Special Projects

FEJ has been participating in Sociocultural Animation Workshops for the children of the School Enfant Jesus.

This program is prepared by Paula Clermont Pean and is offered as workshops in socio-cultural Animation. Training in sociocultural (singing, storytelling, reading,games, drama) is part of a series of seminars conducted by the Centre Culturel Pyepoudre in order to continue its supervisory work with associations and communities.

It also contributes to the promotion of Haitian culture and our country. These children will play an important role in the development of cultural awareness of the population. Our teaching approach is to be very involved, to allow children to interact, to exchange, share experiences, to flourish.

After the horrible tragedy on January 12, 2010, Foundation Enfant Jesus established (in relation to its scope of existing programs) three projects that provide medical, social, and psychological assistance. These projects will ensure security and daily management for the victims in the following categories:

Category I

Lost, abandoned or orphaned children that are in life threatening situations that have been identified, based on IBESR criteria, and that have been approved by IBESR. (Capacity: 60, Ages 0 – 6 years)

N.B.A. strategy will be implemented in order to find within the next 6 months (or more) the biological/extended families of theses children. Otherwise they may be integrated into an adoption program.

Category II

Adolescent girls between the ages of 7 – 17 may be taken in, taken care of and integrated into our school structure. (Capacity: 15) Our school structure currently provides two meals a day to 462 children.

Category III

Single parents (mother & child) who are homeless due to the January 12, 2010 earthquake, which are in high-risk regions of the country. (Capacity: 85) These women may be integrated into our social and financial rehabilitation program based on predetermined criteria.

Foundation Enfant Jesus recognizes:

1) The quake would cause major difficulties for disabled female victims of the earthquake, especially in terms of access to care and addressing the attitudes and prejudices that they encounter too often.

2) FEJ will also support the reception and care of 60 children ages 0 – 6, who are lost, abandoned or orphaned by the earthquake who are in a situation that puts their lives at risk. These children are ones who have been identified by following the criteria of IBESR (Haitian Social Services).

*A strategy has been established to deploy all available resources to locate within six months (or sometimes more) the biological parents or close family wishing to support these children.

After a designated, legal period of time, other children could be integrated into an adoption program. These programs are generally local, but are sometimes international.

3) A final component of FEJ’s “post-earthquake rehabilitation plan” is for 20 adolescents between the ages of 7 – 17, who will be welcomed, supported and integrated into their school structure.

Our key objective is to assist the children, adolescents and women in any way possible. This ensures children, adolescents and women the security that they need. We are able to effectively receive orphans and adolescent girls by having in place a management team that provides assistance to them. We are able to supply them with temporary housing, education, social-insertion and job creation. We aim to create family unification wherever possible. All of these special projects have been structured with that target in mind.

HAMA Program (Haitian Amputee Mothers Alliance)

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The HAITIAN AMPUTEE MOTHERS ALLIANCE (HAMA) project was founded to provide leading-edge prosthetic limbs to women & mothers who became amputees as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. In partnership with the Village of Vision Haiti Foundation, the amputees of the HAMA project will receive a custom prosthesis designed especially for their specific needs and built to withstand the harsh Haiti environment. The Peak Prosthetics Design and rehabilitation team, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah USA will be donating their time and expertise in order to maximize your donation dollar. The fitting, treatment , training, education, maintenance and support will be provided in accordance with the integrated care model pioneered in the US prosthetic community.
The primary mission for HAMA is to provide, each amputee who enters the program, the tools necessary to lead an active, productive and independent life. The Village of Vision Haiti Foundation will also work in conjunction with HAMA to tend to the holistic needs of each amputee and her children, providing: housing, meals, mental health, grief counseling, nutrition/health education and vocational training during the rehabilitation process. VVHF will also be providing job placement, arts and crafts outlets and micro-lending for local business development for each woman entering the program.
The donations made to HAMA will directly fund the prosthetics portion of the project, not the overall living costs which are provided by donations to VVHF general fund. VVHF is a registered 501c3 & registered NGO, all donations to VVHF (HAMA project) are tax deductible.

To view a copy of the full 16 page HAMA Proposal please click here.

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Women with Disabilities Program

The Foundation Enfant Jesus will collaborate with the Secretary of State for Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Haiti. We are working in direct collaboration with them in the selection process.

Project Objectives

The Women with Disabilities Program is designed to meet the medical, psychological, social and educational needs of each woman. This program is supervised by the Foundation Enfant Jesus.

The objectives for this project will:

  • Enable women to support their families
  • Allow them to participate in the development of their community
  • Introduce them to a more structured form of saving

A temporary compound will house these victims, give them the necessary care, and then integrate them within the various programs that FEJ has to offer. The long-term goal is to create a place that is structured and that will allow them to have access to jobs and housing.

The work plan for these women and their children (3 on average) has several facets:

Medical Aspect

  1. This program will provide women and children all of the necessary basic care and medical treatment.
  2. We will offer them laboratory care if necessary.
  3. Women who are in occupational therapy and physiotherapy will face their disability and live with this new psychological challenge caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake.
  4. We will provide each amputee orthotics, prosthetics, or a cane or wheelchair to facilitate their mobility.

