UAF investment in Haitian workers pays off in COVID-19 crisis

United Aid Foundation takes pride in giving Direct Aid to People in Crisis. Over the past decade our teams have worked alongside and trained local people to successfully build more than 40 sturdy homes that house multiple families. And as we deliver aid to people in crisis UAF also has a goal of giving people the tools to sustain their communities and lift up their neighbors when UAF is no longer around.

That is exactly what is happening in an unlikely place- Haiti. With nearly 60-percent of the people living in poverty, well-known corruption, environmental crisis and a spreading pandemic, Haiti is known in the world of development as one of the toughest places on the planet to actually make an impact.

“Food insecurity is off the charts in Haiti right now,” said UAF board member and leader of the Haiti project Mike Wnek. “Prices of food have skyrocketed. The coronavirus is rampant and the security situation is dire. Yet here we are, making a large impact; for individual families and the community as a whole.”

Manita, a mother of five children has been literally living on the edge of ruin since her husband died many years ago. The foundation of her small home is too low for the water table; her house has been sinking for several years. According to Franz Vil, a UAF volunteer in Haiti, this past rainy season left Manita’s home submerged in water and unlivable. Given the current situation, Manita struggles to consistently feed her kids, let alone fix her home or find another one. For the past several months she and her children Manela, Junior and Mackenlove have been sleeping in a church.

When the UAF team from the United States and our partners at Hope for Haiti Healing visited the country in the September of 2019, they met Manita and were asked to help repair her home. Due to the continuing unrest in Haiti and the health crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic, UAF volunteers have not been able to return to Haiti. However, that doesn’t mean Manita will go without help. “The guys in Haiti have been trained by United Aid Foundation and Hope for Haiti Healing crews,” said Vil. “Every time they come to Haiti from America they are not only coming for building houses and feeding people but they also train the people for skills in building. That is why today the Americans don’t have to be in Haiti in order to build the house for Ms. Manita.”

As the Haitian team works on Manita’s home, our local volunteers also deliver much needed food to more than 200 people in the community. Each family will receive two bags of rice, two bags of beans and two gallons of cooking oil per-month to help them get through the current crisis caused by the pandemic.

Manita said she wanted to thank the donors from America who make this possible. “Because of what is happening now, our lives are about to change.”