Journal | June 2011

June 30, 2011 in Events, Journal, Limbé Project, Our Mission, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

June was a month of mixed success for Noramise. Our report to the Orcas Island Community, June 2nd, drew a small group of loyal supporters and enabled some good exchanges. However, a printing mix-up yielded no flyers to advertise the event which, when coupled with other community activities, meant many of our friends did not join us. Also, the promise of a video presentation fell through leaving Rosedanie to attempt putting something together in the wee hours. Finally, there was a reluctance on the part of the board to ask the community for contributions, knowing that so many are struggling. Lessons learned, and we carry on.

The primary focus for the rest of the month was on organizing volunteers for the July 18th trip to Limbé. Three Northwest residents, Jen Nichol, Dave Parish, and Nicole Vulcan, will join with in-country volunteer, Olivia Jeanne, in conducting an intensive three-week English as a Second Language (ESL) workshop for the Noramise Haiti Committee and other members of our Limbe’ family. Our efforts at obtaining at least three laptop computers for the workshop, and beyond, are ongoing. Both the ability to speak English and the access to computers will help to end the isolation of so many Haitians.

Rosedanie has been traveling to Seattle and Portland helping organize fund-raising events in support of the volunteers’ trip and also to sell the art of Tambour Creole. One of the goals of these travels has been to connect with other Haitians living in the area and to engage them in our mission. Each step is a building block toward an ever widening circle of community support.

We were so happy to welcome a visit to Limbé by Bill and Dorie Mebane. Bill is the superintendent of Aquaculture Engineering at the Woods Hole Institute in Massachusetts and has been providing us with assistance in moving forward on the project we are supporting in conjunction with the Masabiel Farmers’ Association. This visit resulted in specifics as to equipment and supplies needed. The HHN Center will be the location for incubator ponds for the Tilapia fry. We’ll soon be posting on the site a report from Bill including the list of what we need to take the next steps on this project. Go to: www.tedxwoodshole.org for more information.

A second welcome visitor was Patrick Cummings of World Water Partners who was in Limbé to determine suitability of water purifications units he and his organization had committed to donating to two local clinics. Sadly, he concluded that there is neither adequate power nor sufficient water pressure to accommodate these high capacity units so has instead recommended our pursuing the wider use of ceramic filters.

We are so grateful to these visitors for their time and their commitment to the people of Haiti.

“The sound of extreme poverty is an overwhelming silence, for the world’s very poor are unable to speak for themselves. They are unaware that their situation is even the subject of ongoing discussion. Their lives are so different from ours that a behavioral scientist might be tempted to ask whether we are all members of the same species. Our diets, reproductive rates and methods of transportation are entirely diverse. For the absolute poor, education is an unfamiliar abstraction. Their thoughts circle around survival, not of the human species in the future, but of the individual in the next hour. Somehow they have become passive objects of fate, awaiting the next blow: a killer cyclone, a flood, drought, or the advance of this or that army. Those who do endure will flow into cities, filling the spaces between buildings, trying somehow to stay out of harm’s way. Watching, waiting, in silence.” Jim Cousteau – Calypso Log 1992

Latest Volunteer efforts on the ground in Limbe

June 15, 2011 in Projects, Volunteer by Noramise

Here is a link to a piece written by Olivia Jeanne, a research volunteer with Helping Hands Noramise. Olivia has been working with our Haiti Committee as both an observer and a helper, as you will see below. Hers is one of the wonderful connections Rosedanie has made which are gradually forming an intricate web of like-minded people who, with us, are determined to help turn the tide for the people of the Limbé region of Haiti.

Journal | May 2011

May 30, 2011 in Journal, Limbé Project, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

May was a month of catch up for the U.S. contingent of HHN as we continue to stand side-by-side with the people of Haiti. Rosedanie returned following six months spent in Haiti and, later, on St. Croix where she took an intensive course in Permaculture in a climate closely related to that of Limbé. While there she made a number of helpful contacts with professionals working in various aspects of agriculture, including aquaculture.

