world have gotten donor fatigue and are now carrying on with their lives. Let’s not forget that Haiti is one of
Americas neighbors soaked in a rich history of Americas past and present future.
Lack of fresh water on the island is a big problem. The school in the countryside has one well that has broken
again after the AAE has fixed it 3 times already. To fix it again they will need steel and construction materials
that are not available to them on La Gonave. This means that the villagers in this community now have to trek
another 2 hours to another well, collection of water becomes a daily event for a lot of children instead of
learning in school. Annual preciptatiion ranges from 800
areas. Few productive wells have been drilled deeper than 60 m. With Cameron’s expertise and contacts in the
marine industry we can help to put together affordable desalination units to provide fresh water access in the
town which is situated right beside the harbor. At this time there are 7 wells that are currently un
to repair these AAE has estimated that each well will cost an average of $2000.00 USD.
La Gonave is truly a beautiful island with a huge amount of potential, not only the land and it’s richness up in the
hill sides, but also the spirit of the people with their shinning faces and bright smiles even in the face of adversity
there is a faith and compassion we haven’t seen for along time. There are no funds allocated to La Gonave by
what’s left of Haiti’s government so to work on the construction of water bores, roads and sewage, means the
people are dependent on foreign
delivered to the island by the leading NGO’s since the earthquake and now it is struggling with an extra influx of
40,000 people that have returned from Port au Prince. The only AID we witnessed that was arriving by local
fishing boats from the main land was stamped US AID “not for resale” and was going straight to the black market
at $100 USD for a 100 pound bag of rice.
The AAE has a future vision that includes using renewable energy for harnessing the islands wind and sun to
power their homes and schools. There is no power on the island and the cooking is done by making their own
coal. You can see the burning of the trees in underground smoke pits on the hill sides, adding to the impact on
the land and creating rainy season mud slides. There is constant wind and sunshine in La Gonave year round
thus making wind and solar power the most economical choice at the present time. The AAE has two wind
generators and one solar panel on their Anse a Galet school house but unfortunately the regulator burnt out so
they are no longer producing power. The generators that SV “Tranquility” delivered will now power the
computer for schooling the children but this is a temporary fix as fuel is very expensive. SV “Tranquility” would
like to return, and with Trans
Renewable Energy Platforms to power their computers, drive the pumps for their wells and provided lighting
and some power for cooking.
The AAE wants to purchase a piece of fertile land up in the countryside that will provide the foundation for their
future mission of building a school and equip it to run self sufficiently. There they hope to teach the children
how to care for the crops and be sustainable in their own back yard, this piece of property is not much in
American dollars, perhaps as little as $4500 USD, It would mean so much to them to be able to build a school
for the community and teach 5 days a week.
There were so many grateful people that came up to us to thank Tranquility and crew for making the sea voyage
to deliver this AID and that with the AAE made sure to distribute it to all the children and families not just the
ones whom were in their schools. One boy I remember that shined the brightest was during the handing out of
the hand painted “Shoes of Hope”. He came in with shoes that had holes in the soles and were falling apart at
the seams his delight at receiving a new pair of shoes was displayed through his happy smile, even though there
was a language barrier I got the message to Thank you all for your donations, help support and love, You
brightened the life of many children.
SV Tranquility and Trans Marine are committed to the future of La Gonave and its children by giving our time
and skills to help with the construction of building a strong partnership with the people of Haiti through Sail AID
To Haiti and Sailors without Borders.
We would like to thank all those involved who have supported us in this first of many relief missions