Flash Update
January 10-January 16, 2011
PREPEP/HSI

The PREPEP Program (Programme de Revitalisation et de Promotion de l’Entente et de la Paix) and the HSI (Haiti Stabilization Initiative) works with vulnerable communities and the Haitian national and municipal government bodies in an effort to assist with the stabilization of volatile neighbourhoods through the rehabilitation of key infrastructure and social/cultural activities. Through the implementing partner International Organization for Migration (IOM), USAID supports the processes of political stabilization, community recovery and sustained development in Haiti.

To date, USAID has approved 2,628 HTI/PREPEP grants and has disbursed a total of $67,465,579.
To date, USAID has approved 231 HIGHER grants and has disbursed a total of $8,242,624.
To date, USAID has approved 178 Haiti en Chantier grants and has disbursed a total of $7,942,533.

Saint Marc
The PEPFAR project to support Cholera prevention activities in Saint Marc recommenced this week (IOMSTM262). Although the hygiene promoters completed their mandated work through this grant in December, the project continues to support local health centers through a team of 50 sanitation workers. The teams have also worked in the Saint Marc prison in coordination with Partners in Health since cholera broke out among the inmates. Their contributions have helped stem the epidemic in the prison and Saint Marc hospital. The trained workers will assist the health community for another month.

A local religious organization in Saint Marc, Youth with a Mission, invited IOM Saint Marc to participate in its activities to remember the victims of the earthquake and also celebrate the important work completed. The IOM team was presented with a certificate and gave a presentation to thousands of people gathered there, pointing out that some 27,000 people fleeing the earthquake zone settled in Saint Marc. Many of these people were provided jobs through IOM’s cash for work projects that commenced just one week after the earthquake. The jobs were able to provide people that had lost everything with the income to assist them in rebuilding their lives.

This week IOM St. Marc received a visit from LTL Strategies, the company tasked with carrying out an evaluation of projects funded through the post 2008 hurricane relief HIGHER program. At the request of USAID, the team held focus groups with beneficiaries from schools, rural communities, and government agencies. A visit to several projects in both rural and urban areas allowed the team access to a wide variety of projects implemented through the HIGHER initiative.

Gonaïves
The Gonaives office received a visit this week from LTL Strategies. The group was commissioned to evaluate USAID funded HIGHER projects. Team members spent two days visiting PREPEP rural and urban project sites in Gonaives and Bayonnais. The visit gave beneficiaries the opportunity to talk with evaluators about the impact of HIGHER projects on their communities. Feedback from these focuses groups highlighted the strong collaboration PREPEP has fostered with government ministries and community associations. Evaluators met with the Communal Director of Civil Protection, the Departmental Director of Public Works and beneficiaries of school, road, irrigation and soil conservation projects. Overall the visit was extremely positive.

Work installing a culvert on the road to Tripot (IOMGNV327) is underway. IOM engineers have set up a detour to allow traffic to continue on this important agricultural road while rehabilitation works are completed. The CASEC of Bayonnais, Augustus Belony, appreciated this consideration, remarking that now is the height of the egg plant harvest and farmers depend on this road to transport this important crop to market. A Bayonnais resident contributed her land to make the detour possible. Mme Lartiniere explained “It is nothing. I am happy to assist. When I think about the conditions of the road after the rains, I know this is the least I can do.”

For his part Mr.Victor Florvil, Director of Adventist School of Bayonnais, part of which has destroyed during hurricane Hannah expressed his gratitude: “This project will certainly improve the situation of the area; the road will be accessible all year. In the past no vehicles could cross the ravine when it rained”. In addition to improving circulation on the road, the culvert and canal will also reduce the risk of flood downstream.

The construction of Tarasse Irrigation Canal (IOMGNV309) is underway. This week the contractor installed concrete slab on the bottom of the canal. This second phase of work extends the canal a further 386 meters. The masonry work will prevent the canal from becoming choked with weeds and other debris that block the flow of water. With less water wasted growing weeds in the canals, more water will be available for farmers to grow crops.

Six phases of road rehabilitation are underway at Rue Saintilus in Trou Sable (IOMGNV352‐357). This project will pave over a kilometer of road to complement the drainage canals that were installed in previous phases. This week’s activities included backfilling and leveling the road surface. The Ministry of Public Works (TPTC) has provided heavy equipment to assist in the completion of the road work. This project opens many possibilities to the community: it leads to Route Nationale #1 and will serve as a diversion for downtown traffic – bringing more clients to the Trou Sable marketplace which was constructed through USAID funding in 2008 (IOMGNV027, 108, 122, 132 and 135).