SPECIAL REPORT: Example-setting Lambi Village completed, dedicated in Haiti

Working in a nation as impoverished as Haiti is not easy — and it’s even harder after a natural disaster, such as the earthquake that killed thousands and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes in January 2010.

And while The Fuller Center for Housing is not a disaster relief organization, it can play a role in the rebuilding process after a disaster. The Fuller Center assessed the situation in Haiti after the earthquake and found partners who were willing to work with The Fuller Center’s model of enlightened charity — in which families would be partners in the building process.

That concept remains a bit revolutionary in Haiti, where decades of well-meaning handouts — mainly from America — has created and since exacerbated a culture of dependency in the Caribbean nation. Such a culture created an extra hurdle to effectively working to build homes for Haitian families, yet it also made The Fuller Center’s brand of work even more necessary.

With the help of partners like Homes from the Heart and Grace International on the ground in Haiti, The Fuller Center found the right people to get the work done — especially with many volunteers from the United States eager to lend a helping hand.

While Homes from the Heart has helped us put donors’ money to good use building homes throughout Croix-des-Bouquets (east of Port-au-Prince), Grace International partnered with The Fuller Center, volunteers and local families to build a community. That community of 56 new homes in the form of 28 colorful duplexes has now been completed. It was dedicated last week following a build led by several veterans of previous work trips to Haiti. Fuller Center President David Snell arrived later in the week to help dedicate the homes and celebrate the completion of a thriving community that sets the standard for how to help Haitians with a hand-up rather than a handout.

If you would like to help see Lambi Village be just the first of many such healthy communities in Haiti, please click here to contribute to The Fuller Center’s work.

Click here for photos from the final work week at Lambi.

Click here for photos from President Snell’s visit to Haiti.

PHOTO GALLERY: High-resolution images of 2014 work in Haiti available for free download here.