Two children from a neigborhood in Les Cayes, Haiti, where SOS Children's Villages plans to build a new SOS Village

April 20, 2011: In the wake of the terrible earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, SOS Children's Villages extended shelter, food, and education to children and families in dire need. Under the protective arm of SOS’s two Children’s Villages in Haiti, more than 500 unaccompanied children have found love, safety, and three square meals a day. Thousands more have benefited from SOS’s emergency food distribution program.

After natural disasters, in Haiti and elsewhere, SOS develops short-term and long-term plans to serve the neediest children and families. With short-term emergency response in Haiti now complete, SOS Children’s Villages has begun allocating resources for its next task -- bolstering greater numbers of fragile families by expanding its base into southern Haiti. SOS will build a new Children’s Village in Les Cayes, a port city in Haiti’s south. Its other villages are located in central Haiti, near the capital Port-au-Prince, and in the north, at Cap Haitien.

A Spate of New Programs to Strengthen Haitian Families

Portrait of a boy sitting alone at the entrance of a house in Les Cayes, Haiti.

Why is SOS enlarging its programs southward? Les Cayes, with 70,000 people, is home to a rapidly growing number of post-earthquake migrants. According to local authorities, with whom SOS is working closely, a lack of schools and medical care, together with high unemployment and domestic violence, make the outlook for children in that region very grim.

Many unaccompanied children live in the area. Every day two to three children are found abandoned by their mothers in local hospitals. Les Cayes currently provides few alternatives to orphanages or adoptions. In the new Children’s Village at Les Cayes, 135 abandoned children will find warm homes and loving SOS mothers in 15 family houses.

Importantly, SOS-Les Cayes will serve as a base for providing a slew of programs that aim to increase families' social and economic independence. SOS will create multiple community centers in and around Les Cayes that will provide day care as well as training and social support for parents. “We have visited a zone called Savane, where highly vulnerable families live,” says Ilu Valenzuela, SOS-Haiti’s program coordinator. “Children grow up in inappropriate homes, often malnourished, without access to health, food and education, with a high number of unemployed parents. We want a space to work with those families, increase their capacities of caring for the children, and improve conditions for the children’s development.”

Investing in Education

Boys at SOS Children's Villages - Santo, in Haiti, smile for the camera.

Aside from its new Children’s Village and family strengthening initiatives in Les Cayes, SOS will fill a huge need for education by building an SOS school next to the village that will give tuition-free instruction to more than 700 area children in grades one to nine. At present, only one public school serves the area’s 15,000 inhabitants.

SOS is also planning to build an autonomous school in a neighbourhood called Delmas. The local community will organize and maintain the school. You can be part of creating loving homes for children in need by becoming a Global Village Builder. For as little as $12 a month, you can provide the essentials of life to children whose prospects would be severely limited without your help.

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