Strengthening Community Resilience to Natural Disasters in Saint Jean du Sud

Haiti is prone to many deadly natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and landslides. Rural communities like Saint Jean du Sud are often overlooked in the aftermath of major disasters, causing people to become trapped in a cycle of repair and destruction. Residents fall deeper into poverty and are unable to fully recover, which puts them at greater risk when the next disaster strikes.

Peace Winds provided emergency relief in Saint Jean du Sud responding to Hurricane Matthew in 2017. It was clear the residents needed to be better prepared for future disasters to escape this cyclical pattern and take control of their lives.  In March, Peace Winds returned to the Saint Jean du Sud commune and is providing construction training and sanitation education to residents.

Community participation key to this project, and the residents are eager to learn. Local carpenters, masons, and other community members in the construction program will receive direct training from Peace Winds’ engineering team. The team will outline best practices and review important housing construction techniques to ensure structures withstand future disasters. The engineering team is also building community centers together with the program’s trainees. These centers will host livelihood trainings, after-school programs, and events for the community.

Peace Winds and community members will build latrines and also provide sanitation and hygiene education. About 80 percent of the residents do not have a latrine. Maintaining adequate hygiene following disasters is critical to reducing the spread of disease. Peace Winds staff will host workshops reviewing the importance of latrine usage and hygiene practices.

READ MORE about Peace Winds’ work in Haiti.

DONATE HERE to support Peace Winds’ efforts in Saint Jean du Sud.