By Jennifer Jones | Director of Donor Relations & Communications
Although we have still not received any donations via GlobalGiving for this project, we do have ongoing support directly to HRI, so we have continued our vital work of serving thousands of people in Haiti and Guatemala with Covid prevention and relief programs. However, the grants we had from 2020 have all been implemented, so we are cutting back on some of the programs due to lack of funding.
If you have not read the previous report, I want to include some of it here so you can see the vital programs this project is supporting.
The world continues to face extraordinary challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic. The health and safety of the very vulnerable are always at incredible risk - today more so than in recent history. HRI program beneficiaries face extreme adversity, fear, and insecurity. The poorest of the poor most often get left behind in crises that affect us globally, but HRI is working diligently to keep as many people safe and healthy as possible – starting with orphans and vulnerable children.
Thanks to our generous partners, HRI went above and beyond in 2020 by implementing life-saving programs to bring a dozen new Covid-19 education, prevention, and relief programs which collectively save lives and transform the futures of thousands of people – and all while maintaining our regular programming. HRI has been able to expand our reach exponentially!
In Haiti we served more than 377,000 people and in Guatemala we served more than 130,000 people with the following COVID-19 outreach programs. The programs that continue today are reflected below as well:
Emergency Food Assistance
In both Haiti and Guatemala, HRI is continuing to provide emergency food support in urban slums as well as to vulnerable rural families unable to work or sustain themselves during and as a result of the quarantine. We will continue to do so, as needed, and until all adults are able to return to their traditional income generating activities and children are able to return to school where they benefit from HRI school feeding programs. Our emergency food assistance is targeting the most vulnerable people including elderly, disabled, and single woman headed households with young children.
Seeds for Farmers
HRI assisted a total of 86 farming families in rural Guatemala with the seeds, fertilizer and pesticides needed to ensure they were able to plant their corn crop this year. Planting their corn crops now means those families will have food through 2021! This program was complted thanks to a special grant, so unless we secure support for it in 2021, we will not be able to do this again come May/June/July.
Covid Care Calls & Mental Health
Our team of trained volunteers are calling 200+ individuals per week in Haiti & Guatemala to see how people are feeling and whether they have symptoms of Covid. The team provides appropriate referrals for healthcare, when needed, and also works to determine whether people are suffering from mental health challenges including anxiety, fear, depression, or sadness. HRI is the lead agency in the OCHA working group on mental health during the pandemic; members include OCHA, the Ministry of Health of Guatemala, the Pan American Health Organization, the University of San Carlos, Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee for the Red Cross, the Guatemala Red Cross and a Guatemalan group of volunteer psychologists.
Prevention & Education
We continue to reach over 21,000 individuals every month in Haiti and Guatemala with short messages about Covid, how to stay safe, and how to support one another and healthcare workers. HRI constructed and distributed 125 handwashing stations for people in slum communities and for all 18 HRI supported orphanages in Haiti. We are training and assisting Haitian women to establish cottage businesses including the production of high-quality masks and cleaning disinfectants that they can sell in response to the great demand and to generate income for their families. We have trained 100 Good Health Ambassadors to go into their communities and share critical information about the virus, how it is spread and how families can protect themselves and their loved ones. And of course, we are continuing our very important work with orphans and vulnerable children - educating them on how to be safe from, but not fearful of, Covid-19.
There is much work to be done as livlihoods have been greatly impacted by the pandemic, so HRI will continue to press forward with our relief programs as we move forward - primarily focusing on elderly and single parent homes assisting with nutritoius food, mental health care and entrepreneurship training programs. So please partner with HRI as we continue this vital work.
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By Jennifer Jones | Director of Donor Relations & Communications
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