These contacts and the cooperation they engender help to reinforce our goal of cooperation among the many ngo’s working in Haiti. This, too, is a side-by-side effort and one that will make the best possible use of the resources we all have available to us. One example of this has been a contact Rosedanie made with World Water Partners, a group within Engineers Without Borders. They are donating two high capacity water filtration systems, including shipping and supplies for one year. One of these will go to a Haitian owned and operated clinic in Limbé where HHN has a connection forged prior to the cholera outbreak and reinforced during joint efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

We had to acknowledge that the cholera outbreak had slowed progress on projects which have been underway since our beginnings in January 2010. However, work at the HHN Center continued. As the all important base of our operations in Haiti, the center became the hub for volunteers working on cholera education outreach and a place to teach such things as the making of chlorine and of rehydration solutions. It hosted after school snacks liberally sprinkled with nutrition education (malnutrition was a key factor in the Haitians’ susceptibility to cholera) and the opportunity to speak the English they are learning in school. It continued to provide a venue for the work of the Tambour Creole Collective whose art classes, poetry readings, and performances were a welcome respite from the suffering just outside the door. It hosted a Haitian Independence celebration January 1st which helped to lift spirits and to inspire change.

The center is, of course, the home of the HHN Haiti Committee who are the local driving force behind all we are doing. In addition to staffing and overseeing operation of the center, they are currently working on a plan to establish a badly needed internet café on the premises. Although these are all volunteers, a significant portion of our resources in this first 17 months has gone toward the establishment and maintenance of the center which is a leased facility. There were repairs to be made, the perimeter to be secured, an alternative power supply to be arranged, drains to be cleared, clean water source to be supplied, a food garden to be established (The garden will soon be home to the fry ponds which will supply tilapia stock for the Masabiel Farmers Cooperative Aquaculture project. Professor Wm. Mebane of Woods Hole, MA recently visited the site and provided valuable information on the next steps to be taken on this project), and on, and on. Of course, without the center there is no HHN. It is well situated and very adequate for our needs. Our long range goal is to purchase the property.

Slowly, step-by-step and side-by-side we move forward. Please walk with us.

Journal | February / March / April 2011

April 30, 2011 in Financials, Journal, Limbé Project, Our Mission, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

These were quiet months for the Orcas team. Some of us took advantage of the time for personal travel while Rosedanie completed the Permaculture course in Fredriksted and began weaving her way back to this island. Enroute she connected with a number of people and organizations whose commitment to sustainability in Haiti mirrors ours.

Among those were Dori and Bill Mebane of Woods Hole, MA. Steve has been collaborating with Bill regarding the furthering of the Masabiel Farmers’ Cooperative aquaculture project. The Mebanes were enroute to Haiti where they met with members of the HHN Limbé Committee and toured the site of the ponds. Bill was able to provide some very helpful information and suggestions as to size and development of the ponds, which the cooperative will now put to use. In addition, the Mebanes carried with them a parcel of toys and games purchased with funds raised in Massachusetts by Rosedanie. She exchanges these with the ubiquitous plastic guns and weapons carried by children on the streets throughout Limbé. Another small step toward changing minds.

While in New York, Rosedanie met with Scott Cullen of the Grace Foundation to request funding for the aquaculture project. Mr. Cullen will present our proposal at the next board meeting of the foundation. We are keeping our fingers crossed! The importance of this project cannot be overstated in that it will not only provide a badly needed source of protein but will also create jobs and be a model for other places in the community.

Seattle-based members of Engineers Without Borders have donated to HHN a high capacity water purification unit. This is a very generous gesture on their part and a very exciting development for residents of Limbé. Currently it is proposed that the unit will be installed at a small hospital near the HHN Center. That is subject to negotiations in progress with the founder. In addition to the unit, Engineers Without Borders will pay for shipping and for supplies for the first year. Thanks to the generosity of Orcas Islanders, we have a small fund dedicated to water purification which will enable us to pay for ancillary costs.

Rosedanie has returned to Orcas, so the pace quickens! The first item on the calendar is our second annual report to the Orcas Island community on June 2nd at the Emmanuel Parish Hall in Eastsound. Rosedanie will report on her time in both Haiti and on St. Croix. We are hopeful that Lahini Pierre, an HHN supporter of Haitian birth and a writer who is soon to take up residence in Port au Prince, will join us for the evening. We’ll be raising funds for an ESL and COMPUTER SKILLS day camp to take place in Limbé in July for 3 weeks. Rosedanie has arranged for ESL teachers to travel with her to Haiti where they’ll conduct classes for children and young adults who are already studying English but who have little opportunity to speak it. There will be various fundraising events for this project throughout the Northwest. Please watch the calendar for an event near you!!

