Haiti - Introducing Safe Haven Education Nutrition Association of Haiti (S.H.E.N.A-Haiti)
Posted: Monday, July 26, 2010
by Rose-Marie Chaperon
Chaperon Consulting, LLC
For those of us who have never experienced poverty, we often wonder what poverty feels, tastes like, smells like? For many of us, the word "poverty" immediately evokes images of homelessness, a lack of food, no water, and a lack of cleanliness. However, poverty is much, much deeper than this one image. The potential for poverty exists within all of us, because all of us are vulnerable to circumstance and to misfortune. Poverty can be both internal, an untouchable quality, and external-- our lack of food or water, for example.
Poverty is the biggest test a man can take, as human it curbs us from eating living buying and attending basic amenities and frustrates us as individuals. It may not be surprising to hear poverty in Haiti is huge, but realizing that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere is a bit of a shock when you find out it is also home to some of the wealthiest people in the world as well. Approximately 80% of Haiti's population lives in extreme poverty; there is a small middle class population and a very small segment of extremely wealthy people, including millionaires. Most Haitians live in rural areas or very small, often remote, villages. They live without access to electricity or even clean water. Over half the adult population is illiterate due mostly to the lack of access to education and books and the need for children to work from very young ages. Those who live in the cities fair no better. In fact, 65% of Haitian children will never finish elementary school and 80% won't ever attend high school.
Access to healthcare in Haiti is nearly non-existent. Over 60% of the population lacks access to even the most basic healthcare services. Disease is rampant, overcrowding is extreme, and employment is next to nothing. More than two-thirds of the workforce has no regular jobs. Those who do work often make only about $2 a day in US equivalent wages.
Children in Haiti are widely dependent on the generosity and benevolence of others for the most basic of their needs. Soaring food prices worldwide simply compound the already overwhelming problem. For years food imported under US trade deals was so cheap that it undercut local farmers, further diminishing their ability to earn even the most meager of livings. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that Haiti produces only about 40% of the food it needs. Therefore, how do you feed a nation who only produces 40% of the food it needs? It is ok to say they can purchase it from the US, how would they be able to afford it when a day's wage is not enough to purchase a can of condensed milk?
The poverty in Haiti is nearly unimaginable to many people and the most heartbreaking of its victims are the children. Lack of food, hygienic living conditions, clean water and basic healthcare combine with epidemic diarrhea, respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis and altogether give Haiti the highest infant, under-five and maternal mortality rates in the western hemisphere.
Clearly, the Haitian people face some of the most difficult circumstances around the globe. Without continued assistance from the generosity of other nations, the future of Haiti is unlikely to improve anytime in the foreseeable future. In April 2010, I founded Safe Haven Education Nutrition Association of Haiti (SHENA-Haiti).
S.H.E.N.A Haiti is a youth development organization that provides daily after school and summer enrichment programs for the youth of this community ages six to sixteen. The organization was established in April 2009, as a small personal children canteen by Rose-Marie Chaperon, the organization was later converted to S.H.E.N.A Haiti in April 2010.
Since our founding, S.H.E.N.A Haiti has grown from a call to action by concerned board members, initially serving 40 children, and now the need has increased to over 300 disadvantaged young people citywide each day. Unfortunately, due to the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the streets of Les Cayes are inundated with homeless children who have migrated from Port-au-Prince, these children have no one to care for them. They are simply looking for a meal and a place to stay. At the heart of the mission is the goal of ensuring that all of our young people have access to the resources they will need to succeed in life. We are currently operating in someone's living room; our plan for the future is to build a campus in the city of Simon, near Les Cayes.
S.H.E.N.A Haiti is dedicated to ensuring that our community's young people, who are most in need of our help, have greater access to quality programs and services that provide the hope, training and opportunities to ensure that they may become productive adults. As an organization, we will continue to seek ways and means of reaching out to serve the thousands of young people who need us most. "Haiti's most valuable assets". Like Mother Theresa said, if you cannot feed all of the why not feed one. www.shenahaiti.org
Help Safe Haven Education Nutrition Association of Haiti, Inc raise by money to support its children in Haiti. Just start using Yahoo! powered GoodSearch.com as your search engine and they'll donate about a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search!
In addition, do all of your shopping through their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice. You pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!
Here's the web site - http://www.goodsearch.com. You can also read about GoodSearch in the NY Times, Oprah Magazine, CNN, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal.
To help my organization raise money for our cause by using " GoodSearch & GoodShop for your search and purchases .
First! Add the Safe Haven Education Nutrition Association of Haiti - SHENA toolbar to your internet Explorer by downloading it at the link below.
http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/safe-haven-education-nutrition-association-of-haiti-shena.aspx
Thank you
Thank you for reading
Rose-Marie
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Hi Rose-Marie what a great artilce you have written about your country and your organization, I enjoyed reading it and after I visited your website I had a better understanding of what needs to be done to help Haiti. I will definetely make a donation to your organization. Take careAngela
Nice website Rose
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