In 2011 Ailsa Young volunteered as an RN in a Port au Prince hospitaland cholera clinic. She met Jean Rony Toussaint from La Gonave Island at the hospital and agreed to visit La Gonave the following year.

Jean Rony Toussaint of Haitian charity ASHOG had invited Ailsa to La Gonave Island to see the need and poverty there. ASHOG had been working for years to try to improve the lives of the children and disabled people on the island but with no support from the Haitian government and little support from international aid agencies.

This orphanage has only ever had sporadic and inadequate funding from overseas church groups. They have at times had up to 44 children in their care but due to lack of funds can never sustain those numbers. Today there are 8 children in the orphanage and about 60 local children attending the unfunded school. The Pastor tries to fund everything but often cannot pay the teachers.

When we formed LGCCA we started fundraising and have provided mattresses, school supplies, multivitamins and food. We continue to do what we can butthey need much more aid than we alone can provide.

This is the Poor House in the main town of Anse-a-Galets.It is home to destitute, ill, elderly, disabled people and in2012 3 children were also living there. The children weremalnourished, underweight and rarely going to school.

The Poor House children –Berkendy, Roseberline and Berry.

In 2013 we finally found a place to rent and the 3 children moved in.We finished renovating the rooms, bought furniture, and have sincepaid for their childcare, food, water, healthcare, education and anyother needs they have.

August 2013

Berrys mother took him back to the Poor House. There are no social services on the island. The door will always be open for

Berkendy if his mother feels unable to provide for him.

This is Rosemitha and her children. Widowed, Rosemitha asked us to take care of her two girls because she could not feed them or keep them safe. They were skinny and unwell but after a few weeks of good care they were healthy. Ultimately the goal is for them to rejoin their family. We are trying to support Rosemitha as she gets back on her feet.

We pay for private school for the 4 children. There is technically“free” public school but the classes are very overcrowded and teachers frequently absent – teachers are often not paid for months by the government.

Rosemitha visits her daughters often. She is still struggling and so we are going to gift her goats in order for her to have a stable sustainable income for her family.

In March 2014 Jean Rony (ASHOG) and Ailsa Young (LGCCA) visited a remote village called Roche Campe. They have no water supply and little food. No crops or livestock due to lack of water. We tried initially to get the big name charities to drill a well but had no luck. So we did a fundraising campaign and a well should be drilled for the area in early 2015.

There is no school at Roche Campe. Once they have a water supply – and don’t need to walk miles to fetch water – we will look into getting a schooland teachers there.

Restavek.Thousands of children in Haiti living in modern day slavery – known as restaveks. Children whose parents cannot feed them send them to work in other households for food and school – few of the children actually get sent to school.

This baby's mother died and his grandmother tried to take care of him. But she could not feed him or herself and both were severely malnourished. A friend on the island came across them and now LGCCA, ASHOG and AAE provide food for them.

Jean Rony with Lorensca – Lorensca lives with her grandmotherin the tiny shack you see in the photo. We provide school supplies, clothes, multivitamins and food when we can.

Peterson (left) was paralysed after being shot in the backand head in Port au Prince. He is a talented artist and we are hoping he can make a living doing this once his health improves

Louinel is from La Gonave. He was a trainee mechanic. A car fell on him and he was paralysed from the waist down. He almost died frominfected pressure sores and neglect. He is very intelligent and wouldlike to become a psychologist. We are trying to find a sponsor for hiseducation.

We have some chickens at the children home are buying several more and a rooster. We are also hoping to start a community chicken coop at Roche Campe once the well has been drilled.

Gifting goats is a very successful way to help people have a sustainable income. We are going to start with Rosemitha (the little girls mom) and 1 or 2 other families. Once a goat has a few kids the owner can sell one and gift one to another family in need.

We are clearing this land to start a community garden. The garden will provide food for the children, the Poor House and the selected community members who will tend the garden.

Some children on the island make bracelets. We buy them and sell them here in Canada. We provide the children with new materials for crafts – some for selling and some for fun.

To make ends meet at the children’s home we raise funds by recycling,baking, pub nites, auctions of Haitian art work, yard sales and occasionally friends kindly fundraise on our behalf.

We always need donations of children’s multivitamins. For most children onthe island food is scarce and usually high carb, with low nutritional value. We also collect school supplies and basic medicines and visit La Gonave twice per year.

The following pie chart shows the breakdown of donations for the children. 100% of donations go to the children and supporting projects. At this stage we are able to absorb the overheads ourselves or pay for them by returningrecycling from our own buildings.

Due to the lack of medical care for most of the island we plan to start running medical clinics every few months. Our first clinic will be at end September/beginning October 2015. We are looking for medical and non medical volunteers for one week trips to the island.

We hope you enjoyed our presentation. We would love to talk more about the work we are doing on La Gonave Island and answer any questions you may have. We also invite you to join us in our efforts for the poorest people in Haiti.

Donations gratefully received via PayPal on our web site at www.communityandchildhaiti.ca

Ailsa Young, PresidentLGCCA405-1245 Nicola StreetVancouver BC CanadaV6G 2E7

604 563 7994help@communityandchildhaiti.ca