The journal entry for May will have more detail. But a final word for this one: We are both aware and concerned about recent revelations about Greg Mortenson, about “Pennies for Peace”, and about The Grameen Bank. These revelations are both disconcerting and cautionary. In each case you have a visionary who, it would appear, has paid insufficient attention to the great responsibility associated with accepting public funds. We wish to assure you that our vision is backed up with detailed bookkeeping which enables us to account for every penny received. To do less than this would be an insult to the mission.

Journal | January 2011

January 30, 2011 in Journal, Limbé Project, Our Mission, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

Although the Helping Hands Noramise organization was formalized in July 2010, it began to coalesce around the vision of Rosedanie 6 months earlier, in January 2010. As we move forward into 2011, this month has been devoted to reconfirming that vision and to planning activities for 2011.

Rosedanie is in the midst of taking a Permaculture course in Fredriksted on the island of St. Croix. The information and skills gained from this course will be applied to both the permaculture gardens currently underway in Limbé and to the further development of the aquaculture project undertaken by the Masabiel Farmers Association.

We are struggling with both a calendar for 2011 and a corresponding budget in that there are so many unknowns inherent in working in Haiti. For example, Rosedanie’s weeks in Limbé at the end of 2010 were consumed by organizing volunteers for outreach in cholera prevention education when, in fact, the plan had been for her to work to move forward on various HHN projects. We had to stretch our budget in order to pay for emergency shipments in support of that outreach and learned that our budgeting plan will have to be flexible.

Please stay with us as we move and grow in fostering the HHN mission to empower the Haitian people in developing and sustaining intentional local industries.

Support a volunteer traveling to Haiti

January 2, 2011 in Volunteer by Helping Hands Noramise

A past volunteer with Helping Hands Noramise is returning to Haiti early  in 2011.  Her name is Bonita Ford, and you can contribute to her volunteer mission by visiting her website @:  http://www.eco-logicalsolutions.com/haiti-support

Journal | December 2010

December 30, 2010 in Events, Financials, Journal, Limbé Project, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

The HHN work to prevent the spread of cholera continued in the region of Limbé, with Rosedanie and volunteers becoming educated in how to make chlorine, how to assemble simple water filtration units, and how to get these supplies to the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time.  Along the way they made a connection with Haiti Village Health and its founder, Dr. Tiffany Keenan who proved to be a valuable resource.  On two Saturdays in December, Orcas Island resident, Irene Eckberg took it upon herself to raise funds for water filtration units.  This very successful effort brought in $1243 which is going toward the purchase of the components of these systems.  A heartfelt thank you to Irene and the generous people of Orcas Island.

At the same time, a program in nutrition education was begun at the HHN Center.  Malnutrition is one of the factors making the Haitian people so susceptible to the disease.  Finally, Rosedanie began oversight of a formerly unemployed and now budding teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) at The Bethesda School.  We were able to send a few books for beginners as well as a manual for teachers.  It was gratifying to initiate these projects amidst the work to contain cholera.

Please stay tuned for more details on specific projects and how you, too, can be involved.

Dec. 18 — Update from Rosedanie recapping current activities in Haiti

December 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Helping Hands Noramise

Fabricating chlorine in order to purify water to prevent further spreading of Cholera, with help from Haiti Village Health organization in Bas Limbé.

The following post is a detailed summary just received from Rosedanie regarding her activities since arriving in Limbé on November 2nd, focused on Cholera-prevention, including outreach, education and other related topics.

PLEASE DONATE IN SUPPORT OF THESE ACTIVITIES AND BE PART OF THIS SUCCESSFUL EFFORT TO STEM THE TIDE OF CHOLERA IN THE LIMBE’ AREA OF HAITI. THANK YOU!

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Hello everyone,
Following is a brief summary of my time in Limbé:
Arrived here on the evening of November 2nd, following a day in Santo Domingo, at Sister Island’s representative Nina Hernandez’ home.
Had hoped to spend a week or so getting reacquainted with the committee and family members in Limbe’. Unfortunately, the cholera epidemic made it necessary to put those plans aside.

