Increasing Hygiene and Disaster-Resilience in Southern Haiti
Peace Winds recently concluded our resilience enhancement project remote southern Haiti, helping to create a community that is more resistant to natural disasters. The project began in March 2020, and since then, our teams in Haiti have faced challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the assassination of the country’s president in July, and the earthquake in August whose epicenter was right near Peace Winds’ project site. Fortunately, we were still able to complete the project, and with four new community centers in the Chantal commune and measures like natural disaster response training, hygiene training, and evacuation drills, Peace Winds has helped build a safer, more disaster-resilient community.
One major achievement of this project was helping children use the toilet to provide the community with better sanitation. Before, many children saw the toilet as a dark and scary place, but with the help of paint and a bit of creativity, they are now greeted with colorful images of local landscapes and reminders to wash their hands. Toilet usage for children has increased nearly 20 percent.
Peace Winds also held hygiene and disaster prevention workshops where community members learned about the infection route of pathogens, preventative measures, and how to use the toilet as an educational activity in schools. Children learned songs and dances to help make the activities more fun and engaging. In the disaster workshops, residents participated in evacuation drills with local experts and learned how to use Peace Winds community centers as shelters in the event of a disaster–a vital resource following the August 2021 earthquake.
When community centers aren’t being used as shelters, they are part of Haitians’ everyday lives by hosting livelihood activities, meetings for residents’ associations, school classes, and more. Because they are solar powered, residents can even use the centers at night in places where electricity is scarce, increasing opportunities for the community to connect.
Peace Winds is still working toward recovery and reconstruction for residents of southern Haiti whose livelihoods and loved ones were taken from them in the earthquake, but we look forward to continuing our work in the region and bringing updates to our followers. Thank you for all you have done to aid our efforts so far, and we appreciate your continued support.
