some of which I referred to above. EDV's t-shirts state that they are “changing the lives of survivors and volunteers worldwide,” which explains their model well. In a given week, they have anywhere from five to twenty volunteers staying in their house. While many are medical workers choosing to donate their services and supplies in Haiti, others are what they consider “strong hearts and strong backs” (i.e. non-medical volunteers) who are equally welcome and appreciated. The needs and wants of the community will determine how long they stay in Haiti, but for now they think they’ll be there for at least another year. In general, they’re trying to help the community find necessary resources and become self-sufficient. Their biggest objectives are healthcare, education, and jobs, so there is no shortage of projects to work on.

Emma and crew showed us a few examples of their work that day, the first of which was an orphanage called Le Main Tendre. Operating on the site of a former voodoo church, whose giant domed ceiling collapsed (in one piece) during the earthquake, it’s amazing they are able to house and teach all thirty-three of the children, from one-month-old to ten-years-old, who stay there. The community decided they wanted education first and foremost, so they’ve established transitional classrooms, where they hold regular classes and health clinics. And now that the classrooms are in place and functioning with volunteer teachers, their focus is on shelter. They are currently in tents and tin-roofed huts next to the collapsed church. They have city power and water but their current living situation is not a viable long-term arrangement for the orphans and caretakers. They say they have seen consistent improvement in the children’s health since they started working with them, and we hope that will only continue when the shelter situation is improved.

The orphanage's youngest children

Math class in session

Collapsed voodoo church's dome

Marking the anniversary of the earthquake

Emma Taylor — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:20:48 GMT

Volunteers enjoying their time on site

As we mark the one year anniversary of the earthquake, you’re likely to hear many stories about how aid has been diverted, delayed, and how survivors are not getting what they need despite the big promises made.

It can all seem very disheartening and, after reading these reports, some have asked us if their donation has mattered – if there is still hope for Haiti.

While we certainly won’t make light of the issues in the aid effort for Haiti, the hopeless situation presented in some media outlets doesn’t match the situation we see on the ground every day. Survivors continue to make progress step by step. They’ve not lost hope, and neither should we.

So tomorrow, we’ll be marking the anniversary with our friends and community contacts helping those most in need, and maybe even taking a few orphaned children for a swim.

In the face of the many hurdles facing Haiti as recovery continues, we’d like to leave you with the words of a good friend as he talked about EDV, the anniversary, and Haiti.

I am progressing forward, now helping myself and other people become better – become stronger. It was our blessing to have EDV in Haiti to keep our faith strong. Now I think that together, “yes we can!”

Thanks for all you’ve done for Haitian survivors, and take care.

Some of Haiti's beautiful kids

Two residents of a local orphanage

Links:

Read more about what EDV is doing in Haiti

Hope for Haiti in 2011

Emma Taylor — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 17:39:08 GMT

One of the kids saying thank you!

Hello all,

As we begin a new year, EDV continues to grow rapidly in Haiti. We have built transitional classrooms, supplied school supplies to more than 700 children, housed 47 orphaned children, and secured the free education of more than 30 further orphans.

But what we’re most excited about is the enthusiasm of the community leaders with whom we work. They have gone from simply asking us for help to proposing new projects themselves and pushing us to do more.

Our language exchange is a prime example. The community has now taken the lead and is transforming our informal exchange into a proper class. It’s this sense of purpose – this empowerment – of earthquake survivors that keeps us hopeful and excited about the future.

To bring home what your donations have meant in the past year, we’ve prepared a report detailing EDV’s success in Haiti during our first five months on the ground. It’s in the links section of this update. We hope you’ll take a moment to read it and consider what your donations have meant.

We also wanted to send you a recent profile of one of EDV’s founders who has been featured as part of Fast Company’s new series: Change Generation. It's also in the links section of this update.

EDV wouldn’t be making changes in the world without your inspiring support. With your help, 2011 will be even better than 2010.

