The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee has already constructed two villages in Haiti and is planning No.3.
Donors can see for themselves how lives of families in Haiti have changed at an inauguration of the Boca Grande Friendship Village II in Michaud Jan. 14-17. Anyone who wants to attend this joyous celebration is invited to join Scott and Food For The Poor officials.
Scott will address the Boca Grande Committee at a reception Feb. 21, 2013, at the Gasparilla Inn Beach Club, 445 Gilchrist Ave, where he will reveal plans for Boca Grande Friendship Village III in Manneville, Haiti.
Article Photos
Nearly three years after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in Haiti a reported 400,000 people are still living in tent cities near Port-au-Prince.
More than 1 million Haitians were left homeless by the 2009 earthquake and tent cities soon crowded the landscape.
Since then, however, relief efforts such as the Boca Grande Friendship Village have helped relocate more than half of those tents out of Port-au-Prince. A reported 400,000 remain in need of permanent housing.
The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee and Coconut Creek-based Food For The Poor have fully funded the Boca Grande Friendship Village II. Forty families have been relocated from tents to homes in Michaud. Boca Grande has helped build a total of 115 homes, several schools and community centers since the earthquake.
Fact Box
To Go
Who: Chairman Ben Scott
What: Boca Grande Committee at a reception
When: Feb. 21
Where: Gasparilla Inn Beach Club, 445 Gilchrist Ave.
Why: Plans revealed for Boca Grande Friendship Village III in Manneville, Haiti
Contact:
"After the earthquake in Haiti, my wife and I had the opportunity to see what these tent cities are like first-hand, and after that experience we knew we had to help," said Ben Scott, Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee chairman in a press release. "We met with the committee and decided that our second village would be designated for families living in the tents. We are very grateful for the opportunity to help these families to get a new start in life."
Manneville is a small town, population of 52,000, surrounded by two lakes near Thomazeau in the community of Croix-des-Bouquets. People of Manneville mainly make a living from seasonal farming such as millet, sugar cane and onions. Many do not have proper farming tools or methods. There is a local market and a few small boutiques, but not enough to create employment opportunities for the masses.
Boca Grande Friendship Village III will have the following:
35 two-room houses with sanitation, a guttering system connected to a water cistern, which will provide families with immediate access to rain water.
2,000 trees planted around the community to reforest the land and increase fruit-bearing stocks.
100 goats will be distributed to residents trained on how to care for the animals.
50 residents will receive agricultural tools.
The Boca Grande Hope for Haitians Committee has been working through Food For The Poor to build homes since 2009.
The first community built by Boca Grande through Food For The Poor was the Friendship Village in Pierre Payen, in the Artibonite Region of the country. In 2010, 40 double-unit homes equipped with kitchenettes, sanitation and 200-gallon plastic water cisterns to collect rainwater were constructed. In 2011, they completed a school, added 22 double-unit homes, fruit trees, solar-powered street lights and more than 20 cows. Sixteen women were given the opportunity for small business ventures.
Friendship Village II is a community of 40 two-room houses equipped with a sanitation unit and kitchenette. Each family was given two solar-powered lanterns. Four solar-powered street lamps were also installed for added security. The village also has a community center, 200 fruit trees, 80 goats and a water filtration unit.
"It's hard to find the words to describe how thankful we are for this new village in Michaud, Haiti," said Angel Aloma, executive director of Food For The Poor. "Forty families with safe homes became 40 families who are given a hand up towards self-sustainability. Forty self-sustaining families will give hope to many others living in deplorable conditions, while inspiring many compassionate people here to help them in the same way."
Food For The Poor, named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the nation, feeds millions in 17 Caribbean and Latin America countries. The interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96 percent of all donations going directly to programs that help the poor.
