Today I ran into a fellow lawyer from the area. One of his ongoing humanitarian efforts is in conjunction with the St. Mary Haiti Ministry. St. Mary’s in Lafayette was “twinned” with Pendus, an area in the mountains of Haiti about 120 miles from Port-au-Prince. Turns out, the project has a website, so I thought I would give it a mention. One of the things that struck me was how much good they are able to do for not that much money. So, if you are interested in such things, click through and see what they are doing.
One project I saw recently was the introduction of solar ovens to Haiti. For many Haitians, the largest expenditure is charcoal for cooking. Charcoal production for cooking is the main reason the country is something like 99% deforested.
One manufacturer had a micro-loan program so people could buy the ovens, which pay for themselves in about three months and last more than a decade.
Hopefully solar cooking practices can become widespread. Without forest regrowth, they will continue to be prone to flooding and mudslides.