Haiti
Mary’s Meals provides meals in schools in Haiti’s largest and poorest slum, Cite Soleil, and in the Gonaives and Hinche regions.
Cite Soleil
Cite Soleil is a slum area of the capital Port au Prince situated on the edge of the Caribbean Sea. Around 300,000 people live crammed together on what is essentially a giant rubbish tip. Their houses are flimsy shacks with no access to potable water or sanitation. The slum is run by armed gangs and the area is extremely volatile. There is widespread hunger and malnutrition especially amongst the children.
Cite Soleil is a notoriously difficult place to work in and we are only able to do so thanks to the courage and dedication of our partners led by Fr Tom Hagan, an American priest whose humanitarian work has gained the respect and support of the local community.
Gonaives
We provide daily meals in schools for impoverished children living in this area which has been badly hit by hurricanes and flooding affecting the land’s fertility and leaving people, already desperately poor living, in even more difficult conditions. ‘There have been a lot of changes with the children. Sometimes, this is the only meal that they have. Before, their hair colour was different, an orange colour. Now the colour of their hair is different.’ Daniel Claude, Administrative Principal, Guimby
Hinche
Mary’s Meals provides school feeding in Hinche located in the Central Plateau region, which is one of the poorest and most under served areas of Haiti. Some of the children we provide meals to are orphans living at the Masion Fortune Orphanage, and others are children attending schools serving poor, rural communities.
Mary’s Meals Haiti Film – Jimmy’s Story
Haiti Earthquake – Our Response
On 12th January, 2010, a massive earthquake struck Haiti, killing an estimated 200,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless. Haiti was already the poorest nation in the Americas before this disaster which was why Mary’s Meals was working there. Shortly after the devastating earthquake stuck, Mary’s Meals launched an emergency appeal, which was massively successful. Thanks to the amazing generosity of our supporters, over £1.3 million was donated to support relief efforts and longer term reconstruction and recovery work.
