buildOn’s work in Haiti

At this time it is impossible to know the full impact of the devastation or even speculate on the casualties caused by the earthquake in Haiti.  Two things, however, are certain; 1) the people of Haiti desperately need our help- right now.  2) Each of us can do something to help- right now.

Since, 2001 we have built 14 schools in Haiti.  We were about to break ground on two more in the Les Cayes region, which is Southwest of Port au Prince (PaP), when the earthquake struck.  Our staff is safe and all our schools are intact – Thank God.

While we’re not a disaster relief agency, our team took it upon themselves to work side-by-side with our partners in Haiti to assist in the rescue efforts. Within 12 hours after the quake our staff, lead by Skyler Badenoch, headed toward PaP to help with recovery and relief.

Our team made it only as far as Carrefour, a community on the outskirts of PaP and the exact epicenter of the quake, where they set up a small first-aid clinic and immediately began providing relief for the victims. Since then, a camp of 8,000 refugees has sprung up around the clinic. Click here to read daily updates from our team in Haiti.

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There is now a mass exodus out of PaP to Les Cayes, which is creating an enormous new population of refugees in the region where we build schools.  We have opened up buildOn schools as relief centers for incoming refugees and have developed a two-phase response to the crisis:

Phase 1– providing basic relief, first aid and helping to stabilize the refugees.  We plan to stay in Carrefour for another week until the U.N. can set up a permanent relief station.  Then, our team will head back to Les Cayes to work in the same capacity for the gathering mass of refugees in our schools.

Phase 2– once the relief situation is stabilized and construction materials are available, we will begin scaling up school construction to help rebuild Haiti.  This is what we do best and the need has never been greater.  We plan to triple the number of schools we will build in Haiti this year- increasing construction from four to twelve schools.

We can only build these schools and provide this critical relief with your help!  A contribution of any size will help our team provide immediate assistance and sustainable recovery through education. Please consider making a donation to our relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti today.

Thank you for thinking of us,

Jim