With the help of several Tambour Creole members, I scheduled our first cholera prevention education outreach for the Camp Coq area, not far from where the Masabiel farmers cooperative wants to build its Tilapia ponds. We were able to mobilize some 60 residents, Inform them on the cause and main transmission source of cholera, methods of proper hygiene practices, water purification and food preparation to help with prevention. Gave out fliers which included the formula for the vital re hydration fluid needed to keep one with cholera alive on the long journey to the nearest medical center. Distributed soap, bleach and some re hydration packets provided by Danise Abel, president of the HHN Haiti committee. Since then we have given 15 such presentations in at least 10 areas in and outside of Limbé proper. Visited a hundred homes or so, 5 schools, distributing the same fliers and were invited to speak on 2 radio stations to give out the information.

I have connected with another organization, Haiti Village Health, which has a small clinic in Bas Limbé. Dr Tiffany Keenan, its founder and director invited us to the clinic three weeks ago and had her volunteers teach ours to make a low grade chlorine using salt, water and a very simple device. Robin has all the specs on this machine for those who want to know more. She then donated 3 of them to us as well as $500 with which to pay our volunteers who are now distributing this chlorine door to door throughout Limbé.. A cap full of this chlorine can be used to treat a five gallon bucket of water. Met another volunteer from England through the same organization, who came to Haiti with a water purification system(www.cleanwaterkits.com) using a ceramic filter and 2- 5 gallon buckets. This means of water purification is the easiest and safest to use we’ve seen to date. It requires no power source, delivers treated water at a rate of 5 liters per hour and removes 99.99% of bacteria and cysts. I traveled to St. Michel village with some Haiti Village volunteers and set up four purification centers there. This is an area where cholera victims were being transported via rowboat to Bas Limbé for medical care. Several of them never made it to the clinic alive. We hope to obtain more of these filters for distribution.

Our volunteer base is all Haitian, and as each member learns a new technique, they then have to teach it to the next person, ensuring that each member of the team really understands the new process and empowering them. This approach has been working very well and frees me to focus on other aspects of my time here.

The other item that has been taking up a good chunk of time is trying to get our committee moving forward with the charter so we can be recognized as a legal NGO in Haiti. We have had several meetings to review the charter and hope to have the final version completed at out next meeting on the 28th. In the interest of building better relation between the committee members and Tambour Creole, I hosted our first potluck last night, which was a huge success. At the end of the evening Daniel Desronvil our secretary, suggested we make this a regular practice and we will have another potluck next week, which will also have a secret santa component.

Charlot Kily the coordinator of Tambour Creole and I had discussed holding an all day celebration event for Independence day on January 1st. This idea was also well received by both committee members. The young artists and writers that Tambour Creole have been working with, will be asked to create some works to commemorate our independence, and I’m hoping HHN will be able to finance the purchase of some small prizes for the participants.

I have started a pilot ESL program at the Bethesda school, which will provide employment for a local man living across from the HHN center. Have also been teaching nutrition education to Lunise our cook/housekeeper and invite several local children here for an after school meal daily.

On a personal note, I have started coaching rugby to some of the kids on Saturday afternoons. Look out All Blacks, here comes the Haitian national rugby team. Haven’t been able to get any female players yet.
Well, I must get to bed now. Will send a more detailed year end report next week.

Go Team GO!!!
Coach Cadet

Journal | November 2010

November 30, 2010 in About Haiti, Journal, Limbé Project, What's New? by Noramise

Best laid plans.  Rosedanie arrived in Haiti November 2nd just as the cholera epidemic was rapidly overtaking the people of Limbé.  All plans for work on projects were set aside, and she began to regroup in an effort to do all possible to prevent the further spread of disease.  Following some very frustrating attempts at obtaining supplies and information, she simply elected to take it upon herself to organize an every-changing group of volunteers and begin door-to-door canvassing to educate residents in prevention of the disease.  It would seem obvious that with major international ngos working there, Helping Hands Noramise (HHN) could obtain prevention supplies such as bleach, soap, and rehydration packets for distribution.  That has not proven to be the case, and has afforded HHN the opportunity to experience first hand the difficulty of accessing aid.  Cholera will be a fact of life in Haiti for the foreseeable future.  Access to clean water and adequate sanitation, scarce in the country, are the key to survival.  This is where our efforts are now focused.

Cholera Prevention Outreach / Education and Nutrition Education

November 28, 2010 in Uncategorized by Noramise

Cholera outreach presentation – HHN committee Secretary Daniel Desronvil and Director Rosedanie Cadet at Simonette neighborhood cholera outreach presentation.

