Morne Pelee is a new Area Development Program or ADP, and the needs are great. Here are some of the issues that your child sponsorship can address in this community.
Health Care
Morne Pelee faces many problems because of a lack of safe water, sanitation and almost non-existent health care. The community has only two poorly equipped health centres with part-time nurses and health workers. Families have a limited knowledge of sanitation and hygiene practices such as use of latrines, hand washing and disposal of household waste. As a result of unsafe water, inadequate hygiene and poor health care, children frequently suffer from chronic diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, typhoid and skin diseases.
Health services for mothers and children are precarious, so mothers lack awareness of how to have a healthy pregnancy and properly feed and care for their children. There is a lack of information about responsible behaviour on how to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy is an issue in the community.
Education
Despite laws requiring free and compulsory education for all, more than 80 per cent of schools in Haiti are privately run and the education system is poorly regulated. Most parents cannot afford the school fees.
For children who do attend, the schools in Morne Pelee are small and dilapidated and teachers need more training. Math and reading skills are very low and there is a high dropout rate resulting in juvenile delinquency and early pregnancy.
Economic Development
The economy of Morne Pelee is mainly based on agriculture through the production of sugar cane and food crops including yams, bananas and cassava. Production is low because farmers don’t have tools, seedlings or fertilizers and lack knowledge of how to manage and control water to irrigate their plots.
Families are unable to finance their farm production because they can’t access suitable credit. There are few organizations where farmers can join together to help each other access markets for their produce. A lack of businesses in the community results in high youth unemployment.
