Most of us think of Haiti’s rebuilding effort as a response to the devastating Earthquake that hit in January of 2010. The unfortunate reality is that Haiti has been held hostage to
numerous socio-economic, political, and environmental disasters since achieving
independence in the early 1800s. Much like hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the
earthquake that hit Haiti two years ago, served to highlight the rampant injustice and
inequity that has become such an ingrained element of Haitian society for so long.
However, despite a long history of turmoil and chaos, Haitians do see hope. They see
ample opportunity to move in a positive direction. Unfortunately, what they see from
much of the large-scale international aid community is the same developmental ideology
that has been complicit to much Haiti’s current problems.
To be sure, there are organizations doing great things in Haiti – we’ve seen it with our own
eyes…but what most Haitians have seen, is a whole lot of money dumped into their
country, in the name of humanity, with little evidence of long-term benefit or change.
In essence – to borrow from an old cliché – too many fish have been served, and not
enough people have been taught to fish.
As with all of our projects, Ecofficiency.Org will not be a part of the status quo. If it won’t
result in meaningful change, we won’t do it.
Under this mindset, we have initiated two separate, yet related, projects in Haiti that
promote a more sustainable and positively impacting rebuilding process:
1) Distribution of water filtration systems with cholera education
2) Building aquaponics food systems
To read the complete report of our 2011 work in Haiti please click here: Haiti 2011 Report
