Annual Report

Hello friends!

In case you haven’t heard from us yet this year, Happy New Year!

It’s truly a privilege to be here writing to you in 2024. Today, we wanted to share a few things that are making us smile as the month of January rolls quickly on.

But first, have you seen our Impact Report? Reports can be boring, we won’t argue with you there, but this one is not. We promise.

You get to see some of the best photos of the year while seeing just how many women, children, and communities benefitted from your support this year.

Have a look for yourself!

Speaking of women and families, that brings us to the first thing putting a smile on our face this week.

The garden teams from both of our centers have been busy making trips into the field to see how mothers are fairing with vegetable growing efforts.

As it turns out, they are fairing very well! We enjoyed several days of rain in the month of December, which was a welcome weather phenomenon for these home gardeners.

Lunise and Dieudelaine (pictured above), are thrilled to be harvesting green, bell peppers and hot, scotch bonnet peppers from their gardens—to eat and to sell.

Edeline—pictured below—has been harvesting amaranth greens from her garden and will soon have more tomatoes than any one person can handle! She’s looking forward to selling, sharing, and enjoying the fruits of her labor.

The second thing making us smile this week?

These family photos.

Did you know that we visit the homes of every caregiver/child that spends time at our Malnutrition Treatment Centers?

It’s true.

Typically, a few days after a caregiver and child’s last day at the center, someone from our team heads to the caregiver’s home to meet the rest of the family. The purpose of this visit is three-fold. We want to know that they have a safe place to live, we want to find out who is a part of their supportive network, and we want to know where they will be doing business so that we can visit them again once their business is launched (and later to help them start a home garden).

Meeting the extended families of the caregivers and children that spend time at our center is a true joy.

Yesterday, we met Gena’s family.

Gena is mom to Kendaylie, a 10-month-old who was fighting Severe Acute Malnutrition at our Saint Raphaël campus during the last months of 2023.

We met Gena’s mom and brother, her cousins, and her mom’s two sisters (far left).

Gena’s husband is away from home, working in the Dominican Republic, but in his place, Gena has three strong women in her corner.  Plus, she has a few young cousins to entertain and watch out for her daughter as she grows.

They are so pleased to see how healthy the baby of their family is today.

And that makes us smile!

Sending a little Haitian warmth your way today. ☀️

❤️ Love from Haiti

2023 in Review

Dear Friends,

2023 was a wild ride.

We came into 2023 ready to take on whatever came our way.

What came our way was several thousand mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, seeking support during a challenging time.

Here are just a few of the highlights.

At our Malnutrition Treatment Centers, we housed 611 caregivers and children during their recovery from Severe Acute Malnutrition.

These stays contributed to the health and well-being of 328 children with more than 250 children benefitting from medical care at the local hospital.

We feel proud of all the ways we supported mothers this year, through skill-building, psychological and emotional support.

And not just at our centers, but at home too!

We continued to support these caregivers after their children recovered by helping them launch businesses and start home gardens. 190 women started businesses and another 611 women started vegetable gardens at home.

992 babies have been born at our two birth centers since the beginning of 2023. That’s 307 more babies than last year!

In addition to these 992 Birth Center births, we labored with 81 women who ultimately needed a c-section or hospital birth. We got them to the hospital safely and followed-up with them after their recovery.

In May, you responded to our call to help us create more space at our flagship Maternity Center on our Cap Haitien Campus and we completed the 3-room addition in June.

In total, we cared for 2,979 women during 14,292 prenatal and postpartum visits and made family planning available to 1,409 individuals.

Our Communities really felt the love this year.

In February, we started a community trash pick-up in Jean Louis introducing colorful trash bins in the community.

In July, in Saint-Raphael, we opened a community water tap that provides water that is 100% safe to drink, bringing free, clean, drinking water to a community of more than 2,500 who didn’t have access to this resource before.

We continued installing solar streetlights—96 street lamps to be exact! The new street lamps extended the length of road now safely lit via solar light.

Our goal to connect 6 villages outside of our Cap Haitien Campus is nearly complete!

In May, we celebrated 10 years of operations in Haiti. It was a year to celebrate all the children and families who have benefitted from Second Mile Haiti’s support through the years.

In August, we held an eye and dental clinic for past graduates of our Malnutrition Program.

144 children had their vision tested and teeth cleaned. Several hundred cavities were filled and 14 children received eye-glasses!

We paid the tuition fees and purchased school books for 168 children who recovered from malnutrition at our centers in previous years. They started the new school year this October.

It was a fun year for connecting with many of you in person. We saw friends in Colorado, in Texas, and in Tennessee!

And finally, in November, we had the profound privilege of gathering with all of you virtually, with the In Her Shoes Global 5K + podcast.

It really was global with participants in Africa, Europe, Australia, and all over North America.

You helped us become more sustainable as an organization.

In our campus gardens, we grew over 2,100 lbs of produce. It was shared with families at our centers or passed to the kitchen for daily meals for these families and our staff.

In total, the cooks at our centers provided more than 93,548 warm meals to the staff and families of children recovering from Severe Acute Malnutrition.

We even celebrated becoming a Canadian Charity this year!

It’s hard to believe, but the first children admitted to our Malnutrition Treatment Center (10 years ago) are now pre-teens!

And the first babies born at Second Mile Haiti flagship Maternity Center turned 4-years-old in 2023. They are now in preschool.

You’re truly making a lasting impact.

Thank you for the role you play in the Second Mile Haiti family. We wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

There’s $16,214 left to raise in our year-end campaign.

Can you send us into 2024 with a year-end gift?

Sending you warm winter greetings and love from Haiti

❄️☃️🇭🇹