Thanks so much for all you’ve given, and we hope you had a Happy New Year!

International volunteers and kids playing

Haitian staff with some of the kids on a work site

Links:

Our Growth in Haiti

Emma Taylor — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:44:39 GMT

Some of the kids we work with playing

Hello all,

We hope this finds you well!

Since our last project update our growth in Haiti has been extraordinary. We’ve spent the last three months funding football programmes, building classrooms, distributing school supplies to more than 680 students, locating and distributing tents in an emergency and teaching English – just to name a few of our favourite projects.

The common thread in all of these initiatives is the involvement of the community. Every programme that we’ve established, funded, or supported has been proposed by the community.

We hear comments almost daily along the lines of “you are the only group that’s ever come in and asked what we needed.” Even when a community contact proposes a project which we can’t take on for whatever reason, they’re confidence in us doesn’t waiver. When asked why, they reply simply that we listen where other groups do not.

We couldn’t be here, listening, without you. So in this update, we’d like to simply say thank you. We’d like to invite you to take a moment to visit the project section of our website (http://www.edvolunteers.org/programmes-projects), look at the pictures included in this update and consider for a moment that it was your donations have made these life-changing projects possible.

One last time, thanks again, and take care!

Haitian students receiving supplies

One of the kids at a school where we work

Studying english at our free language exchanges

Emma with one of the kids we have housed

A few of the kids at an orphanage where we work

Links:

Laying the Foundations for Sustainable Recovery

Emma Taylor — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:23:15 GMT

Community members and Volunteers working together

After arriving in Haiti in mid-June we’re off to an amazing start. Not only have our projects taken off, but our executive director, Andrew Chaggar, has been selected from among 2,500 applicants as a Vodafone World of Difference winner. Vodafone's support will not only bolster Andy, but provide a huge boost for EDV. Andy's Vodafone win would not have been possible without your support - so thanks so much.

During our first month on the ground in Haiti we’ve spent time building connections in the community, begun a long-term sustainable building initiative, and run a project which protected an orphanage for disabled children from flooding.

But it isn’t the small project we’ve completed or the large project we’ve begun which are most exciting for us – it’s the relationships we’ve developed with community members and local groups. These partnerships give us the greatest opportunity for a successful programme here in Port au Prince.

Many community members have told us the same thing: We appreciate the aid that’s given to us, but we need permanent change and skills, not hand-outs. That’s exactly what we aim to provide.

Our sustainable building project and its integration within the local community is a great example of how we can affect long-term change. The project aims not only to create buildings in a sustainable way, but also to teach residents how to build using locally available, affordable materials like earth, rubble, and the by-product of processed sugar cane called baggasse.

While the buildings we create are important, this project hinges on the community contacts we’ve been fostering since we arrived here. By involving the community in every step of the building process and training residents how to build with materials which are readily available to them we can empower communities to meet their own needs and direct their own recoveries.

We’ve already involved local women’s groups, schools, student groups and community organisations to begin planning workshops and skills trainings centering not only around sustainable building, but also on health, education, and community mobilisation.

When we include community groups in all our activities, even the smallest project can become a vehicle for building local capacity. That in turn lets us create more sustainable, self sufficient communities – and that is our ultimate goal.

Keep an eye out in the coming months for more EDV projects here on Global Giving. If you'd like to learn more about what EDV is up to in Haiti, please visit us at www.EDVolunteers.org. And of course, please give generously here on Global Giving to support community-based, sustainable recovery in Haiti.

Getting our hands dirty with sustainable building

Links:

Moving on to New Challenges

Emma Taylor — Thu, 27 May 2010 14:03:10 GMT

Hello all,

We hope you’re well!

Most of you have already received an email with the information contained here, so if this message seems redundant to you we offer our apologies. We're intentionally repeating some information here just to be sure that all of our donors are up to date with the latest EDV developments.

