EcoWorks International

Breaking the cycle of poverty by building thriving,
self-sustainable communities where the need is the greatest

EWI Emergency Response Projects: Completed

• Cooked 230-250 homemade nutritious hot meals daily for the Bernard Mevs Hospital patients, staff and families, and provided water from January 20th to March 10th 2010. Was the only NGO to provide hot meals so early on and so consistently. From March 10th to the present, purchases hot meals from a small Haitian entrepreneur for the remnant of the patients.
  So far, 10,000 meals served.
• Provided clothes and a small stipend to Bernard Mevs Hospital patients, particularly families with children, being discharged to help put them back on their feet since most lost everything in the earthquake.
• Distributed 250 lb of medicine and medical supplies.
• Purchased and donated a brand new Zimmer dermatome to improve the hospital’s capacity to perform skin grafts.
• Brought a medical team to Bernard Mevs Hospital

On the Radio!

EcoWorks International’s Executive Director, Henryka Manès, was interviewed by Nadine Patrice of “Operation Green Leaves” on blogtalk radio. Ms. Patrice has been a voice for environmental protection in Haiti for over twenty years. She wanted her listeners to become acquainted with our mission and work in Haiti.

Listen to the interview >> (Click on the "24 July" interview at the left. The interview begins after some introductory music.)

• Renovated a space at Bernard Mevs Hospital to establish the center for physical and occupational therapy. Treatment of patients and training of Haitian nurses to become rehabilitation technicians started in March.
• Contributed to the realization of the charrette at the University of Miami between the School of Architecture and the Haitian Government, and participated in one of the urban and rural planning team (see below)
• Attended in the University of Miami Seismic Research Conference focusing on the Haitian earthquake and worked with scientists to understand the consequences of the finding for the country and for Ganthier in particular.
• Restored Internet access at City Hall of Ganthier.

EWI Emergency Response and Development Projects:
Ongoing and Planned

• Assist in connecting multilateral food distribution organizations to two orphanages and one home for boys in difficulty (total 1,000 children) which are egregiously underserved. Ongoing.
• Renovate a space at Bernard Mevs Hospital to move the pharmacy and increase its capacity to serve in- and out-patient population. Planning.
• Develop a job program for more than 8,000 internal refugees in Ganthier. Planning.
• Purchase and donate an ambulance to the Bernard Mevs Hospital. In process.
• Develop an education program for 3-6 years old based on the Montessori Method for children in Ganthier. Ongoing.
• Resume work on the 20,000 chicken egg farm in Ganthier. Ongoing.
• Facilitate microlending in Ganthier for groups of women merchants. Ongoing.
• Strengthen crop farming in Ganthier. Ongoing.
• Strengthen the Ganthier healthcare clinic. Planning.

Letter from the Field

March 29th, 2010

Ten weeks after the January 12th earthquake, life slowly returns with informal merchants laying out their wares on the sidewalks or hanging them on walls and trees for better display; inhabitants of street camps adapt the best they can to their situation and prepare for the long term understanding that nothing will change very fast; fervent prayers echo each evening and Sunday mornings mixed with sorrowful chants and hopeful lyrics; restaurants start to fill up; and all of us are thinking simultaneously about immediate needs and future plans, conjugating the contradictions, and navigating the hurdles as best we can. Old difficulties persist, including woefully inadequate food distribution, homelessness, fear of returning to homes that no one has yet certified as safe; yet the imminent danger of flooding as the rain season approaches will force many inside buildings. Overall people on the street ask for guidance on what to do to better weather the incoming storms and the perennial lack of food for those who lost everything and have no income.

Not many have yet absorbed the fact that there are two fault lines crossing the south and north of the country; that another earthquake is likely to occur and that we all have to get used to living with that reality and act responsibly.

Ecoworks International has been sharing its time between programs that are a continuation of the emergency response, and our long-term, pre-earthquake commitment to Ganthier, while, at the same time participating in initiatives that strengthen the Haitian government’s capacity.

