Maison L’Arc-en-Ciel- Haiti and the Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew

On October 4th, Haiti was hit with a devastating Category 4 hurricane, which has so far caused over one billion dollars in damages and taken the lives of over 1000 Haitian people. Hurricane Matthew’s winds of over 145 MPH led to the destruction of thousands of homes across southwest Haiti and it is estimated that over 90% of some areas in the south of Haiti have completely devastated by the storm. While international aid has been arriving, those who are in the most dire need of aid have been extremely difficult to reach due to bridges and roads being wiped from landslides and flooding. The high levels of deforestation in Haiti greatly attributed to the number of landslides, and the storm only worsened this problem, destroying many of the remaining trees on the island nation. While the short term effects of Hurricane Matthew are devastating, the long-term effects are going to cause the detrimental damage to Haiti. A large portion of the country’s plantations were wiped out, setting up for a food crisis a few months down the line. The spread of cholera is also a major fear among Haitians and humanitarian aid workers, for clean water is extremely hard to access and this will only lead to the spread of this terrible disease, which can leave thousands more dead in its wake. Organizations are distributing hygiene packets, clean water, food, and rolls of plastic sheeting, but these are only very temporary solutions to the problem, and we must aim to create long term, sustainable solutions that will not leave the Haitian people in the same situation as they faced following the 2010 earthquake. Many organizations are aiming to provide more long-term solutions to the problems, including World Merit Haiti, the Haitian Education Leadership Program, and Hope for Haiti. As more organizations work to create long term solutions, the Honey for Haiti project and Renewable Now will update our readers on how they can support these sustainable relief efforts.

At Maison L’Arc-en-Ciel, some damage occurred, but nothing that the children and staff of the orphanage could not handle. They are located more towards central Haiti, where the Hurricane was only considered a tropical storm. Thankfully, no children or staff were injured during the storm the restoration efforts have begun. Pictures attached with this article will document the damages and clean up at L’Arc-en-Ciel. Following the clean up of the storm and replanting of the crops that were lost, L’Arc-en-Ciel will begin the construction of the pig sty, funded with the help of Arpin Strong, and we will soon be seeing the progress of that project.

To learn more about the project at Maison L’Arc-en-Ciel, please visit us at www.HoneyforHaiti.org and Like us on Facebook and Instagram, @HoneyforHaiti.