A few weeks ago a team of volunteers from THHT headed to Haiti and ran a range of training courses for the staff of Hopital Convention Baptiste d’Haiti.
Amongst these courses was a special training program for the hospitals new sports center staff, who’ll be running one of Haiti’s first inclusive sports facilities. Equipped with the skills and confidence to start, last week the center was formally opened by the SRSG (Chief of Mission) of the UN’s peace keeping mission in Haiti.
Attended by 400+ people including some of the UN’s head staff, representatives of USAID, Government members, the local community and NGO’s, the event was a celebration of what people with disabilities can achieve in Haiti. “We believe in the revaluation of the most despised and the most vulnerable in society, because they all contribute to the stabilization of the country,” declared Mariano Fernández Amunátegui, Head of the UN in Haiti. This belief was shared by all guest speakers, including Carol Mucadin, the Departmental Director for North Haiti, of the Secretariat of State for the Integration of Disabled Persons “Such infrastructures are beneficial for the integration and the welfare of the disabled.” Chief Executive of HHA declared that the opening of this center marked a significant step forward in Haiti, ‘allowing people with disabilities to not only have the right to rehabilitation, but also the right to dream, to compete, and to truly live.’
The inauguration came alive with a range of performances, including a new song produced and performed by Samuel, a quadriplegic injured in the 2010 earthquake, a basket ball demonstration by patients at the hospital rehabilitation unit, and a break dancing display between able bodied and disabled dancers.
The opening of this facility marks a significant and exciting step forward in North Haiti, and THHT are proud to be partnering with this program. If you’d like to contribute to this project or find out more information please do get in touch. We’d love to continue progressing this legacy project of London 2012, and see its full potential truly fulfilled.