Ganthier, Department of West

Now that the dire emergency is slowly subsiding, we have been intensifying our focus on Ganthier going back to our partner community whose needs have changed significantly. For one, part of Ganthier sits directly on top of the Enriquillo fault line. That segment has not yet released its energy thus the next earthquake, expected to happen in the short or medium term, will impact Ganthier. A direct consequence of this reality is that one of the villages sits directly on top of the fault line and must be resettled soon (population 2,000). The other consequence is that the land EWI received from the Haitian government should only be uses for a crop farm since it is close to the fault line, and the egg farm needs to be moved farther away from it.

To help Ganthier’s administration get back on its feet, EWI provided funding to restore the Internet connectivity at city hall. This not only enables the local government to function, it also provides young people with access to a cyber club while they wait for school reopening.

Ganthier is also seriously affected by the influx of 8,046 internal refugees that now live mostly in street camps. The strain on the community is significant and we will be launching a work program to generate income for both residents and internal refugees so as to encourage a peaceful integration of the newcomers.

Conference on Haiti's Seismic Profile

A two-day conference gathering seismic experts representing diverse disciplines that included a large number of geologists and engineers, took place March 22nd and 23-d at the University of Miami. It presented the latest research on Haiti’s earthquake, the configuration of the fault lines, the composition and liquefaction patterns of the soil, and the dangers of future earthquakes on both fault lines. The first fault line runs through Port au Prince, Croix-des-Bouquets and Ganthier, the other through the northern part of Haiti and all the way to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. EWI attended the conference and worked in private sessions with some of the scientists to better understand the challenges we face in Haiti and particularly in Ganthier.

University of Miami's Charrette:
Strengthening the Haitian Government's Capacity

Another significant event was the five-day charrette organized by the University of Miami’s School of Architecture and directed by the school’s Dean, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberg. This was an intense work / exchange / collaboration between members of Haiti’s Presidential Commission for the Development and Reconstruction of Haiti and various US professors, architects, engineers, researchers, urban planners, NGO professionals, and students. The objective was to develop a document that provided a visual representation – through maps, architectural drawings, aerial photos and texts – of the concepts imbedded in the Haitian government’s document (PDNA) that will be presented to the international donors at the United Nations on March 31st. Our partner, Max Antoine of the Presidential Commission on the Development of Border Territories (FDF) was part of the Haitian Delegation which was headed by Leslie Voltaire, the Haitian Representative to the United Nations and Personal Advisor to President Préval. Mr. Voltaire is also an architect.

Ecoworks International was privileged to have had a role in facilitating this event, and Henryka Manès participated in the charrette. Her team, headed by Bill Dennis, architect and urban planner from Rhode Island created a replicable model of a rural ’ecovillage’ of 2,000 to 3,000 residents. The model is a self-sustaining village that has a diversified economy incorporating a covered marketplace, agriculture, fish farming, and includes ecological concepts and technologies that are both practical and affordable. The model also takes advantage of the local natural resources and attractions to stimulate ecotourism and emphasizes links to other touristic regions.

Other subjects covered by the charrette included: transportation, tourism, watersheds, sustainable agriculture, land tenure, implementation processes, models of new cities of 100,000 residents, expansion of existing cities and towns without enlarging city limits, broadening the peri-urban area of Port-au-Prince to absorb the homeless population, construction codes and their applicability in Haiti, decentralization through focusing on the development of cities throughout the country, and on re-imagining Haiti.

The Haitian delegation expressed the wish to carry on this program for the next six months taking advantage of the infrastructure the University of Miami’s School of Architecture and the DPZ architectural firm have put in place to buttress the Haitian government’s work in planning the reconstruction and development of the country. EWI will continue to support this important endeavor to increase the Haitian government’s capacity building.

