Creating Local Jobs in Southern Haiti

Dear friends,

We will be closing our GlobalGiving fundraiser for Haiti on July 31, 2026. We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and reflect on the ways you have supported communities in the Sud (southern) department for so many years. 

Thanks in part to your generosity, Peace Winds has been able to deliver emergency relief quickly after major disasters, help communities rebuild, and support livelihood opportunities amid widespread financial instability. Please read on for a deeper look into the many ways you have made a difference.

2010 Earthquake Response

Peace Winds began working in Haiti in 2010 after a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, impacting the lives of three million people. A Peace Winds disaster team dispatched quickly; staff provided evacuees with emergency supplies including tents and tools to help them clear rubble from their homes.

In the two-and-a-half years that followed, Peace Winds rebuilt a destroyed playground and helped more than 9,600 students in Port-au-Prince get back to learning after their schools were damaged in the earthquake. Teams reconstructed 207 classrooms in 32 schools, complete with blackboards, desks, and benches. They also worked with each school’s leadership committee to provide school supply kits tailored to each student’s needs.

2016 Hurricane Matthew Response

In 2016, we began this GlobalGiving project to ask for your help in responding to Hurricane Matthew, which had devastated southwestern Haiti. A Peace Winds disaster team dispatched once again, and your donations helped them provide survivors with emergency relief items such as blankets and tarpaulins.

As weeks and months went by after the hurricane, Peace Winds met with survivors and local leaders to learn what was needed most. We focused our efforts on Saint-Jean-du-Sud, a pastoral area in Sud that had received very little support from other relief efforts. 

We learned that what residents needed most was to repair their homes, so we provided repair kits including corrugated iron sheets (commonly used for roofing in Haiti), hammers, saws, gloves, and nails. When corrugated iron is installed properly, it is very effective at withstanding wind and rain. So Peace Winds engineers led workshops to ensure that residents had the skills to effectively repair their homes.

Your donations also allowed us to deliver much-needed school supplies at all seven schools in Saint-Jean-du-Sud. This made a huge difference for more than 2,000 students who were impacted by the disaster.

2018-2021 Building Disaster-Resistant Community Centers

Beginning in early 2018, Peace Winds engineers led a training program in disaster-resistant construction techniques for local carpenters, masons, and other Saint-Jean-du-Sud residents. As a “final project” at the end of the course, trainees and instructors worked together to build a multipurpose community center. They built a total of 14 community centers over the four years of the program. 

After the centers were built, local groups took over owning and running them. Residents use them for everything from meetings and after-school programs to weddings and other special events. Community centers were also vital hubs for Peace Winds programs for many years, including vocational and career development programs for youth, women’s groups, and others.

Another use for the community centers is as sites for disaster preparedness training, including evacuation drills for school children. They also serve as evacuation shelters in real disasters. Each has been built using disaster-resistant techniques and is equipped with solar panels, batteries, and generators. They proved to be crucial after the 2021 earthquake.

2021 Earthquake Response

Haiti’s political and humanitarian situations worsened with the assassination of its president in July 2021, and again one month later when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the southwest and devastated Sud. Hurricane Grace made landfall just two days later, hindering relief efforts. 

Peace Winds again heard from survivors that their biggest need was to repair their homes. Your donations helped us provide materials and training so that nearly 1,700 homes could be repaired across eight towns.

After the disaster, disabled Haitians were particularly vulnerable to effects like hazardous, earthquake-damaged roads and sidewalks; lack of or damage to their mobility aids; increased unemployment; and the difficulty of evacuating with a physical disability. It was also estimated that disaster-related injuries caused the number of people with disabilities to double in Sud. So, with your help, Peace Winds provided mobility aids–including crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, and canes–to 120 earthquake survivors.

“I live with my grandmother and younger brother,” said Michelangie, one girl who received a wheelchair. “People with disabilities like me are not often socially accepted in Haiti. There is discrimination and prejudice, and everyday life is not easy.

“After the earthquake, the wheelchair I had been using for a long time had its wheels broken on the bumpy road. I needed my family’s help for even small moves, which made me feel uncomfortable and frustrated. I was happy to receive a new wheelchair so now I can move freely on my own with less help from my family.”

2020-2026 Livelihood Support for Local Groups

Peace Winds began partnering with a local women’s group in 2020 to help its members earn a more stable income from peanuts and cashews–an important local commodity. Helping groups like these rebuild their livelihoods became even more important in the wake of the earthquake and political instability. 

The women attended courses at their community centers where they learned how to more effectively harvest, process, and package the nuts; make short- and long-term business plans; and market and sell their products. Groups are now making a steady income from the local sale of roasted nuts, nut butter, and even cashew apple juice and wine.

Later, your generosity also allowed Peace Winds to support opportunities for youth in Sud’s towns of Arniquet, Taverne, and Chantal. School dropout rates are high here, leaving many teenagers vulnerable to gang recruitment and other risky behavior. One program taught sewing theory, textile design, and practiced hands-on sewing techniques. Students also learned business skills and got career-planning support.

Finally, beginning in 2024, we asked for your help to support a group of fishermen in the town of Saint-Jean-du-Sud. Many people on Haiti’s southern coast make a living from fishing. But the 70 women and men who make up the APEDESSUD fishing cooperative had been hit hard by the string of disasters and political turmoil. Thanks to your donations, they were able to purchase new gear, including a fishing boat, and gain new processing and business skills through Peace Winds training. APEDESSUD now reports that members are better able to earn a living and support their families, and they are more equipped to withstand future hardship.

All of us at Peace Winds are grateful to supporters like you for making these achievements possible. While this fundraising initiative has run its course, we will continue to look for ways to to support innovative and inspiring people working in Haiti to improve their communities.