Haiti Fall 2012

This trip will change your life! We will be working in Cap Haitien, Haiti's second largest city. Our main project will be focused on adding more classrooms onto our school that ws started in May 2010. The school is located in a part of Cap Haitien called Calvaire. Calvaire is a very poor community situated on the side of a small mountain, and is home to approximately 1,000 people. The average income of a person living in Calvaire is about $2 - $3 dollars a day (Haiti's minimum wage is supposed to be $5 a day). Education is a powerful tool in ending the cycle of poverty! This community has been without a school until we arrived in 2010, and most people in the community are illiterate. Trapped in poverty, they were unable to afford the simple transportation costs to send their children to school down the mountain. It has not been easy to build a school in this community because of their steep location -  but we know that it is greatly needed and it will helpt to transform this community.Come help us as we equip the people of Calvaire with hope to face their future!

You must be 16 years and older to participate on this Hero Holiday. We require at least 10 participants in order for this trip to take place.

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.

Trip Details

Trip Date:
Oct 6, 2012 to Oct 15, 2012
Registration deadline:
Jul 31, 2012
Minimum fundraising amount:
$2,500.00

Registration steps

Step 1: Register Now

Step 2: Send your initial $300.00 to confirm your registration and secure your spot. Click here to donate

Step 3: Download and print

Step 4: Mail consent package to:
Hero Holiday Processing Office
Box 25103 RPO West Kildonan
Winnipeg MB R2V 4C7
  • Specifics
  • Itinerary
  • Projects
  • Security
  • Fundraising/Refunds

    • Minimum Fundraising Requirements

    • $2,500 This is a minimum amount each volunteer has been asked to fundraise/contribute to Live Different.
      • $300 due with Consent Package.
      • $1,100 due June 15th, 2012.
      • $1,100 due September 1st, 2012.

    What your fundraising amounts include:

    • Airport shuttles in Haiti.
    • Flights to Cap Haitien.
    • Transportation needs while in Haiti.
    • Accommodations and meals.
    • Building materials and supplies for project.
    • Interpreter.
    • Foreman for work site.
    • General hosting.

     What your fundraising amounts do not include:

    • Flights to and from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. There is an option to fly to Port-au-Prince with our staff. Please call our office for more details.
    • Excursion Day to Haiti's historical fortress, the Citadel. $40 USD
    • Spending money.
    • Emergency Travel Medical Insurance.
    • Cancellation and Interruption Insurance.

    Refund Policy

    • This Refund Policy only applies to monies that have been explicitly marked as a "payment" on the Donation/Payment Form.
    • Up to 50% of trip payments (not donations) will be refunded until September 1st, 2012 prior to trip start date.
    • After September 1st, 2012, no refunds will be given except for extreme circumstances such as death or severe illness/injury resulting in the individual being unable to participate. In such cases, up to 80% of trip payments (not donations) may be refunded. Requests for refund must be accompanied by a death certificate or a doctor's note.
    • Donations are 100% non-refundable.
    • All requests for refund must be forwarded to Absolute Leadership Development Inc. in writing.
    • Payments cannot be forwarded towards a future Hero Holiday or transferred to another volunteer.
    • In the event of failing to meet application requirements (i.e. not obtaining a valid passport, not meeting minimum fundraising goals, etc), Absolute Leadership Development Inc. reserves the right to cancel participation with no refund of payment.

    Saturday, October 6th: 

    • Team meets in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Please arrange for your flight to arrive before 12:00pm. A Hero Holiday Staff member will meet you at the airport. An airport shuttle will be provided. There is an option to fly to Port-au-Prince with our staff. Please call our office for more details.
    • A domestic flight to Cap Haitien (30 minute flight vs a 5 hour bus ride!).
    • Orientation.

    Sunday, October 7th:

    • Awareness tour.

    Monday, October 8th - Thursday, October 11th:

    • Project days.
    • Spend one of these days seeing what beauty Haiti has to offer. See world collide as you visit Labadee beach, home to a Royal Caribbean cruise destination.

