Port-a-Piment, six months after Hurricane Matthew

On: April 29, 2017May 11, 2017 By: potapiman

The pictures displayed on the following video were taken in April 2017 during our first visit after Hurricane Matthew devastated Port-a-Piment, a town located on the southwest coast of Haiti.

Port-a-Piment , the beautiful town that we cherish and love still maintains its charm and elegance. The scars of Matthew are everywhere. We have noticed many damaged or destroyed homes.. However, efforts are being done by many residents to repair their damaged homes.

The streets of Port-a-Piment are clean and the residents keep their smile despite the hardship they are enduring. Port-a-Piment needs more than ever the support of its sons, daughters and friends. Please click below:

Delivery of medical supplies in Port-a-Piment

On: April 18, 2017May 21, 2019 By: potapiman

Six months after Hurricane Matthew devastated the commune of Port-a-Piment , the local hospital is still very active with patients coming from the Southwest coast of Haiti (Tiburon, Les Anglais, Chardonnières, Roche-a-Bateau, Coteaux etc..).

With the support of the Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) organization, the hospital is now recognized for providing very good services. Everyone in town has something positive to say about the hospital and its staff. 75 patients are scheduled for treatment daily and 120 people are now employed at this facility according to Mr Pierre Van Heddegem, MSF Project Coordinator.

On March 26th, 2017, Konbit Pou Potapiman Inc, delivered 4 boxes of medical supplies donated by The International Surgical Health Initiative (ISHI) Global organization. The supplies included gloves, drapes, staplers,bandage rolls, syringes, IV catheters, suture sets, bottles of Nacl irrigation, curity bandages, gauze sponges etc…. These supplies were trusted to the hospital Medical Director, Dr Missole Antoine and to the Administrator Mr. Evens Pierre.

On behalf of the hospital of Port-a-Piment, Konbit Pou Potapiman Inc., thanks Dr Ziad Zifri,President of IHSI Global Organization for his support and willingness to help. Sincere thanks to Mrs. Michèle Sidney for her assistance and support..

Huge Thank You to Westhill High School students of Stamford,Connecticut

On: April 14, 2017May 17, 2019 By: potapiman

During the week of March 27th 2017, accompanied by Mrs. Paule Edeline Orcel, KPP-Haiti General Secretary, Mrs Carolle Paul, KPP Vice President and Mrs Nicole Jean,KPP member, we visited the schools of Port-a-Piment including the national school in the nearby village of Potus. The scars of the devastation caused by the passage of Hurricane Matthew (crumbled walls, roofless classrooms etc..) were still visible. We were happy to see the kids at school as we encouraged them to maximize their efforts to learn.

At the National school of Figuiers, we took the opportunity to distribute to the students the school supplies graciously donated by the students of West Hills HIgh School of Stanford, Connecticut.The kids were very much happy to receive these supplies.

On behalf of the students of the Ecole Nationale de Figuiers, the school Director and teachers, Konbit Pou Potapiman Inc, wants to thank the students of Westhill High school who donated the supplies such as such as crayons, calculators, scissors, binders, folders, markers, pens, pencils, rulers, paper and glue sticks .

In addition, we would like to offer a special thank you to the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Claudia Obas LeGare of Westhill High School for her leadership and facilitator role in getting these precious gits for the students of Port-a-Piment.

Reopening of the KPP Children’s Library

On: April 11, 2017May 17, 2019 By: potapiman

On Saturday April 1^st, Konbit Pou Potapiman took the important step of reopening its Children’s Library. Following the passage of Hurricane Matthew last October 4^th, the KPP Library had been completely destroyed, with a collapsed roof and all books and chairs blown away. Of our former library, only 3 tables remain.

To us at KPP, it had become imperative to reopen the library, so as to continue to fuel an interest for reading in the youth of Port-A-Piment.

To secure a place, KPP again turned to the Director of the local Ecole Fondamentale d’Application (EFA), Dir. Josue Paul, who kindly allowed the use of a large classroom during library hours. Thank you so much, Dir. Josue, for your continued support.

From boxes of donated books, stored at a different location, also affected by the hurricane, we were able to rescue only 125 children’s books.

This led us to investigate alternate means of getting the kids to read again. We decided on a trial of a Digital Library section. Electronic readers can store a great number of books in a small device, and they are easier to safeguard in case of impending disasters.

With the help of dear friends, KPP secured a total of 10 Kindle readers, downloaded with a number of children’s and young people’s books.

On April 1^st, our young readers were eager to attend the KPP Library again. Needless to say that the children were quite enthusiastic to experiment with the digital devices.

KPP takes this opportunity to recognize the friends who donated electronic readers to the library, in particular, Dr Edwig Eugene, Yves Sidney, Dr Dominique Jean, Guy Antoine, Renel and Cindy Jean.

If you would like to help build up our digital library, please consider donating your used, de-registered Kindle to Konbit Pou Potapiman. You may contact us at 516- 270-6144.

A special Thank you goes also to the team of teachers in Port-a-Piment, who work tirelessly at the KPP library to help improve the children’s education. Thank you Mrs Paule-Edline Orcel, Ms Joceline Julien and Mr Gary Moise.

Konbit Pou Potapiman thanks each and every one for your support, as we continue to pursue the dream of building our very own Library.