The aftermath of the January earthquake that hit Haiti continues to be on the minds of people around the world. The needs are great as are the opportunities to help address those needs. Trinity Graduate School is beginning a project to explore the possibility of coming along side of the Haitian people through long-term sustainable development. And, you can help too!

From April 2-5 a team of four from our community traveled to Haiti with the objective of assessing conditions and evaluating opportunities in social entrepreneurship. Over the course of three days we discussed what social entrepreneurship might look like in the area of Cap Haitien, a city that has grown by nearly 300,000 people since the earthquake of 12 January 2010. Our goal was to listen to people talk about the needs and interact with what we heard knowing that any sustainable enterprise would have to be initiated and led by Haitians. We were able to meet with several key Haitian leaders including lawyers, school principals, pastors, a doctor and a senator. Key findings include the feasibility of a university center, sugarcane charcoal micro-enterprise as well as a water bottling micro-enterprise. Two Trinity graduate students have begun research on the micro-enterprises. Two Trinity faculty have begun discussion on the university center.

 

You can come alongside of our efforts through a contribution to our Haiti research fund. This fund will enable us to continue our efforts and develop plans to address the issues as we come along side of the people. Please consider a $10, $20, $50, or $100 contribution to the fund. To make it easy, just click on the link for our online giving. When prompted on the third page, select "Other" and type in "Haiti" as the donation designation. Your donation will help make a difference.

You can follow the trip on Facebook at "Trinity in Haiti."  See more about our project at Haiti Research Project.