    Friday, October 12th:

    • Day off - Visit to Haiti's historical site: Citadelle

    Saturday, October 13th:

    • Community Party!
    • Preparation for what is next - Hero Holiday is going to be one of the most intense and life-changing experiences you will ever have. Because we believe that this is just the beginning of something for you, we want to help you to prepare to return home and integrate this experience and the lessons learned. On the final day of our trip we will have a final debriefing that will help you to take this experience and help others understand how we can make a difference in our global community.

    Sunday, October 14th:

    • Fly back to Port-au-Prince.
    • Tour of the city.

    Monday, October 15th:

    • Fly home.
    • Airport shuttles provided. Please aim to fly out of Port-au-Prince by 3:00pm.
    The project details are not available at this time, check back soon!

    All of our Hero Holiday staff are experienced professionals in each area they facilitate. We have professional drivers, builders, youth workers, administrators, cooks, mechanics and interpreters. We maintain excellent community relations and work diligently alongside of community leaders and government officials in each country that we work in. We take our responsibilities and your expectations very seriously. Safety is always our number one priority. All of our key staff are first aid certified and we always have immediate access available to quality medical attention (if needed) in all countries that we work in.

    Before a Hero Holiday begins, all parents are given contact numbers and emails for Hero Holiday ground staff. We are available at any time for parental concerns or emergencies. Our staff also works hard to keep family and friends back home updated on a daily basis with stories and pictures of what is happening with each particular group.

    Understanding of Charitable Donations

    • It is important to understand that Live Different Hero Holiday is a charitable program of Absolute Leadership Development Inc. This means that "participants/travelers" are functioning as volunteers of Absolute Leadership Development, to with assist our charitable humanitarian work. Hero Holiday Participants are not the beneficiaries of this charitable program; they are volunteers, approved by our Board of Directors, that carry out the humanitarian work.
    • Due to the expense and logistics of coordinating a volunteer humanitarian development project, an important qualification is for each volunteer to meet their trip's minimum individual fundraising goal. To meet this minimum goal, volunteer's can solicit tax receiptable donations on behalf of Live Different, for the specifc project they are volunteering on. According to charity law, a donation is a voluntary transfer of property without valuable consideration to the donor; donors cannot choose the beneficiaries of their donations, and a charity must have full discretion in deciding how to allocate its funds. It is the volunteer's obligation to inform donors that all donations are given to the project/charity, and are not being given as a direct monetary benefit to the volunteer.
    • This means that ALL donations are absolutely, 100% non-refundable. In event of any form of cancellation whatsoever or overpayment, funds will instead be allocated towards other charitable programs.
    • A Donation/Payment Form must accompany all monies submitted to Live Different.
    • Do NOT put the volunteer's name in the memo on a donation cheque.
    • Alternately, if a person does not want to give a donation to the charitable project, but make a non-tax receiptable payment on the volunteer's behalf that will have the benefit of falling under our refund policy, they can indicate this on the Donation/Payment Form.

    Refund Policy

    • This Refund Policy only applies to monies that have been explicitly marked as a "payment" on the Donation/Payment Form.
    • Up to 50% of trip payments (not donations) may be refunded until Jun 15, 2012.
    • After Sep 1, 2012, no refunds will be given except for extreme circumstances such as death or severe illness/injury resulting in the individual being unable to participate. In such cases, up to 80% of trip payments (not donations) may be refunded. Requests for refund must be made in writing and be accompanied by a death certificate or a doctor's note.
    • Donations are 100% non-refundable.
    • All requests for refund must be forwarded to Absolute Leadership Development Inc. in writing.
    • Payments cannot be forwarded towards a future Live Different Hero Holiday or transferred to another volunteer.
    • In the event of failing to meet application requirements (i.e. not obtaining a valid passport, not meeting minimum fundraising goals, etc), Absolute Leadership Development Inc. (Live Different) reserves the right to cancel participation with no refund of payment.