DOMINICA HURRICANE UPDATE – MORNE PROSPER (December 2018)
CURRENT ACTIVITIES (RECOVERY PHASE) ● Completed two concrete roof pours for the primary and preschool - 34.4m and 28.2m of concrete respectively. ● Volunteers are now focusing on landscaping, rehabilitating the basketball court and preparing the grounds for the preschool playground, whilst local workers are plastering the schools.
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21 residential roofs have been completed - on target to finish all of the homes available for repair in Morne Prosper. Volunteers have poured concrete foundations at the base of the Liveier Tadour Water Source & are now building timber stairs to improve access.
DISASTER PROFILE Regarded as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica, Hurricane Maria made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on September 18, 2017 with winds over 160 mph. Hurricane Maria left Dominica completely devastated, damaging tens of thousands of buildings, all power, water and telecoms, and obliterating 100% of agriculture – a major source of income. Damages and losses are estimated at USD $1.3m, or 224% of Dominica’s GDP. OUR WORK All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response has been focusing its efforts in Dominica on rebuilding schools and repairing residential roofs. Having completed our first project - rebuilding Paix Bouche Primary and Pre School in St. Andrew Province - we are now focusing on rebuilding Morne Prosper Primary and Pre School in St. George Province, and will shortly be starting our third school project at Charlotte’s Pre School in Newtown. At the center of our work are Build Back Better techniques to make the schools and roofs resistant against future hurricanes and earthquakes. Working closely with the Ministry of Education, other NGOs, the schools and the local communities, this essential work will create much safer homes and more appropriate learning environments, which also serve as evacuation shelters for the surrounding communities.
Creole Fest withIt’s thelike community at our base “Falling in love with learning… that’s what we’re tryingMini to teach here. magic.” Visit to a local community farm
in Morne “I’m the Principal ofProsper the Morne Prosper Pre-school and have been here for 19 years. The work we do here is based on the high scope curriculum which means we have a very hands on approach to learning. In the previous pre-school we had different areas and spaces for the children to interact and learn. The house area, the book area, the writing area, art, blocks, music areas. Since Hurricane Maria destroyed our building we have moved three times between tents, offices and now into half of a classroom in the Primary school building. We try our best to create enough space for the children to participate but it’s been very challenging. Children have a lot of energy and it’s important they use that up through interactive play, to help learning and development. It’s very important. We have a lot of hope that when the Pre-school is complete everything will not only be back to normal but that we will see the Pre-school excelling, even beyond what it has been.” Angela Deschamps, Morne Prosper Pre-school Principal
OUR IMPACT
41
STUDENTS IMPACTED
2
SCHOOLS IN PROGRESS
2922
VOLUNTEER DAYS
102
VOLUNTEERS
Women of Morne Prosper All Hands and Hearts programs could not run as they do without the help and support of the local community. Here in Morne Prosper, we are very lucky to have 15 local staff, including four wonderful women who provide the volunteers, staff and local labourers with breakfast, lunch, dinner and laundry services. To highlight the important work that they do and how they contribute to the programme, we asked our Marketing Content Coordinator, Rosie Bartlett to create a short video. Watch it here!
Roofing Program Progress We are incredibly proud of the roofing programme that we’re running in partnership with International Federation of Red Cross. 21 local families in Morne Prosper now have new, hurricane resistant roofs, and we are on track to complete all of the homes on the list. Our volunteers are learning new skills, such as cutting rafters, hurricane clip installation, using roofing screws and deconstruction methods, and are able to develop these skills by attending the regular tools training sessions that our supervisors run. Stay tuned for next month’s update, which will include a video of our local roofing trainees!
OUR MISSION To effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. By listening to local people, and deploying a unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, we rebuild safe, resilient schools, homes and other community infrastructure.
OUR DOMINICA PARTNERS
5 YEARS IN A ROW! Only 10% of charities have received at least 5 consecutive 4-star ratings. This means All Hands and Hearts outperforms most of the other 1.5 million charities in America in operational and financial efficiency.
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For additional information: Ellie Griffies-Weld, Partnership Manager ellie.gw@allhandsandhearts.org www.allhandsandhearts.org