Frequently Asked Questions
We at Haiti Friends often get asked factoids about Haiti, like the population, size, economy, etc. The CIA's World Fact book is a great resource guide for this kind of information:
What would it take to reforest Haiti?
Using the variable of 30 trees per acre of forest, and knowing Haiti is approximately 10,714 sq miles or 6,856,960 acres. If every acre in Haiti had 30 trees that would equate to 205,708,800 trees. In 1920 60% of Haiti was covered in forest, so to return to the forests of the 1920's we would have to plant approximately 123,000,000 trees. At the HTRIP planting rate of 400,000 trees per year it would take 307 years to reforest Haiti. If we planted 1,000,000 a year it would take 123 years to reforest Haiti. If we could plant 4 million trees per year we could reforest Haiti in our lifetime.
It would take people, time, money, tools, equipment, boots, seeds, soil, direction, goals, dedication, perseverance, and a lot of other hard work to reforest Haiti. It will be hard, but it can be done, and we will try, one tree at a time. Join the movement.
Are you the Friends of Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti?
December 16th 2014
The Friends of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti is pleased to announce a new name for its organization: Haiti Friends.
As of now we are the Friends of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti, doing business as Haiti Friends. We also launched a new website www.haitifriends.org
“The Friends remains committed to its educational mission to expand awareness of Haiti through sharing its art and culture, while improving environmental conditions in Haiti,” says board President and founder Lucy Rawson.
Haiti Friends’ renaming comes on the heels of great success with HTRIP, as the organization makes plans to plant its two millionth tree in 2015. The accomplishment marks a new growth cycle for Haiti Friends’ largest program, and ushers it into a newphase, including the planting of shade crops, marketing timber, and exploring ways to expand HTRIP to include coffee, chocolate, and honey production.
The Haiti Timber Re-Introduction Program (HTRIP) technicians introduce farming techniques to the farming families in the mountain of the Artibonite, which restore the soil and retain the water that is needed for food production. HTRIP, housed at Hopital Albert Schweitzer, serves as a model for ecological restoration in Haiti, through its unique approach to community ownership, collaborative work, and group decision-making. HTRIP could be used as a national model.
In the United States, art exhibits and presentations at educational and cultural institutions help to shape the global opinion of Haiti as a place of hope and joy, despite challenging conditions and economic deprivations. The Friends’ gallery in Pittsburgh houses a unique collection of Haitian artwork that is for sale and helps sustain the organization. Since 1985, the Friends have used Haitian art as a means of giving people outside of Haiti access to an entire culture. By sharing and selling Haitian artwork to people in the US and abroad, Haiti Friends has shown that artwork is a meaningful tool that might be used to put a human face on the complex problems of a troubled country. Haiti Friends celebrates its 30th year of exhibiting Haitian art and culture in 2015.
Simplifying the Friends’ brand is also reflective of new leadership. “As the newly elected Executive Director I wanted to simplify the name, mission, and URL,” said Edward Rawson, Executive Director of Haiti Friends. “We achieved this by building a newsustainable non-profit business model, a new website, and strengthening the brand that reflects 30 years of excellence.”
With the name change, Haiti Friends introduces a newwebsite, www.haitifriends.org. A business plan has also been created to articulate the reach of its programs with a focus on sustainability and longevity.
Founded in 1985, and incorporated in 1999, the Friends of HAS Haiti DBA Haiti Friends is based in Pittsburgh, PA