Hope for the Children of Haiti

Orphanage Construction, School Programming & Management / Port-au-Prince (Bolosse), Haiti

Hope for the Children of Haiti, Inc. (HFC) is a Boston based non-profit organization who owns and operates an orphanage for 60 children and one of the top performing preliminary and secondary schools (grades K-12) in the Bolosse area of downtown Port-au-Prince. The school serves 150 neighborhood students.

Beginning in 1996, Craig Miller and his engineering and architecture firm, Waterfield Design Group, provided orphanage and school site planning, architectural design, structural engineering, sanitary waste design, water supply design, security design, electrical power procurement and installation (generators, inverter system, and battery banks) and construction management of each of the above for the development of the orphanage and school facility.

The 3 ½ story building provides 18,000 square feet of interior space which includes dormitory rooms separated by sex, classrooms for grades K-12, a cafeteria for 3 meals per day, full kitchen facilities, rest rooms, showers, laundry facility (and drying yard), a small outdoor play area, underground cistern, and walled perimeter. This building, completed in 2002, survived the January 12th earthquake, sustaining only minor damage.

During this same time period, the firm also provided orphanage programming assistance, staff evaluations, orphanage management oversight, fundraising direction, and regulatory compliance assistance (for both US and Haitian government requirements).

The HFC facility employs a staff of 25 paid Haitian workers who serve as teachers, caretakers, maintenance, security, mentors, and counselors. The assistance and services described above were provided over a period of several years, accommodating the pace of fundraising that is typical of most small, not for profit organizations.

photo credits below: Krista Guenin