Immediately upon arrival in Limbe in November, Rosedanie Cadet has been focused on a variety of projects all related to the Cholera outbreak which has spread across Haiti including in Limbe and the surrounding region.

The range of projects fall into 3 main categories:

  1. Clean/purified-water production and distribution
  2. Sanitation and related outreach and education including general info on Cholera and how it spreads
  3. Education on nutrition as a means to reduce susceptibility to falling sick

Chlorine fabrication, Bas Limbé.

Click HERE for some more details from Rosedanie’s last blog entry summarizing her efforts on Cholera Prevention.

Sharing a meal at HHN Center after work party. Part of the nutrition education program instituted by Helping Hands Noramise.

Nov. 24, 2010 — Update from Rosedanie: Focus on Cholera epidemic

November 25, 2010 in Uncategorized by Helping Hands Noramise

Hello everyone,

Update on the cholera situation in Limbe’:  According to the head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), we haven’t seen the ‘tsunami’ of cholera that will hit Haiti.

http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1733-haiti-cholera-epidemic-an-apocalypse-scenario.html

This prediction, which seems a rather dark view of the situation to me, makes the work of prevention, outreach, and education even more important than any other projects HHN has on the table.  If we can get to areas that have not yet been affected, I believe there is a good chance the predicted ‘tsunami’ will not arrive.

I have connected with a group called Clean the World (www.cleantheworld.org) who are working in a seaside region called Bas Limbe’.  They have a simple chlorine water purification unit which they will teach us to make and use. We’ll then place volunteers at the water sources — streams, wells, etc. and train others.

THE DOCTOR IN CHARGE HAS A CONTACT WITH ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES IN MIAMI WHO WILL SHIP SUPPLIES TO US.  WE’RE LOOKING FOR FRIENDS IN MIAMI WHO CAN PICK UP THE 5 GAL. BUCKETS, WHICH ARE THE BASIS FOR THE SYSTEM, AND DELIVER THEM TO THE CRUISE LINE OFFICE.  Details to follow.

Let’s prevent this tsunami.

In unity,

Rosedanie

Update of Rosedanie’s activities since arriving in Haiti on Nov 2nd

November 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Helping Hands Noramise

Following are excerpts from messages sent by Rosedanie since arriving in Haiti November 2, 2010.  They closely follow the horrific trajectory of the cholera epidemic in the region of Limbé.  The good news is that door-door outreach efforts have most recently been happening and have been well received (noted in the most recent posting at the very bottom).

We are desperately in need of funds to support Rosedanie and the HHN Committee in their efforts to provide supplies and prevention information to the people in the area.  Please make a contribution now by clicking on the DONATE link on the left.  We greatly thank you.

04 November 2010:  Hi there.  Am still trying to resolve network issues.  In need of emergency supplies.  30+ cases cholera at Good Samaritan Hospital.  Need ivs, more rehydrating salts, headlamps.  Patients housed in yard away from others.  Please send call out for help.  Trying to find economical way to receive supplies.  Thanks, Danie.

05 November 2010:  Good morning.  On my way to Cap Haitien for $ and supplies.

07 November 2010:  PC-Relief-Haiti ALERT:  Blue Plastic Water Bags – infected – Water distributed in Haiti as purified.  Director General of Haiti’s Health Department, Mr. Gabriel Thimote, warms that blue plastic bags of water labeled “purified” should not be trusted because they are filled with untreated Artibonite River water.

08 November 2010:  Good Morning.  Have images from yesterday’s cholera prevention gathering.  Will send soon as am able.  Thank you.  In unity, Rosedanie.

10 November 2010:  Good morning everyone,  Hope you are all well.  I got the modem yesterday and now have internet at the house.  It’s a little slow but it works.  Life here in Limbe’ is so so.  We had no electricity for 3 days, and it’s been raining heavily on and off for the past week.  The roof leaks and our kitchen draining system is plugged.  There are now 5 people other than myself living at the house putting a strain on the food budget.  As for the cholera outbreak, cases are increasing.  I am going to visit the Good Samaritan Hospital later and see how the additional patients are being housed.  I spoke with the Director of Public Health in Cap Haitien yesterday.  He informed me he had run out of ORS (oral rehydrating salts) and ivs and was trying to procure more.  When asked what we could do to help besides community outreach, he expressed the need for surgical gowns, gloves, and face masks.  Many people have died because their families and hospital staff are afraid to touch them fearing they might contract cholera, even though they’ve been told it is not transmitted through touch.  I’ve yet to see any MSF (Doctors Without Borders) staff working in this area.  I suspect that much of the supplies they are bringing will not get to those in need but will be sold by the people responsible for distribution.  This was the case with the many food supplies sent after the earthquake.

