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‘Health and Development' in Kenscoff and Cité Soleil in Puerto Príncipe, Haiti

From 2014 the Probitas Foundation has been collaborating with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos in Haiti in the project ‘Health and Development' which is being carried out in Kenscoff and Cité Soleil in Puerto Príncipe. At present, the project is in its second phase. The objective is, by means of a number of activities, to improve the health of the participants of a nutritional program, bettering the supply of medication and access to healthcare for the beneficiaries, and improving the quality of life of the orphans and patients at the St. Helene and St. Mery centers.


CONTEXT

Haiti is the poorest country in America. It has a population of 10,301,000 inhabitants, 80% of them living below the poverty threshold. Six out of every 100 children die before reaching 5 years of age, and life expectancy is 60 years. 56% of the population suffers from malnutrition and there are more than 280,000 people with HIV/AIDS. Only one out of every 10,000 inhabitants has access to a doctor. The hospitals are known for their mismanagement, strikes, scarcity of personnel, and lack of medical supplies.

PROJECT

The project that Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos has been carrying out for some years is focused on two centers.

On one hand, the community of Kenscoff where the St. Helene home is located and which provides shelter to abandoned children and orphans. Here, the first phase of the project has started and the children receive health education and sports training. A nutritional recuperation program has also been set up for 42 children with problems related to a lack of adequate alimentation.

On the other hand, support is provided to the St. Mery clinic in the marginalized neighborhood of Cité Soleil with the aim of providing healthcare to the population. The clinic will be remodeled, supplied with medication, and sports training will begin with the children and young people of the community. Moreover, campaigns to promote education in health, preventive strategies and awareness will be held for the young population. The St. Mery clinic will be responsible for the referral, treatment and recuperation of the children and young people who present health problems, and the offer will be extended to their families.

 PROJECT PHASES

  1. Renovation of the healthcare equipment in the St. Mery clinic (Cité Soleil).
  2. Selection of local technical staff in Cité Soleil (project coordinator, head of sports activities, head of healthcare training).
  3. Start-up of regular sports activities for the young people of Cité Soleil.
  4. Commencement of preventive health training (ETS, hygienic and dietary habits)
  5. Supply of medication to the St. Helene and St. Mery clinics.
  6. Attention for children and young people with health problems in the St. Mery clinic and nutritional recuperation for children in St. Helene.

BENEFICIARIES

The beneficiaries are the 461 orphans and abandoned children and young people who have been given shelter at St. Helene, in Kenscoff (Puerto Príncipe), and the 1,000 children and young people from the marginalized neighborhood of Cite Soleil (Puerto Príncipe) attended in the schools and clinics of this community. They have all suffered, or are suffering, from social exclusion, extreme poverty, food insecurity and a number of diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cholera, malnutrition and the like).