After almost three months of assessment, more meetings with government and local NGOs than we can count, and more than fifteen visits to disaster affected communities in two countries, it became clear that EDV was not going to be able to deploy in Asia.

Despite all of our past experience, the nature of the disasters in Asia presented us with countless delays and challenges that we did not anticipate. While any deployment will involve difficulties, in this case the challenges formed a situation that left us unable to affect positive, long-term change in the lives of disaster survivors.

These challenges included a combination of our limited funds, politics, and the nature of the disasters which struck the Philippines and Vietnam. While for many weeks we thought we would find a way to overcome the challenges we faced, in the end it became clear that deploying in Asia was simply not possible without more funding. Since returning to the UK we have prepared a full assessment report so that everyone can have access to all the information regarding what happened on our assessment and why we were eventually forced to leave Asia. This report is quite long, as it includes as much detail as possible, so we recommend that you start by reading our assessment report summary. Both documents have been included with this update. This is obviously a disappointing turn of events - being unable to work in Asia was incredibly frustrating. But, while Asia was difficult, it also presented us with the opportunity to learn about responding to typhoons. We've spent the past few weeks reflecting on these lessons, the positives we can take away from our time in Asia and how to make EDV stronger in the future. We've also spent many hours considering EDV's next move.

Our current plan is to reallocate funding for a possible deployment in Haiti. We’ll be sending a small team to meet with an established partner on the ground, GrassRoots United, and discuss what our work in Haiti will entail.

Before launching into this new endeavour, we want to be sure that you, our donors and supporters understand and are comfortable with of our plan to reallocate funds. To this end, should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email executive@europeandisastervolunteers.org. We’d be happy to discuss your concerns.

As always, we appreciate the support you’ve already given, and we look forward to working with you as we move in a new and exciting direction.

Attachments:

EDV's Asia Assessment: Partnering with Disaster Survivors to Meet Community Needs

Emma Taylor — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:04:29 GMT

Executive Director Andrew Chaggar on assessment

Since our last update, EDV has been busy in Vietnam and the Philippines assessing the need for long term reconstruction and community regeneration aid.

Typhoons Ketsana and Parma slammed into Vietnam and the Philippines more than five months ago, but there is still a huge amount of work remaining. While the initial response phase is over, long term support is needed to ensure that Asian disaster survivors can rebuild vibrant communities which will be able to withstand the yearly storms that affect the region.

We’ve met survivors who have spent the last five months living in tents. These tent cities were only meant to house survivors in the immediate aftermath of the typhoons, but with their communities completely devastated and funds limited for reconstruction, survivors have no choice but to stay in the tents. 25,000 people remain displaced in the Philippines alone.

Where people aren’t displaced, huge challenges still remain. In the mountains on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, survivors of the countless landslides which affected the region were quick to tell us that they want to relocate away to safer ground, but they have no money and nowhere to go.

In the coming weeks we’ll use the information we’ve gathered during our assessment to set up projects ranging from the construction of typhoon resistant houses to flood control measures. These projects will be carried out by volunteers, both local and international, working hand in hand with survivors.

None of the projects we’re setting up would be even conceivable without your donation. Thanks so much for your contribution, and we look forward to updating you on our projects as they grow. Stay tuned!

One of the children living in an evacuation center

One example of the devastation caused by landslide

Talking to a landslide survivor about recovery

Links:

EDV Now has a Permanent Spot on Global Giving!

Emma Taylor — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:11:32 GMT

We're beyond excited to announce that thanks to all our amazing supporters EDV has succeeded in Global Giving's Open Challenge and won a permanent spot on the website.

The money we raised during the challenge will be added to our Asia-Pacific Disaster Recovery fund in mid January, just in time for our project leaders to fly to Asia and begin our deployment. We plan to be on the ground by early Febuary.

As soon as we're on the ground we'll be updating this page with photos of the community we'll be working with and the early stages of our project. So keep checking back, and thanks so much for your support!