Team Noramise returns to Limbé to survey gardens and continue work on projects begun. A rally on trash removal was held in the marketplace with town residents voicing their opinions and support for the project. Both the Chief of Police and the town Public Defender offered their support. Large drums will be placed to serve as trash receptacles, and fines will be levied for littering. One step forward. The team visited a nearby aquaculture project in order to see what models were locally available for the Camp Cop Farmers’ Association. A search was begun for a permanent home as headquarters for HHN in Limbé.
The team continued its community outreach and fund-raising at various places in the U.S., including a presentation on April 14th to the Orcas Island community. Mimi Anderson and Steve Diepenbrock of Morningstar Farm on Orcas, together with Rosedanie, gave a presentation on the project on Whidbey Island which was hosted by the Sister Island Project whose work is focused on Santo Domingo. Sister Island has generously hosted the team on arrival in Santo Domingo enroute to Limbé. Benefits for HHN were hosted in Bellingham by Julie Connell and in Seattle by Yoon’s Yoga Bliss. Although the gatherings were small, those attending seemed truly committed to helping the work in Haiti move forward.
This video documents the first visit of the Noramise project to Haiti. The purpose is to document our work and share it with our community who help sponsor Noramise.
Yoon’s Yoga Bliss in Shoreline, Washington will be offering a 2-hour guided Vinyasa Flow Yoga Class to benefit Noramise on Saturday, June 5th.
Please see our Events page for details and call now to sign up!
Orcas Island relief organization mobilizing for second trip to Haiti
Limbé, Haiti — The town of Limbé sits about 22 kilometers away from Haiti’s northern shore. Though it was far from the January earthquake that devastated the southern regions, the town has experienced a major shake-up in the wake of the quake. Towns like Limbé, with a population of roughly 50,000 people, have seen their populations swell by as much as 30 percent, as the sons and daughters who went to find work in Port-au-Prince now return home. In disaster’s wake, a tenuous balance has been tipped for towns with an already shaky infrastructure. Lack of adequate sanitation, clean water, and food were already issues in Limbé before the quake, and the problems are only compounded now.
But according to Rosedanie Cadet, leader of Orcas Island-based relief organization Helping Hands Noramise, a new Haiti can be born out of the tragedy. Cadet envisions a Haiti where everyone has access to education, proper sanitation, and proper nutrition, and is working to foster that through Helping Hands Noramise.
In February and March 2010, volunteers from Helping Hands Noramise worked with individuals and groups in Limbé, planting gardens, fostering artisan partnerships, and mobilizing townspeople to remove a giant trash pile from their marketplace.
In May 2010, the group will return again to continue nurturing the seeds that were planted in March. Plans are in place to begin building a school in Limbé, and in June, a group of teen volunteers from Orcas Island will go to Haiti to help build it.
Dozens of businesses from Orcas Island have organized fundraisers this month, to continue the work of Helping Hands Noramise:
Monday, April 26th
Madrona Bar and Grill
310 Main St, Eastsound
All proceeds from appetizers.
Tuesday, April 27th
The Kitchen
249 Prune Alley, Eastsound
A percentage of the day’s proceeds.
Tuesday, April 26th – Friday, April 30th
Trés Fabu
238 North Beach Rd, Eastsound
A percentage of week’s proceeds.
Wednesday, April 28th
Straight Shots Espresso
1 Main Street, Eastsound
A percentage of the day’s proceeds.
Inn at Shipbay
326 Olga Rd, Eastsound
open at 5:30 pm
$10 from each diningroom entrée.
Thursday, April 29th
Deer Harbor Inn and Restaurant
78 Inn Lane, Deer Harbor
$25 benefit dinner
5-8 pm
The meal will include a choice of vegetarian lasagna or grilled marinated free range chicken, split pea soup, garden salad, homemade bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Friday, April 30th
Westsound Café at Kingfish Inn
4362 Crow Valley Rd. Westsound
5-8 pm
All proceeds from appetizers and desserts.
For information or interviews, please contact Rosedanie Cadet at rosedanie@noramise.org, or call (360) 420-1331. Thank you for your interest and support of Helping Hands Noramise! www.noramise.org
Tags: Haiti, helping hands, Journal, Limbé, Noramise, Orcas Island, Press
Rosedanie and a group of 9 volunteers, which included permaculture farmers from 2 countries and a team of documentary filmmakers installed several gardens in Limbé and Camp Cop, Haiti. The group also participated in the cleanup of the town marketplace, which was encumbered with trash, and donated funds to the First Baptist Church to purchase a water pump for a new sanitary bathroom. They also visited with the Camp Cop Farmers’ Association and started preliminary talks regarding help from HHN for an aquaculture project. On returning, the Orcas Island members of the team gave a presentation on the trip to the Emmanuel Episcopal Church which has been very supportive of the project.
Helping Hands Noramise is Mobilizing in Haiti
The initial phase of the Limbé Project will focus on mobilizing the people of Limbé and volunteers to clear the land for construction and getting farmlands ready for replanting.
Rosedanie arrived in Limbé on 2/10/2010, with the first group of volunteers and supplies to follow shortly after.
Anyone wishing to volunteer, email Ethan at: volunteer@noramise.org, with Limbé as the subject. Please give a brief history of your experience working with another culture as well as a list of your skills and talents. We are asking a two week minimum commitment. Travel cost should range between $500-$1000 US, dependent on your departure city.
Follow the upcoming Noramise journal entries here, chronicling the Limbé Project and the work Helping Hands Noramise is doing in Haiti.
Tags: Haiti, helping hands, Journal, Limbé, Noramise, Rosedanie
