IAHV! - International Association For Human Values

IAHV Uk responded proactively to a call for urgent  further sponsorship for the excellent Nouvelle Vie training, post disaster rehabilitation, and community empowerment initiative run by IAHV in Haiti. £3000 was raised by the GUERNSEY group and transferred to Haiti in September.

This project, which has been doing excellent work since the January 2010 earthquake required immediate funding after a previous grant of outside aid came to an end.  IAHV Uk is pledged to continue to support this Haiti initiative.

See their site http://www.nouvelleviehaiti.org

IAHV In Haiti since October 2007

In 2007, IAHV brought its Youth Leadership Training Program (YLTP) and reforestation project to Haiti.  IAHV conducted youth leadership seminars, training in permaculture (sustainable agriculture) and social entrepreneurship.

Following their training, these youth leaders have taught 2,500 people the Breath Water Sound stress-management workshop, mentored 150 street children, and taught 100 people Environmental Education.

IAHV In Haiti since 12 January 2010

An earthquake magnitude 7.0 struck Haiti late afternoon on 12 January 2010.  With the epicentre close to the earth's surface and only 10 miles from the capital city Port-au-Prince, the earthquake had devastating consequences for this 2.5 million population city, resulting in over 300,000 deaths.

IAHV International already had a team working in Haiti when the earthquake struck, and who were able quickly to switch to Disaster Relief work.

The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps is IAHV's response to the January 12 Earthquake, training Haitian young adults to tackle some of Haiti's most pressing problems: community disempowerment, vulnerability of children, food insecurity, and land degradation.

The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps is creating a network of 100 young adults who can deliver psychosocial support services for adults and youth and implement agricultural projects, while training others to do the same.  These projects also prepare Youth Corps graduates to pursue careers or education.

The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps introduces a new disaster relief model that equips the Haitian people to address their own psychological challenges and to reclaim self-sufficiency and food security. This Youth Corps is delivering programs in 3 areas:

1) Psychosocial and Trauma Relief Program
After a traumatic event, many victims hold pervading sense of disinterest and lack of enthusiasm towards the future. They become absorbed in reliving the moment of destruction to understand or rationalize it. Living in the past does not enable people to rebuild their lives and their communities. IAHV's psychosocial support programs teach people how to process past events and the emotions associated with them, regain enthusiasm and interest in the future, and respond more effectively to their current situations.

The Youth Corps teach two Trauma Relief Programs. A 1-2 hour course introduces yoga breath and basic tools for handling trauma relief.  A longer course provides yoga breath intervention, meditation, education on trauma and stress-reduction, and community-building exercises. The course reduces the symptoms of trauma, including sadness, worry, and hopelessness, strengthens coping skills and providing support networks.

2) Youth Support
With over 1 million children orphaned and displaced, Haiti's youth are particularly vulnerable to the emotional and physical consequences of earthquake. The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps works to protect the rights of children to a safe, healthy life.  Courses for children include an age-appropriate version of IAHV's trauma relief programs, with added components of life skills training (hygiene and safety) and mentoring.  The Youth Support programs are intended to improve children's resilience and coping strategies, increase their awareness of healthy behaviours and safe spaces, and provide additional social support through a Big Brothers, Big Sisters mentoring program.

3) Community Driven Development:
Neither Haiti's degraded ecosystem nor food aid are now sufficient to feed its population.  The Youth Corps provides a network of young adults capable of implementing food security projects and training others to do so at IDP camps and affected communities in the Port-au-Prince region. They serve both immediate and long-term food security needs by establishing intensive food gardens and provide training in gardening to urban and semi-urban dwellers. Their intensive polyculture systems are based on permaculture design, which improves environment quality and soil fertility while reducing dependence on food aid and reducing the cost of the overall aid effort.

Help is Still Needed in Haiti

IAHV UK swung into action immediately with fundraising, which so far has raised over £10,000.  But help is still needed in Haiti.  If you would like to make a contribution, please send a cheque payable to IAHV to Raj Ramadurai at 6, Campbell Road, Maidenbower, Crawley RH10 7GY.