The community of Chauffard is approximately 3-4 hours away from Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Founded in 1948, this community has a population of around 40,000 and the average income of a family is around $60 a year.
A church service in Chauffard
The community has 8 schools. Student population varies from year to year, depending on the financial means of the parents. There are 12 teachers in the main school, which was demolished in the earthquake of January 2012, and 36 teachers in the surrounding schools. A small subsidy from the government, student tuition, and donations are used to pay the teachers their salaries of $40 to $101 per month for 11 months. This pay is not regular and never guaranteed and so Haiti in our Hands will help subsidise this pay when required.
The teachers of Chauffard with Martin Tierney (excuse his shorts!)
There are seven churches in Chauffard: Laval, Bongars, Procy, Malanga, Bois d’Orme, Berly, and Masson.
The main church of Chauffard
The center of Chauffard is accessible by an off-road 4×4 vehicle, but good mules are needed to reach the majority of the area. There is one medical dispensary in Chauffard with one partially trained nurse, Anne-Marie. A government subsidy of $140 and donations are used to pay the salary of Anne-Marie and her part time colleagues. There is no doctor, no access to medicines, no electricity supply or consistent treatmentrs here. Haiti in our Hands support this by doing medical trips each year.
Anne Marie is a the partially trained nurse at Chauffard
Chauffard has great needs in all the following areas:
- The rebuilding of all the schools
- Maintenance of roads
- Improvement of the dispensary
- Reservoirs of potable water
- Construction of a community hall
For more information on Chauffard feel free to contact us.