Nearly two years after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti, 
Virgin Islands residents continue to help directly and in partnership with international organisations.
Hands on Volunteers opened a children’s home in September that now houses nine children, ages 3 to 16.
“These are nine kids that we’ve worked with since the quake,” said Joanne Penney, one of the Hands on Volunteers. At first, the organisation helped the children attend school. Now, the children live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in a safe neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince a short walk from their school, Ms. Penney said.
The Rotary Club of Tortola also has children in mind for its aid efforts, said Vance Lewis, who will take up a Rotary International district governor post in July.
Caribbean Rotarians recently turned over a completed school to government officials in Haiti, Mr. Lewis said. He added that this school was completed thanks to donations from around the region, but work is also under way on schools that are sponsored exclusively by VI donations.
Work is expected to be completed later this year on a school that can serve 200 students in Ile a Vache, an island about 80 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. It will also serve as a hurricane shelter.
See the Nov. 17, 2011 edition for full coverage.