A huge commitment in the face of adversity

Vulnerable children in Haiti receive health care, an education, and loving family care from NPH, with support from people like you.

NPH has been in Haiti for more than 29 years. Following the twin disasters of 2010, the earthquake and cholera outbreak, our programmes launched into high gear serving over 1 million people. The NPH programmes are vast and include multiple homes for children, healthcare campuses and various educational facilities in Port-au-Prince and Kenscoff.

Haiti set back further by the 2010 earthquake

Haiti’s economy suffered a severe setback in January 2010, when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of its capital city, Port-au-Prince, and neighboring areas. Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty, the earthquake inflicted $7.8 billion in damages. Seven out of 10 Haitians live on less than US$2 a day, according to the International Red Cross.

Residential care and community support

In 1987, Father William Wasson founded Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs (NPFS), French for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters,” a home for orphaned and abandoned children in Kenscoff.

St. Helene is a lush and cool location about 25 miles up the mountain from the capital of Port-au-Prince. St. Helene is home to over 430 children and has an elementary and secondary school on the property, chapel, and other amenities.

An additional 350 children from the Kenscoff community attend the onsite school which is operated by the Salesian Sisters.

Kay Christine is located inside the St. Helene complex and is home to over 30 children and adults with neurological conditions and special needs.

Additional NPH operations

• St. Damien Pediatric Hospital in Tabarre treating children up to 14 years of age.
• Kay St. Germaine, Kay Gabriel and Kay Elaine are Rehabilitation Outpatient Centers providing therapy and educating children and adults with neurological disabilities.
• Father Wasson Angels of Light in Tabarre is a home and school for vulnerable and displaced children.
• Don Bosco is a higher education program in Tabarre for youths that graduated from St. Helene and are attending high school, university or technical schools.

The team

NPH Haiti is led by Fr. Rick Frechette, along with over 800 dedicated staff.

St. Damien – Haiti’s premier pediatric Hospital

In Tabarre, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, stands Haiti’s premier pediatric hospital, St. Damien. As part of NPH’s mission to truly serve the needs of the poorest children, Haiti National Director, and doctor, Father Rick Frechette started our first medical center in 1987, along with Fr. Wasson. The new St. Damien Hospital was opened in 2006 – a 75,000 square foot, 100-bed facility with an emergency room, surgery, infectious and non-infectious disease wards, a dental clinic, outpatient clinic, public health, maternity, neonatology, oncology and HIV programme. Prior to the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the hospital treated more than 30,000 patients yearly, which has increased to offering 96,000 services to women and children, due to the need and collapse of other medical centres.

Healthcare programmes to combat injustice

The healthcare programmes of NPH Haiti strive to offset the injustices of poverty and unemployment, which make healthcare inaccessible for many poor people. Poverty imposes a tremendous burden of sickness and suffering on many children. In an effort to help precisely these children, St. Damien offers both children of poverty, and children of any social level in emergent distress, quality and dignified healthcare. St. Damien always seeks to include parents in this care through ongoing dialogue, on-site opportunities for education, and encouraging any level of material support they can offer for the care of their children.

St Damien’s role since the 2010 earthquake

On January 12, 2010, the perimeter walls of the hospital fell during the earthquake. Patients fled the building for several days, fearing aftershocks. Miraculously, the hospital escaped major structural damage, and soon became a magnet for the critically wounded – children and adults.

Leading orthopedic medical centre

St. Damien served as a hub for trauma care, treatment of quake-related injuries, and even maternity care – more than 50 babies were born at the hospital in the first 3 months after the earthquake. It also became one of the premier orthopedic medical centres within Haiti. In just the first 3 weeks after the earthquake, over 10,000 adults and children were treated and thousands of surgeries performed.

Kay St. Germaine, Kay Gabriel and Kay Elaine rehabilitation outpatient centres

In 2004, Gena Heraty, the Director of Kay Christine (home for special needs children at the St. Helene orphanage), started with a team offering outpatient services to disabled children in the slum of Wharf Jeremy. The concept was not only to provide physical therapy, but to support and educate the mothers with tools to care for their children. This outreach grew and was then relocated to the Father Wasson facility in Pétionville, which was destroyed in the January 12, 2010 earthquake. The programme, named Kay Eliane, was re-established in a facility in Pétionville with 400 children receiving therapy.

Rehabilitation, physiotherapy and education

Adjacent to the St. Damien Pediatric Hospital in Tabarre, is Kay St. Germaine, a 2,300 sq. ft., rehabilitation, physiotherapy and educational center which opened in September, 2008. Kay Germaine offers children with neurological disabilities physical, occupational and speech therapy, a school program for higher functioning patients including a free lunch and support and micro credit loan services to families in need.

Father Wasson Angels of Light – safe haven for children

Under the NPH umbrella, the Father Wasson Angels of Light (FWAL) programme founded the St. Anne Baby House and St. Louis Home. These homes have been a safe haven for the displaced children from Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010. Today, over 130 children under age 14 receive care, education and spiritual formation in the loving tradition of “St. Helene,” our flagship facility in Kenscoff, Haiti. Many of the grown children of St. Helene now serve as caregivers and teachers to this new generation of NPH children.

A permanent home for children under 6

St. Anne is currently home to 38 children under 6 years of age. A temporary home was rented until July of 2012, when the family moved into their newly constructed permanent residence in Tabarre. The St. Louis housing complex is home to over 100 children 6-14 years old. These children now live in a permanent housing complex with plans for administration buildings, clinic and kitchen.

Primary schooling for the community

The FWAL free primary school serves the children of St. Anne, St. Louis and 600 children living in tent cities and the surrounding community. FWAL was launched in 2010, soon after the earthquake due to the collapse of 3,000 schools in Port-au-Prince and the dire need for providing children safe places to play and learn. FWAL set-up make shift day camps and schools in 13 locations throughout the city. Food from the World Food Program supplemented by NPH, provided a free meal to all children enrolled in the program. A permanent site for the school was developed in 2011, and in January 2012 the FWAL primary school was inaugurated.

Supporting sustainable livelihoods

A specialty programme of FWAL is Lakay se lakay (“Home Sweet Home”), which began in 2012. This is a social services initiative for children who have family members living in unsafe, unsanitary, and untenable situations. The programme provides supervised case management support to one family at a time, helping them to create a sustainable existence through small business, relocation, and education. Our goal is that over time, this process will enable the St. Louis older youths to re-enter family life, thus reinforcing family and community and extending the scope and power of the proposed aid.

NPH stories from Haiti

• Emergency in Haiti
  Already the poorest country in the Americas, Haiti is now in the grip of a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis. Chaos and terror have enveloped the country, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, which is now almost completely controlled by armed gangs. The prime minister, Ariel Henry, has been forced to resign, the police and army are… Read more: Emergency in Haiti
• Giving back what she received: young teacher raised by NPH
  Mirlanda was only three years old when she started kindergarten at the NPH Haiti school for vulnerable children. Today, she is a confident and educated young lady who works as a teacher in the NPH school, thanks to NPH programmes investing in her future.
• Your help for those in need
  Damaged roads and collapsed bridges makes it hard to get aid to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. However, your donations are getting through, providing aid in the short- and long-term. Our local team, with 35 years of experience, is getting aid to those in need.
• Good food makes for healthy children at NPH Haiti
  Raising healthy children is hard in a country or family plagued by poverty. At NPH, children are free to learn, play, and grow as they should, without worry for their health, nutrition, and other critical needs. Beating price rises with home-grown food Economic instability has greatly increased the price of food in Haiti. This makes… Read more: Good food makes for healthy children at NPH Haiti