Provide a safe home for Haitian Orphans

Thanks to your amazing generosity the kids at the HTDC Orphanage have all enjoyed their summer despite the overall situation in Haiti remaining fragile.

The political unrest we described in our last report has continued as fuel shortages have hit the country. Major highways in Port-au-Prince have been blocked by protesters angry at rising prices. 

This means travel around the city continues to be difficult, even dangerous, and so taking the children out on trips hasn’t been possible.

Happily, the orphanage Director Carlo has found a solution to keep the kids occupied. Rather than take the children out for entertainment he’s brought the entertainment to them!

In August, with your support and the support of others, a playground was built on the orphanage’s property. Artificial grass has been laid. Swings, a roundabout and a see-saw have been installed, and there’s even a little pool to keep the kids cool in the heat of the day.

Carlo had this to say about the playground:

“We would like to thank IDV’s donors for all the help because without you guys we wouldn’t have that place for the kids to play. The kids never get tired of playing and the new little pool for them to swim, they stay all day this summer on the playground.”

We also asked the kids what they thought and Keson had this to say:

“The playground looks like other playgrounds I see in the movies! Thank you!”

We agree that the playground looks amazing and we’ve included some photos in this report. It’s fantastic that even though turmoil continues on the streets outside, the orphanage remains a safe, stimulating oasis inside. Thanks so much for making this possible.

Carlo’s not stopped with the playground however, and he’s also been working hard on future plans for the orphanage.

While their current house meets all the children’s needs we’ve always remained conscious that the orphanage remains reliant on donor’s generosity to pay the rent.

So, for many years Carlo’s vision has been to build their own house on land you helped them to buy many years ago. For a long while this vision remained just that, but this year Carlo’s started looking at ways to make this dream a reality. He explained as follows:

“For the construction we now have an estimate for about $115,000 but this is for two levels of the building. For now we can start with  the first floor. This would have 2 dormitories for about 40 kids and two toilets and bathrooms on each dormitory, a living room, office and a little clinic. In the back we can have a playground for the kids. We can take the material you helped us with this summer. We estimate everything for the first floor will cost $60,000”

This isn’t a small amount of money but given that the rent is currently over $10,000 a year in the long-term building a new house would make the orphanage much more sustainable.

So, we’re keen to help if we can, and over the coming weeks and months we’ll be working with Carlo to develop a more detailed budget and plan. So, stay tuned for more updates.

Meanwhile, thanks so much again for your continued support. If you ever have any questions about the orphanage and how we use your donations, please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.