COVID-19 Emergency
Haiti is not only the poorest country of the American continent but together with many African countries it is in the last positions of the Human Development Index. Over half of the population lives below the national poverty line. Unfortunately, Covid-19 pandemic is making the situation even more dramatic. Economic activities have reduced in all the working groups of the Haitian diaspora. This provoked an evident decreasing of money transfers to the country, due to the unemployment rate of Haitians who work abroad, especially in the United States. At this stage, food insecurity is seriously threatening the country.
In Mare Rouge, in the north-west of the country, PRO.SA have collaborated for two with Aksyon Gasmy (AKG), an organisation coordinated by the Italian volunteer Maddalena Boschetti, dealing with assistance and rehabilitation for disabled minors. The terrible economic and security conditions linked to violence and political instability have been worsened by limitations related to Covid-19, which are compromising all the organisation’s activities.
PRO.SA Foundation responded to the help request received from Aksyon Gasmy which developed three projects to safeguard the work carried out over years, achieving an outstanding example of good practises.
Four local radios will transmit “AKG Radio programmes” to replace the meetings with parents and to advertise Covid prevention spots. The chosen radio stations, located in Mawouj, Kotfe, Mol and Janrabel, cover the entire Northwest and even more. A second activity will be devoted to the dissemination, in remote areas, of raising awareness and prevention messages about Covid-19, through spots transmitted by loudspeakers installed on motorbikes. A very common method in the rural areas of Haiti during elections campaigns. The third activity will concern agriculture. The main goal is to face the consequences of drought and the poor economic conditions of the households, creating a fund for the purchase of seed to be distributed by the directors of the Seed Bank to the families of disabled children at price below market value. In this tragic period, families who cultivate can secure alimentary subsistence, facing the unjustified increase of the cost of the seeds.
