- Jul 14, 2023
- 3 min read

Earthquake Relief & Recovery Update #7

Previous Updates

GCF Response	Update#1	Update#2	Update#3	Update#4	Update#5
Update#6

Pilot Home in Grand Duc-Cavaillon, Haiti

Home site of Mr. Jocelyn Letang and his family, in Grand Duc-Cavaillon, Haiti

In partnership with Haiti Renewal Alliance/OneDiaspora, GCF plans to provide homes for eight rural families whose lives were crushed, buried, or ripped apart by the catastrophic earthquake.

With much gratitude and a long delay due to the security situation in the Haitian capital, we were able to begin our housing recovery project for families left homeless by the natural disaster. The first pilot home began on March 27, 2023. Construction was completed the first week of June. In total, due to the high inflation rate in Haiti, we have had to reduce it to 8 beneficiary families in the countryside. Each house will have two bedrooms and one bathroom, they will also have a common area, a kitchen to cook in, and a front porch to enjoy.

The picture below is the pilot home that was built in the rural community of Grand Duc, Cavaillon. Initially estimated at $10,000 in 2022, the actual cost of the house is closer to $15,000, not including in-kind contributions provided by the beneficiary, friends, and relatives as sweat equity, transportation, and other services donated by local businesses - WeYa, Nira Varietés, in addition to Project Coordination by GCF.

Estimated cost per additional home in Flamand, Cavaillon and Geffrard, Maniche in July 2023: $18K-$20k (not including in-kind contribution from beneficiaries and community)

Mr. Letang’s 10-year-old daughter selected the colors for the home. Her Dad requested that she picked the colors, and she proudly said she wanted “vert pois france and rose pâle" (green and pink).

These houses are just one step towards repairing the communes of Haiti, the efforts are far from done. With continued support and donations from people like you, more families can receive housing, and together we can begin to repair the lives of those affected.

Next Steps

As Phase 2 of our recovery effort continues into 2023, we will focus our efforts on building 5-7 more homes in Cavaillon, Maniche, and Les Cayes. The number of homes built will depend on the cost of construction materials and available funding.

Challenges

Insecurity persists in PAP - transporting goods to Les Cayes remains a challenge. Though delayed, GCF has received all supplies that were shipped by a private shipping company. That has caused significant delays in our ability to work in Haiti.
Traveling by road to the South is still considered challenging due to fuel shortages and potential insecurity flare-ups.
The cost of material construction has significantly increased, making it financially challenging to rebuild homes.

Money Update - Thank you to all of our supporters!

To date, we have raised $371K. So far, we spent about $280K on phase I and Phase II, a water distribution system in Anse du Nord, and the pilot home in Grand Duc-Cavaillon, Haiti. We are planning to build 7 more homes estimated at $130K.

Please continue to support GCF and the communities we serve at: https://www.gaskov.org/join-donate

For a list of all our donors, please visit the GCF Earthquake Relief Fund

How can you help?

We originally anticipated $10,000 per home. With the unstable environment in Haiti, we anticipate each house will cost between $18K - $20K. We have $80,000 left for our recovery phase and need to spend $140,000 for the 7 other homes we have selected. If you can organize your friends, colleagues, and family to sponsor a recovery home for $18,000 - $20,000 that would be ideal. Otherwise, please contribute to GCF's activities (Klinik Fonfred, relief recovery, and scholarships) and invite your friends to join the journey and contribute to our work at: https://www.gaskov.org/join-donate . If you are in Florida, please come and celebrate our culture and drive change with our fellow GCFers at our upcoming Fête Créole Fundraising event on October 7, 2023.

SAVE THE DATE

By popular demand, we are bringing Fête Créole back. This year, our theme will be: "Celebrating Culture, Driving Change". This much-anticipated fundraising event will take place on October 7th, at 7:00 pm, at Hilton Palm Beach Airport, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Fête Créole is an extraordinary celebration of Haitian culture and a remarkable endeavor to make a lasting impact on the lives of underserved communities and deserving students in Haiti.

At GCF, our mission is to provide essential healthcare services to those in need via our community health center and foster educational opportunities for promising students in Haiti. With the funds raised through this event, we will continue to deliver life-saving medical care, medications, and health programs to underserved areas. Additionally, we will support scholarships that enable deserving students to pursue their education and empower them to become future leaders in their communities.