(See The New York Times article of March 30th)

Bernard Mevs Hospital, Port-au-Prince

We continue to work closely with the directors of the Bernard Mevs Hospital (BMH) Dr. Jerry Bitar and Dr. Marlon Bitar, where we have been present since January 18th. Almost all earthquake victims have left the hospital except two. We continue to provide hot meals for them and a few others who are in a dire situation such as “M”, who lost her house, her husband and is nine months pregnant. EWI will continue to assist her after the birth of her baby.

EWI renovated an unused space at BMH to welcome a team of New York occupational and physical therapists that ushered in the physiotherapy program we wanted to implement at Bernard Mevs. Another team from Israel will join them to ensure a continuous treatment of patients and training of eight Haitian nurses who wish to become physiotherapists. The profession of physiotherapy does not exist in Haiti so the program is one of the first to provide treatment and training.

Plans are underway to establish a prostheses and assistive aids workshops. These programs are funded by an important grant from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the generous donations of individuals and corporations that support EWI.

In April, EWI will be donating an ambulance to Bernard Mevs Hospital thanks to another generous grant from the JDC. BMH will, in turn, assist EWI with the development of the Ganthier health clinic, will accept Ganthier residents as patients and, when appropriate, will send the ambulance to bring Ganthier patients to the hospital. BMH will be responsible for the regular professional maintenance of the ambulance.

In a few weeks, EWI will renovate another space at the hospital to house the pharmacy that is currently in an impossibly cramped room shared with the accounting office. Sister Genoveve, the pharmacist, and EWI are working together on the renovation plan.

Food

Food is still an issue and World Food Program as well as other food distribution organizations are still not supplying sufficient food needed by orphanages and other children’s’ institutions such as the Children’s Home for Boys in Carrefour. Food distribution has been one of the major failures of the international community in Haiti.

Looking Forward

In the Haitian government’s plan for post earthquake reconstruction and development the Department of West which includes Ganthier is to become part of the new greater Port-au-Prince area. This brings fundamental changes in the development plans for this region and incorporates our project into the broader, country-wide development goals. We look forward to partnering with the Haitian government in strengthening the Ganthier community.

EWI Portrait

We wish to share with you the story of K.

K is a thirteen year old, spunky girl who came to Barnard Mevs Hospital after being pulled out of her collapsed school’s rubble. She was then taken to two different hospitals to finally end up at BMH, by which time her injuries worsened and to save her life she had to be amputated of her right leg. K’s mother died when she was 6 years old and since then she has been brought up by her cousin whom she calls “auntie”. Auntie’s house also collapsed, but, luckily, she and the rest of the family escaped to safety. Currently they live on the street, except K who is still hospitalized. When we met, K was quite depressed. We spent many hours together talking, playing, helping with her treatment, and holding hands. Luckily, she remembered her auntie’s phone number and we were able to contact her. We called her together every day and brought her to the hospital so she could visit K. In fact, when EWI moved its hot meal program preparation to the hospital grounds, we hired K’s auntie to work for us so she could earn a living and be with K daily.

Recently, we discovered that K had an undiagnosed problem: she has a broken pelvis and a broken left leg. Luckily, neither her femur nor her tibia moved so we expect she will heal well without further surgeries but will remain at the hospital until we are certain of her recovery. The Bernard Bevs Hospital has been most generous in letting K stay for as long as she needs to free of charge.

Schools in Port-au-Prince are scheduled to open April 5th. If all goes well, we believe K will be able to attend school end of April. Some of our donors have earmarked their donations for education in Haiti, which has enabled us to select a good school for K and to cover her tuition and other school related costs for the next two years, and buy her clothes and school supplies. When asked recently what she wanted to be when she grows up, K answered: “a nurse”; a beautiful compliment to all those who have been taking care of her since the earthquake. Now she wants to take care of others.

Your support of Ecoworks International enables us to take care of K and of other earthquake victims. Thank you.

K at the Bernard Mevs Hospital, March 17th, 2010,
Photo © Henryka Manès, 2010