How do we recognize a hero? Christopher Reeve said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”  When it comes to “overwhelming obstacles”, the people of Haiti have certainly had more than their fair share. News reports out of Haiti almost always include words like chaos, misery, poverty, and violence. The country of Haiti is currently suffering through a vicious and dangerous uprising, where each day shortages of food, water, fuel, and medical care become more desperate. Although rural Grande Saline is somewhat iso ..read more

Written by Kylie Butcher (Binghamton University) and Kara Zounon (SUNY Broome) November has officially begun, which typically marks the start of the holiday season for most people. However, for the Haitian community, there is a much more significant event that takes place first – The Battle of Vertières.  In 1791, Toussaint L’Ouverture led a successful uprising of slaves, which marked the beginning of the Haitian Revolution. On November 18th,1803, near a city called Cap-Haitien in the North of Haiti, Vertières held one of the most important battles that led to Haiti’s independence and mad ..read more

Greetings from Health for Haiti. Haiti continues to suffer from instability, unrest, and widespread violence.  Nearly half the population does not have enough to eat and thousands of children are denied access to education because it is not safe enough to attend school.  However, in rural Grande Saline, our community gardens are thriving and the 2023-2024 school term is in session. We are hopeful that it will be another successful year for our students and teachers.   Last year a record 252 students attended our school. This is amazing considering that back in 2014 when He ..read more

Today, March 15, 2023, is a significant day for the Health for Haiti team. March 15, 2015 was the first day that our water filtration system, donated by the Pall Corporation in Cortland, New York, started filtering and cleaning water from the Artibonite River, making it safe to drink. Now, eight years later, we are grateful for the many donors, supporters, and partners in Haiti who have made safe drinking water and better health a priority for our community partners in Grande Saline. The past eight years have been filled with success but also many challenges. Through it all, the team has pers ..read more

“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” Malala Yousafzai Conditions remain very unsettled in Haiti, but the Haitian Ministry of Education has begun to gradually start opening schools across the country. The school that Health for Haiti partners with in Grande Saline School is unique, and actually began holding regular classes in several weeks ago. Although Haitian schools had not yet formally opened for the 2022-2023 academic year, the administrative and teaching staff in Grande Saline had met decided that it was critical to find a way to get the students back into ..read more

Greetings from Health for Haiti. While we are sad to report that our community partners in Haiti are facing significant challenges associated with cholera, we want to share their efforts to face the crisis. Cholera is a diarrheal disease that if left untreated can cause rapid dehydration, kidney failure, and death. Cholera spreads when water becomes contaminated with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. Cholera spreads in water where there’s poor sanitation and when people face challenges with obtaining clean drinking water. Haiti experienced its first major cholera outbreak in 2010, and although there h ..read more

Greetings from Health for Haiti. It feels utterly impossible to convey in a few sentences the devastating humanitarian crisis that our friends in Haiti are currently experiencing. There are blocked roads and dire shortages of fuel. It is very difficult to find safe drinking water. There is catastrophic hunger and violence in the streets. Many people have been displaced from their homes. Over four million children are not receiving an education because it is not safe for schools to open. And on top of all of that, there has been a reemergence of cholera. While it is not possible to offer a Heal ..read more

“Food is hope. Food is dignity. Food is empathy. Food is community. Food is family. Food is caring. Food is nourishment.  Food is resilience. Food is building longer tables. Food is peace. Food is love!” José Andrés (Chef and Humanitarian) Human needs don’t get much more basic than water and food, and adequate access to both is critical for health, achievement, and success. Health for Haiti’s long standing community garden project has been a sustainable and practical way to partner with the families in Grande Saline to help reduce food insecurity and support education and learning. Prod ..read more

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” Lady Bird Johnson As we welcome the warmth and promise of spring in upstate New York, Health for Haiti is celebrating an exciting new beginning at the school in Grande Saline.  Construction that began last fall is now complete and students have started attending classes in their beautiful and sturdy new kindergarten building.  The building was designed by the community in Haiti and was built by a local Haitian construction company, providing much-needed support to the local economy. This project was funded by a grant from the Endicott Rotary and ..read more

Haiti has been in the world news since the assassination of President Moise last week. For a country already facing so much poverty and insecurity, the instability of the government and exacerbation of anarchy and violence are making an already desperate situation even worse. And although the assassination has only recently moved Haiti into the international spotlight, things have been getting progressively worse and more dangerous and desperate for Haitian citizens for a long time. However, even as we see our Haitian friends endure these unimaginably difficult times, we continue to receive so ..read more