I’ve called a meeting of the HHN Limbe’ Committee on Saturday in order for us to decide how we will get information to people in the rural areas.  On Monday I hope to meet the Chief of Staff at the General Hospital in Okap who will be able to introduce me to a representative of MSF in order to obtain more supplies.  In the meantime I am continuing with the purchase of soap and bleach to distribute, as well as making copies of prevention materials.

The bottom line is that this crisis is not yet under control, and I’m not sure what more we can do other than what is being done.  Please do what you can to get the word out regarding what is going on and to obtain funds and/or the above mentioned supplies.

I am off to the Bethesda School in a while where I will be substituting for Sister Irose on Thursdays so she can have a day off.

Well, that’s all for now.  Thank you all again for your work.

In Unity, Rosedanie.

10 November 2010:  I am also in need of some food supplies.  Prices have gone up for everything and with the additional mouths to feed, what I had budgeted for food will not be sufficient.  Once we are able to establish an economical shipping route, we could use some cereal, bags of tuna fish, and other sources of protein.  Still trying to get hold of the shipping company to see about getting a discounted rate.  Must now dash and get trained as a substitute teacher.  Thank you, Rosedanie.  P.S.  Still trying to attach photos to send.

“10 November 2010:  Hello, I visited the hospital and spoke with the administrator.  Besides the supplies mentioned earlier there is a great need for medical personnel.  There are 12-15 new cases admitted daily, and they are short on staff.  Please update the website and add this to the volunteer page.  Anyone available can of course be housed here.  Have arranged to return in a few days and do some outreach with the patients and their families.  Also made contact with a UNICEF worker who came to find out what the hospital needed.  He and a colleague will be here Saturday, and we are planning to meet.  The boys came home from school today with a water purifying straw from waterislife.com.  Can someone check to see who they are and if we can somehow connect with them.  As electricity supply is short at the moment, I can’t spend any time searching online.

That’s all for today.  Must get ready for my first day of school.

In unity, Rosedanie.

15 November 2010:  Update from Haiti: According to Bureau of Public Health, Limbé is 2nd in area most affected by cholera. Team Noramise visited the town of Bas-Limbé & held 2 community outreach gatherings, giving info on symptoms and means of prevention for cholera, plus instruction on how to prepare an electrolyte fluid to give to those affected to drink while they are being rushed to health care. Photos to follow.

16 November 2010:  Hi there,  Had a meeting last night to plan our door-to-door cholera prevention outreach.  Due to unrest yesterday, most schools are closed today and people are still apprehensive about leaving their homes.  We are starting the visits in our neighborhood and working our way outward in the direction of areas we’ve already covered.  Several community members have been invited to join us.  We’ll have to wait and see who actually shows up.

In unity, Rosedanie

17 November 2010:  continuing our door to door outreach on cholera prevention. it’s going well, as each day a few more LOCAL RESIDENTS join our team in the work. Hoping to see a decrease in the # of people needing medical care soon. the hospitals are once again running out of supplies. the road to Cap-Haitien has been blocked for several days due to the riots.  things were slightly calmer in Limbé today.

Thank You

November 7, 2010 in Uncategorized by Helping Hands Noramise

Dear Supporters,

On November 12th it will be 10 months since the devastating earthquake shook my country, and I sent out a call for help. The myriad ways in which this call has been answered continues to amaze and inspire me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all with all my heart.

Recently my young friend Samantha celebrated her birthday in Seattle, by having a fundraising party for Helping Hands Noramise (HHN).  She and her friends raised over $300 and collected school supplies for students in Limbé. This kind of grassroots effort is the driving force behind HHN.

Your generous contributions of funds and time have enabled us to install gardens, provide school supplies for over 50 students, host the first of what I hope to be many Arts and Sports  camps in which Haitian and American students participated. We were also able to provide tools and some work to a fledging woodworkers collective. The many projects which we have undertaken are vital to the sustainable economic and educational growth of Limbé, and of Haiti in general.

