BHF’s Four Pillars of Development
The BHF decentralization model is supported by four pillars of development that are designed to reinforce institutions, provide access to education and healthcare, address environmental degradation and other challenges, and create economic development activities that will help create jobs and allow each town, villages and department to be self-sustaining. The pillars include: Education, Public Health, Environmental Sustainability and Entrepreneurship.
Education
Through the generous and ongoing support of contributors, the Build Haiti Foundation has been able to help support four schools in Camp Coq through different means including School Adoption Program, Tuition Assistance Program, school supplies donations, music and sports programs. Some of these schools, often, go a full year and not able to pay their teacher a salary. To the credit of these teachers, they keep showing up day after day to do their job. With limited resources, we do the best we can to support these schools. Your support can go a long way in helping us meet this challenge. Education Pillar seeks to address the following:
- School Supplies
- Tuition Assistance Program
- Leadership Training
- Cross-Cultural Leadership Program
- Tech Empowerment and Resource Program (TERP) – Internet Access
Public Health
Deficient sanitation systems, poor nutrition, and inadequate health services have pushed Haiti to the bottom of the World Bank’s rankings of health indicators. The need for a well-coordinated effort on Haiti’s healthcare system is very much needed. Since the devastating earthquake of 2010, BHF has been working relentlessly to address the healthcare needs of the Haitian people by working with the local community and international partners to respond to the call. We have constructed a medical clinic, supported regional clinics, provided medical supplies and expertise, collaborated with healthcare experts to bring in the requisite resources to the community. Other accomplishments include the formation of student groups as part of the Global Leadership Program to raise awareness locally and internationally about community issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, blindness, teen pregnancy, etc. The following is a list of health-related projects:
- The Marie Mediatrice Medical Clinic
- Medical Supplies Donation
- Annual Medical Workshop
- The “Dlo” (Water)
Environmental Sustainability
Waste management and the disposal of Styrofoam containers and plastic have been a major problem for local communities. These types of issues contribute greatly to Haiti’s healthcare challenges. The Build Haiti Foundation, using its sister city program, seeks to identify partners who can help tackle these major challenges. BHF is also soliciting the help of US universities and other partners. Through a sustained effort, BHF continues to engage the local community through its GLP program to raise awareness and empower locals to address issues faced by their community which include:
- Waste Management Program
- Botanical Garden & Tree Planting
- Community Clean-Up
Entrepreneurship
Employment is vital to all sectors of society. It is considered one of the primary reasons for people’s migration. In a country like Haiti where unemployment is close to 50%, there is a lot of duplication in the job sector where most tend to replicate the job that their neighbors are doing. In so doing, they saturate the market and find themselves overwhelmingly limiting their revenue potential.
BHF teaches students to think strategically, understand their local market and come up with ways to not only create new opportunities, but to also provide better structure to their microenterprise. Through BHF’s projects, we provide new job opportunities, train locals and use them in our supply chain and those of our partners working on the ground.
BHF teaches students to think strategically, understand their local market and come up with ways to not only create new opportunities, but to also provide better structure to their microenterprise. Through BHF’s projects, we provide new job opportunities, train locals and use them in our supply chain and those of our partners working on the ground.
- The Egg Production Project
- The Cassava Bread and Plantain Chips Production