PROGRAMS
Shelter
The average Haitian family lives in houses built with corrugated metal and wood that has been secured with rope or twine. There are no floors; therefore they sleep on dirt floors, unless they have the luxury of one mattress for all, either through donation or money they have received from selling produce that they have grown in their fields. There are no bathrooms.
These homes are normally one room used for living, eating and sleeping. They build a small hut outside of their home that they use to cook over wood burning fires. Normally they own one large pot that sits on the fire. This pot is what they use to cook all meals, provided they have food that day.
Donations have allowed SWLT to purchase supplies to build two, two-room homes. The homes have cement floors and cinderblock walls and ceilings.
Healthcare
SWLT has purchased a small building in Despinasse that will be used for a clinic. This is our project for 2020. The people that live in this small village have no clean water. They drink, bath and do laundry all from the same spring. Haiti has the highest incidence of T.B. in the Americas. Gastrointestinal disorders, parasites, pneumonia, malnutrition and the high incidence of infections due to dirty living conditions make the need for a local clinic a necessity.
There is no health insurance in Haiti. If a person does not have money, they do not receive healthcare. There are hospitals; mainly in Port au Prince, but these hospitals are overwhelmed and will only accept cash-paying customers given there are no credit cards in Haiti. Most hospitals are full to capacity and it is not abnormal for a patient to travel to three or more hospitals before finding one that will accept them, often with grave outcomes.
The clinic will allow the people of Despinasse to be triaged by a nurse. This nurse will be able to take care of most issues along with childbirth. Only the worst cases will be sent on in search of a hospital.
SWLT will be raising funds in 2020 to update this two-room building with new cement floors, roof repairs, paint, a desk, cots, and clinic supplies. Nurses in Haiti average a monthly income of $300. The nurse we hire will be paid by donations SWLT receives.
SWLT will travel to Despinasse every six months bringing doctors and dentist that would like to donate their time along with supplies to replenish what has been used. We depend on donated supplies from various companies in the U.S.
Education
There is a school in Despinasse. Serve With Love Today (SWLT) donated books and book cases which allowed them to start a library, copies of famous artwork to teach the children about the artists and their artwork, computers to start a computer class, printers, paper and various classroom supplies.
Serve With Love Today has also worked on educating the children on health and nutrition along with building keyhole gardens to allow sustainable living during drought seasons.
Agriculture
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. There is an 80% unemployment rate with 60% of the Haitian people living on less than $2 a day. SWLT is working to teach sustainable living. The Haitian people have respect and for the most part, do not want hand outs, they want a hand up. SWLT works in a small farming community up in the mountains. With donations we started a small micro loan business. We supplied seed, some small equipment and with donations, built a large community cistern, which collects rainwater. This cistern helps in the drought season. Once their crops are harvested, the farmers sell their crops down at a weekly market, and pay back a small amount of their profits to our project so that we can purchase more supplies and help others. This allows the farmer to build his own business. To date, we have a waiting list of people waiting for this micro loan.