Children pose for a photo in Les Cayes, Haiti, where SOS Children's Villages plans to build the new Bourjolie Village for children in need

August 16, 2011: The third SOS Children’s Village in Haiti will be built in Bourjolie, a community within Les Cayes, a seaport on Haiti's southwestern peninsula. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2012.

The SOS Village will have 15 family homes for approximately 135 orphaned and abandoned children. Children without parental care are a serious issue in Les Cayes where 2 to 3 children are found abandoned in hospitals each day.

Even before the devastating earthquake of 2010, SOS Children’s Villages had planned to build a third village in Haiti. The earthquake and other circumstances accelerated these plans and the land, purchased by SOS many years prior, was re-examined and surveyed. The land was found to be at risk of flooding and therefore, SOS examined additional property and found a suitable plot in nearby Bourjolie. After many bureaucratic delays, the land was acquired in May 2011.

Family Strengthening Programs

Boys play at SOS Children's Villages - Cap Haitien, in Haiti

SOS has been working with community leaders to find areas of greatest need for children in Les Cayes. Ilu Valenzuela, Program Coordinator of SOS Children’s Villages Haiti, reported: “Highly vulnerable families live in Savane. 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 these families, to increase their capacities of caring for the children and to improve conditions for the children’s development.”

Les Cayes faces a number of pressing issues such as inadequate parental care including domestic violence, lack of schools, and lack of health care. Extremely high unemployment compounds these problems and SOS will work towards supporting families and communities in order to increase social and economic independence.

SOS will use Community Centers in various areas of Les Cayes as day care centers for children and counseling and vocational training for adults and hire local workers when possible.

Schools in Haiti

Children pose outside the SOS School near Port-au-Prince, in Haiti

There are not enough public schools to accommodate all the children in Les Cayes, clearly contributing to the high rate of illiteracy in Haiti overall. SOS will build a school within the new SOS Children’s Village offering classes from 1st to 9th grade.

The school will provide a free, high-quality education to 700 children from the Village and from the community. This facility will also provide a platform for ensuring a greater level of nutrition and protection for children who attend.

SOS is also planning on constructing an autonomous community school in a neighborhood called Delmas, where SOS will work with the community to organize and maintain the school.

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