We will keep you informed and involved every step of the way.

I know how hard we all work and how limited some of our resources are.  My promise to you is that your efforts will not be wasted. HHN is determined to help the Haitian people reach a point where they will be able to help themselves and will only need supplemental support from us to accomplish their own growth and development. As I head back to Haiti to continue the work, I hold in my heart your warm thoughts and generous words. Again, thank you for your continued support.

In Unity,

Rosedanie Cadet, Director

Helping Hands Noramise

Journal | October 2010

October 30, 2010 in Events, Journal, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

Another group of fine artists, The Orcas Palettes, graciously invited us to give a presentation at their October 8th meeting in Jacqueline Kempfer’s Eastsound studio.  As a result, they are collecting badly needed supplies for Tambour Creole and will soon begin a dialogue with the artists.  Another boost of recognition.

On October 13th, Rosedanie and Robin traveled to Friday Harbor to give a presentation to the Soroptimists group.  They treated us to a lovely lunch and lent us their ears as we talked about HHN and the projects underway.  An outpouring of checks and cash marked our departure.  We thank Liz Illg of Non-Profits Unlimited for arranging this opportunity and for the many ways in which she is lending us a “helping hand.”

Throughout the month, the Orcas Grandmothers have been working behind the scenes looking after Rosedanie (they even did her laundry), purchasing wind-up flashlights for distribution to the women in the camps in Port au Prince and  providing food and rest for our director as she readies herself for a five month sojourn in Limbé.

Journal | September 2010

September 30, 2010 in Events, Journal, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

On September 12th, Rosedanie and Robin met with a group of Northwest Washington women who support the concept of micro-lending.  As a result of that meeting we received our first grant for this program.  We are very grateful for their generosity which will enable us to move forward with the program in Limbé.

The Fine Arts Committee at The Orcas Center graciously allowed us some space in their gallery where, on September 29th, we hung the balance of the art of Tambour Creole Collective.  It was on display throughout October, giving a big boost of recognition for these fine artists.

Journal | August 2010

August 30, 2010 in Events, Financials, Our Mission, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

This was a month devoted primarily to organizational work with the board of trustees.  We began long range planning, worked to solidify our base of volunteers, worked closely with our bookkeeper, Janna Gingras, to create systems for receiving/dispensing funds and meaningful financial reports, and generally focused on building a solid foundation for HHN.

A call for office equipment for the HHN Limbé Center resulted in the donation of a new multi-purpose printer by Orcas computer whiz, Tony Ghazel.  Thank you, Tony!

On August 23rd we opened a show of Haitian art, primarily from the Tambour Creole Collective with whom we work, at Millie’s Antiques and Collectibles in Eastsound, WA (Orcas Island).  Millie cleared out her space and very generously accommodated the show, adding a few fine Haitian paintings of her own.  A group of wonderfully supportive local “grandmothers” worked with Rosedanie to mount and hang the various pieces.  The show was well received by the community.  It ended August 29th with a celebration in the adjacent Cottage Company garden, highlighted by food, music, and a benefit auction including works donated by Orcas artists.

August 2010 | Art Auction Fundraiser

August 27, 2010 in Uncategorized by Noramise

Support the need in Haiti through art! Noramise has brought back a collection of Haitian Art by local artists of the Tambour Creole Artists’ Cooperative. Paintings are available for sale at this art auction fundraising event on Orcas Island, WA, Sunday, August 29th from 1-5pm, or contact Rosedanie if you’re interested in buying some art. All proceeds go directly to the artists in Haiti.

Painting by a 15 yr-old artist in Limbé, Haiti.

Journal | June / July 2010

July 30, 2010 in Events, Journal, Projects, What's New? by Noramise

Team Noramise, comprised of six Orcas Island High School students and two former graduates, together with Rosedanie and Steve Diepenbrock, began their trip to Haiti via Brooklyn, NY where Susan Daily of Chestnut Restaurant hosted a benefit.  Ms. Daily donated 50 backpacks for the children of Limbé, and her children and their classmates filled them with school supplies.  These were entrusted to the Orcas students who would deliver them.  On arrival in Limbé the team hosted the first 2-day art and sports camp for the youth of the town.  A second visit was made to Bethesda School where, with the help of Mrs. Batat’s sons and several community members aged 8 to 30, they cleaned up the back yard and built beds for a vegetable garden which the school will maintain.  Building and stocking a chicken coop is scheduled for the next Team Noramise trip.  Team Noramise also worked with a Haitian school group to clean the grounds of the local museum.

