Charles M. SennottJanuary 12, 2013 11:46

Three projects light up the darkness in post-quake Haiti

A hospital, an orphanage and a new light source give hope to a country still ravaged by the earthquake three years ago.

Enlarge

Looters take what they can from a building that was destroyed during the massive earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

BOSTON – Three years on from the devastating earthquake that brought Haiti to its knees and the world to its aid, there is, by many accounts, light emerging from the darkness.

It is a light that radiates, in part, from several sources right here in Boston, people who have dedicated extraordinary time, effort and money to help Haiti build a teaching hospital and a new orphanage. And you can literally be part of spreading the light through a campaign by a startup company known as MPOWERD.

MPOWERD has developed solar-powered lanterns for Haiti that can end what this company calls “energy poverty.”

But I will come back to the light that these three projects — the hospital, the orphanage and the lanterns — provide.

Haiti: State Department issues new travel advisory

Jennifer MattsonDecember 29, 2012 16:26

US government has strengthened its travel warning for the Caribbean island nation.

Two hospitals in Haiti tell very different stories (VIDEO)

Jean Pharés JérômeDecember 28, 2012 07:15

MIREBALAIS, Haiti —The largest post-earthquake health project has finished construction. Led by US NGO Partners in Health, the new hospital in Mirebalais aims to be a world-class hospital and improve healthcare in Haiti. But in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian government and its international partners are struggling to start the reconstruction of the general hospital, three years after the January 2010 earthquake.

Fault Line: Hospitals in Haiti tell different stories

Jon BougherDecember 28, 2012 13:35

While a new hospital has been built in Mirebalais, the Haitian government and its international partners are still struggling to begin reconstruction of the main hospital in Port-au-Prince almost three years after the earthquake.

Tent camp evictions on the rise in Haiti (VIDEO)

Jon BougherNovember 12, 2012 07:20

After the 2010 earthquake, 1.5 million Haitians were forced to live in makeshift tents. Almost three years later, these displaced Haitians are facing a new threat – eviction by alleged landowners and government officials.

Fault Line: Tent camp evictions on the rise in Haiti

Jon BougherNovember 12, 2012 12:13

Search resumes for Haitian migrants after boat capsizes

Mariya KarimjeeJune 12, 2012 11:22

Eleven bodies have been found, and 13 people are still missing, after a boat carrying Haitian migrants capsized on its way to the United States, said the Coast Guard, CNN reported.

Haiti arrests dozens of ex-soldiers over pro-army demos

Luke BrowneMay 21, 2012 05:38

Several thousand ex-soldiers staged demonstrations on Friday and Saturday calling on President Michel Martelly to honor his promise to revive the army, which was dismantled in 1995 after staging numerous coups and committing human rights abuses over the years.

Fault Line: Tracking rice in Haiti

Jacob KushnerApril 12, 2012 06:00

The 2012 Farm Bill could reverse a decades-long policy of agricultural subsidies that has undercut Haiti’s local rice production.

Charles M. SennottMarch 1, 2012 22:47

Return to Haiti: A day in the life of a broken island

The country continues to stumble toward rebuilding after the earthquake, facing questions about aid money and embezzlement.

Enlarge

(Charles M. Sennott/GlobalPost)

PORT-AU-PRINCE – From the moment you land in Haiti, it is the resiliency of the place that strikes you.

In the early morning light of the first day here, students in crisp uniforms marched like small armies to school, laborers sipped coffee in plastic cups from ubiquitous roadside stands known as ‘chen jambe,’ (Creole slang that translates as “dog crossings"), and the city streets were jammed with the impatient traffic of a country struggling to get back on the road to recovery.