Psycho-social Support

  1. Women and children in the program receive psychological counseling as part of a group or family therapy or other appropriate processes of rehabilitation.
  2. A social service will allow each woman a family reunion and reintegration in the rehabilitation process. The purpose of the social process will allow each woman to make a decision and determine the lifestyle she wants so that she can reach the maximum capacity to work on a concrete plan that will address the needs of her family.

Support in housing, employment and self-sufficiency

This program is designed primarily to provide on-site housing for women and children in the form of individual dwellings which are simple but comfortable accommodations in a newly created compound.

During the year 2007, FEJ developed an economic activity through micro-finance for women within the community of Lamardelle. These include women whose socio-economic situations are precarious.

During our exploratory visits, we found children living amid very poor and difficult circumstances. We can attribute these living conditions to the high level of unemployment.

These observed facts have therefore inspired FEJ to undertake a range of approaches in order to aid in the management of these children who are at risk through their mothers. FEJ has started the program with 200 women and hopes to be able to add additional women who are in need to this program. Hence, FEJ is focusing their efforts on introducing more women-owned businesses into society.

In the long term, it could be considered to be the creation of a productive economic boost, and as such, the equivalent of a sheltered workshop within other countries.

In order to achieve these objectives, FEJ will use the services of its current and qualified staff who wish to help promote this cause.

SHORT TERM (Currently in progress; goal is to be achieved within 3 months)

  • Create the infrastructure that will accommodate victims
  • Provide victims with medical, social and psychological support
  • Ensure the safety of the people

MEDIUM TERM (Currently in progress; goal is to be achieved within 6 months +)

  • Rehabilitation and integration of the victims
  • Accommodations and food
  • Education
  • Social inclusion

LONG TERM (Currently in progress; goal is to be achieved within 6 months – 1 year +)

  • Employment
  • Establish permanent accommodations for these victims

The impact that FEJ hopes to have in the short-term will be a change in the behavior of children’s care by their parents. In the medium term, a significant change in the lives of the beneficiary mothers through a stable financial autonomy. And in the long term, achieving a transformation of the community through general awareness. For the women affected, FEJ hopes to accompany them on their journey to resume normal activity as quickly as possible.

Orphaned Youth Program

The day after January 12, 2010, the Foundation Enfant Jesus recognized that the earthquake would cause a major setback and break barriers to health care for everyone – especially for adolescent victims. FEJ also recognized that there were adolescents prior to the earthquake who were and continue to be the victims of abuse, both domestic and otherwise. Faced with this tragedy and reality, Foundation Enfant Jesus, a non-profit institution working in the humanitarian field, sought an immediate rehabilitation plan. It is designed to provide these adolescents with medical, social and psychological aid depending on their individual situations. FEJ will give them access to housing, care for them, enable them to flourish and integrate them into our various programs. Our goal is to create a structured youth home that in the long-term will offer a secure future and family setting for youth that have become orphaned as a result of the earthquake. These children and youth are currently at risk in the tent cities surrounding Port-au-Prince.

OBJECTIVES

We aim to provide these youth with quality lifestyles within a home setting. This will assist in helping each one of them to achieve their dreams and reach their personal goals. Applying a holistic approach will address their needs and assist them in overcoming their individual challenges.

*Boys and girls will live in separate housing facilities.

RESULTS

In the short term, the FEJ goal is to assist each individual with the grief and loss and help them to deal with their emotions. It will also help each youth to reintegrate into society and start to lead a normal life.

In the long term, FEJ will work with them to have a secure future.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The selection of criteria are well defined by the qualified staff of the Foundation Enfant Jesus, taking into account the situation of these young people and a referral from IBESR.

The program is renewable depending on the interest of the adolescent.

Here is what the Foundation Enfant Jesus intends to offer these youngsters:

* Psycho-social Support

  • The adolescents will receive counseling or other therapy to adapt during the rehabilitation process.
  • A social service will be available to them, which will enable them to reintegrate into society and adapt to a new lifestyle.
  • Education
    • FEJ will allow these youth to continue their classic studies and guide them to a professional life.
    • A program called “Distance Learning” (via the internet) has been designed specifically for them.
    • They will also enjoy the vocational program of the School Enfant Jesus, whose courses are: sewing, embroidery, handicrafts and agriculture.
  • Health
    • The adolescents will be provided with all the necessary basic care and medical treatment.
    • They will be entitled to laboratory testing when necessary.
    • FEJ encourages them to engage in sporting activities.

    Obligations of Beneficiaries

    It is mandatory for each youth in the program to respect the regulations of the established rules. Anyone who does not respect the rules will be removed from the program.

    Obligations of FEJ

    • Take care of adolescents in all aspects.
    • Give them an adequate quality of life.
    • Provide the youth with psychosocial and long-term support.
    • Provide a monthly bonus to every teenager who has followed the disciplines during the month.
    • Promote relationships between mentors and adolescents.
    • Ask them to write to their mentor on a regular basis and share their evolution and projects.