Helping Hands Noramise now has a local Haitian committee which will oversee projects when the U.S. team is not present.  Mrs. Grimard will act as Directrice, and Mr. Desronvil as Secretary of this committee.  A house was found to use as a headquarters, and through the generous support of an Orcas Islander, it was leased for one year.  This will be the place where the local committee will meet with project leaders.  It will also house the U.S. team and provide a home for a burgeoning local artists’ cooperative, Tambour Arts.  The house is three doors from the childhood home of Rosedanie.

The trash pile in the marketplace has been removed due to the influence of the Minister of Agriculture. On the final day of the trip Rosedanie, Mrs. Grimard, and Mr. Desronvil met with Mayor Celicourt Monpremier to discuss continued cleanup of the town.  Team Noramise has offered to help by providing community outreach and education on the subject.  We trust this is the beginning of a long and beneficial partnership with the local government.

On return to Orcas Island, Team Noramise made a presentation to the community at Emmanual Parish Hall on July 27th.  The team members spoke about their experiences in Haiti and what they had gained from the trip.  They presented a 30 minute slide show which received a standing ovation.  A “Golden Shoestrings” auction capped the evening and helped to defray some expenses of the trip and to support the ongoing projects.  It was concluded that the exchange between the youth of Orcas Island and the youth of Limbe’ was priceless.

Orcas Island Students Volunteering on School Project in Limbé, Haiti

July 3, 2010 in Volunteer by Noramise

Team Noramise arrives at house in Limbé, Haiti, with lots of gear & supplies.

The first Orcas-Limbé student exchange is happening! Volunteers are working on land in Limbé which has been dedicated for the construction of a tuition-free vocational high school to be built by Team Noramise and a local family.

See recent PHOTOS taken by the group in Haiti on the Noramise Facebook page.

Thank you to all the people who donated time and money to support this trip!

The summer solstice fundraising benefit event for the school project in Haiti, held at Chestnut restaurant in Brooklyn, NYC, was an amazing send-off party for this group of student volunteers. Thanks to the generous owners and chef of Chestnut who donated the delicious food and beautiful space!

Steve doing what he loves best, Limbé, Haiti.

Noramise needs your help for ongoing projects

June 2, 2010 in Donate, Limbé Project, Press by rosedanie

Rosedanie Cadet is a women of Haitian decent who spent her early years in her home country. She now lives and works on Orcas Island. She reconnected with her family in Haiti just before the January 12th earthquake. While there she was both overwhelmed by the needs of the people and inspired to share with them the benefits of her education and life experience. She returned to Orcas the day before the quake with plans to help them increase food production, to help build a tuition-free school, and to create a flexible organization which would enlist local people in improving their lives. She has named that organization Noramise after her grandmother.

The execution of those plans has now become a driving force for her and for the many people in our community and elsewhere. Her family connections in Limbé have given her the opportunity for grassroots help. Her uncle, cousins, and many other members of the extended family are energized and are carrying on the wheels she and the team began. They need our help.

There are four projects currently underway:

1. Development of a municipal solid waste management system.
2. Development of an aquaculture farm for growing tilapia to help remedy the protein-deficient diet.
3. Development of farm and garden sites (some commercial) with the emphasis on Permaculture.
4. The first Orcas-Limbé student exchange to take place 20-30 of June at a summer camp held on the grounds of land in Limbé which has been dedicated for the construction of a tuition-free school.

Each of these projects comes with needs for funding and for expertise. Following is a brief list:

  • Donated air miles.
  • Money for equipment rental, hand tools, respirators, seeds, fish, plant stock, art supplies, sports equipment, and books.
  • A copy of Quickbooks for non-profits.
  • A Saint to lead the way through the process of establishing a non-profit.

Tobias delivering metal grinder  to Youth leader and  iron worker Daniel.

We so often hear about people and countries in need, but we don’t know where or how to begin to help. Noramise gives us the opportunity to participate in projects which will change lives and with which we can have a very direct connection. Please join us in this exciting effort. We will keep you posted every step of the way.

Thank you.
The Noramise Team