Haiti Relief and Development
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The World Soy Foundation in partnership with the University of Illinois' National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) and the Illinois Soybean Association are focusing immediate Haiti relief efforts on the nutritional needs of an all female secondary school located near the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, which suffered severe collapse due to the recent earthquake.
Caroline Chauveau Girls School in Haiti where the World Soy Foundation and NSRL have been supporting soy-enhanced lunch programs.The Caroline Chauveau Girls School has approximately 320 students who have been receiving a soy-enhanced mid-day meal, through a NSRL program, since November, 2009. The textured soy protein has been included in existing school lunch items and has been well accepted by the students and school cooks, thanks to work done by NSRL and the WISHH Program.
The school has been greatly affected by the recent earthquake and has suffered damage to the school as well as to the homes of the students. The World Soy Foundation will support NSRL's efforts to provide soy - enhanced dehydrated vegetable soup mix that is designed for emergency situations. This product would be sent to our partner at the Programme Nationale de Cantines Scolaires (PNCS), the National School Lunch Program of Haiti, for distribution to the students and their families, with special attention to the Caroline Chauveau National School.
One shipping container, providing 975,000 servings, will be produced in a very short period of time and shipping arrangements made as soon as shipping lines become available. The products are familiar in Haiti and would not require technical assistance or direction for immediate use.
Additional resources will allow the WSF and NSRL to help additional families and institutions in the Caroline Chauveau Girls School neighborhood.
New and expanded relief and development programs for Haiti
Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Prior to the January earthquake, Haiti already had a very sizable population of orphans and vulnerable children. After the quake, the expectation is that the numbers of children left alone has increased. These children desperately need balanced and quality nutrition. As the National Soybean Research Laboratory has shown, soy can play an important role in providing good nutrition over the long term to this key group, especially through the institutions and care groups whose resources are extremely stretched. Among the vulnerable age groups are the children aged 6 months to 24 or 36 months. These children need easily digested, protein rich and micronutrient fortified complementary foods, and the World Soy Foundation and the National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) can provide that food to Haiti.
We are currently working with a non-profit organization located in Port-au-Prince Haiti, called OSDEM “Ou se denye espwa mwen”, “You are my last hope”, a humanitarian organization committed to ending hunger to special groups in Haiti, by providing uncooked and nutritious cooked foods to children and seniors in Haiti. The program is designed to provide 2 daily hot meals and pre-packaged nutritious meals for children living in Port-au-Prince, Leogane, Ti goave and Jacmel. Through donations, OSDEM hopes to obtain pre-packaged fortified meals that will feed 250,000 people daily. Also, the purchase of locally produced food will support the livelihoods of area farmers, promote local food supply as well as provide diverse, fresh and nutritious food.
Micro enterprise entrepreneur development with soy dairy technology: The WSF, WISHH, and NSRL have developed a microenterprise business model that provides safe and nutritious soy protein rich beverages to the local community. Part of the project will ensure that soy milk and foods are donated to local institutions feeding the hungry. Part of the output will be sold to the local community to drive small scale employment and low cost nutrition. Ongoing support will be provided to these fledgling entrepreneurs to ensure long term success and access to low cost, highly nutritious and locally processed products.
