A project backed by the U.S. NGO Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) and the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) will help 500 families hit by the earthquake rebuild or repair their homes in the Haitian city of Cabaret.
In Cabaret, 30 kilometers north of Port-au-Prince, some 3,000 families lost their houses due to the January 12 earthquake. About 9,000 other families need to repair their damaged homes.
The $ 5.2 million project will employ HFHI’s “learn by doing” methodology to train participants in building techniques, making construction materials, setting up microenterprises, managing risks and protecting the environment.
The project will give priority to poor families where women are heads of household as well as to those who have lost their means to make a living due to the earthquake or were displaced from Port-au-Prince and wish to settle in Cabaret.
Through this and other projects in Haiti, HFHI’s team of local and foreign experts expects to provide not only housing solutions but also to assist in rebuilding the social and economic fabric of communities hit by the earthquake.
The MIF, which will make a $3 million grant to the project with HFHI, is supporting another housing initiative in Haiti led by the Latin American NGO Un Techo Para Mi País, which is building temporary shelters in the southern cities of Grand Goave and Leogane.
An autonomous fund administered by the IDB, the MIF promotes private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean, with an emphasis on microenterprises and small businesses.
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that drafts volunteers to help poor families build decent, safe and affordable homes. Since its founding in 1976, HFHI has built, repaired or improved more than 300,000 houses in 3,000 communities around the world. The Atlanta, Georgia-based NGO has set itself the goal of assisting 50,000 families affected by the earthquake in Haiti.