For those of you who don’t know Jakmel, also spelled Jacmel, it’s a formerly lovely town on the south coast of Haiti. It’s basic “fabric” is spectacular, reminding US visitors of New Orleans, but it’s suffered terribly over the years, economically and from the earthquake.
The Haitian government has fairly recently made it a focal point for development, particularly the waterfront. Everytime we go there, we see new mosaics on the walls and streets.There are quite a few artisan shops with paintings, paper mache, for which Jacmel is famous, and other crafts.
Fondwa valley view |
To get there from Leogane, we have to travel a steep and twisty road up and then back down the mountains. The views are spectacular getting there.Instead of going shopping for crafts, Jeff and Nicole Larrier and I went wandering. We heard noise, peeked in through a fence, and were gestured inside.We got to watch a group of men making concrete blocks. It looked like terribly difficult work. We were really impressed with the production rate – they were cranking them out!
Grinding limestone quarried in the nearby mountains
Loading the crushed stone. You can see the mixer and the extruder under the roof. It took three men to free the new blocks from the extruder. Then they carried them off to dry. Here are more men working, this time on the Jacmel waterfront. It’s going to be finished soon. Finally, the beautiful Cvadier Plage Hotel, a bit of heaven. If you look closely, you can see Jeff bringing me coffee. |
We’d like to extend a big 😍THANK YOU😍 to everyone that supported the 2019 Gala & Silent Auction! With your help we were able to raise $55,000 to support the Carmelle Voltaire Women’s Health Center in Tom Gato. This money will go towards labor and delivery services for the women of FondwaRead More
Representatives of the UNC School of Nursing, Rhonda Lanning and Leslie Hackenbracht traveled to Haiti last week with Family Health Ministries. They were in country for the opening of the new Carmelle Voltaire Women’s Health Center. The Center saw more than 50 patients during their first 3 days of operation. It was wonderfulRead More
The Global Health PLUS (Placement of Life Changing Usable Surplus) Program, in association with Duke Global Health Institute, allowed Family Health Ministries to glean hospital equipment from inventory to use for the Carmelle Voltaire Women’s Health Center in Haiti. The mission of Duke Global Health PLUS is to make this surplus medical equipmentRead More
Join us and be a part of a global celebration of a new tradition of generosity. We have a day for giving thanks. We have a day for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, charities, families, businesses, communityRead More