Haiti

Trip Dates and Applications

Suggested Reading:
Foreign to Familiar by Sarah A. Lanier and Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.


Payment and Donation Log - Must accompany all payments and donations.
*Prices listed may be subject to extra fees. See application for full pricing and package details.
**Dates subject to airline availability

Projects

Hero Holiday is partnering with a children’s home in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. While working there, we will be helping to establish the homes’ safety and maintenance, helping to supply their school with any needed equipment, teaching English classes to the 50+ orphans that call it home, as well as getting involved in some amazing outreach programs that bring food, clean water and medical assistance to those who need it most.

Every child deserves the chance to grow up safe, educated, and well-fed. And every child deserves to be surrounded by people who are willing and able to provide that for them. The children in these homes are full of life, trust, and love. When you experience this kind of relationship, you are never the same!

Itinerary

This trip commences in Port au Prince, Haiti. Each participant (must be 18yrs+ to attend) is responsible for arranging their own transportation to this location. Once you arrive and make your way out of the airport security, our staff will be there an waiting to take you to our accommodations. (If you would lke to fly down to Haiti with our staff, please contact our office) On most days, we will have breakfast at our guesthouse and then make our way over to the orphanage to work on our project(s). The team will be brought to a grocery store each noon time where they can purchase their own lunch (this meal is not included in your fees) and return to our work project in the afternoon. We return to the guesthouse for dinner and have the evening to relax. At dark, the power is shut off in most parts of Haiti and thus nights are quite relaxed. Expect to spend an unforgettable day at the beach with the children during your trip too.

Typical Haiti Trip Itinerary

Accommodations

While your ten day, nine night stay in Haiti, you will be staying at a hospitality home. This guest house is a safe and clean home in Port au Prince where you will feel more like family than a guest. Rooms are furnished with comfortable bunk beds. Breakfast and dinner are served to the group everyday.

Staff / Security

Since 2005, the climate of safety is continuing to stabilize. Canada is playing a big part in this with our RCMP and the UN working together to train the Haitian police and military in proper procedure and effective governing of it's citizens. In saying this though, we do still recognized that there areas of uncertainty and as an organization we consider the following precautions. All participants, including staff, will be at our accommodations before dark, the group will always be in numbers no smaller than three and this number will include an experience staff member, and we will be working with a proven and trusted Haitian Logistic's Specialist, Frantzo Begin. This will be the forth year that Frantzo has worked with us in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. He is extremely reliable and a very organized and well connected. He is fluent in Creole, English, French, and Spanish. Frantzo also runs a NGO that works to educate children and provide relief for families in need. He has hosted many other teams like ours and we look forward to working with him this May 2010.

• We do ask that all our participants read two books before traveling to Haiti: Foreign to Familiar by Sarah A. Lanier and Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder


• We will also be facilitating a four hour group orientation meeting online, one month prior to this trip. This orientation will help prepare you by:


• Highlighting some major cultural differences
• Detail what you will be seeing and doing
• Reviewing some common traveling safety tips.
• A chance for you to ask any last minute questions you may have.




• All of our Hero Holiday staff are experienced professionals in each area they facilitate. We have Professional Drivers, Builders, Youth Workers, Cultural Specialists, Logistic Coordinators, Cooks (when needed), Interpreters and experienced Ground Staff. All of our staff are very passionate about what we do and we believe that we all have a responsibility to help those in need and to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Hero Holiday maintains excellent community relations and works diligently alongside of community leaders, other NGO's working in the area, and often government officials in each country that we work in. Safety is always our number one priority. All of our key staff are first aid certified and we always have access available to quality medical attention (if needed) in all countries that we work in.
• Haiti has a special spot in many of our staff's heart. One clear reason is that the need of this country is so great. Our staff have made quite a few trips to visit and work with this orphanage and have developed a relationship with our Haitian friends at the orphanage and the guesthouse. We have learned the ins and outs of transportation and way of life in Haiti.
• Before a Hero Holiday begins, all parents are given contact numbers and emails for Hero Holiday Trip Host(s). We are available at any time for parental concerns or emergencies. Our staff also works hard to keep families and friends back home updated on a daily basis with stories and pictures on our website and facebook of what is happening with each particular group.