HOPE VILLAGE / Vilaj Espwa

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Vilaj Espwa (Creole for "Hope Village") is truly a haven of hope and dreams for the future.  The 140 acres provide for a myriad of activities and services, all with the goal of providing our residents the life skills needed to become productive adults, contributing to their families and their country. A major goal and consideration in all development is that the village be ecologically responsible and as self-sustaining as possible.

Small homes are clustered into neighborhoods with some shared facilities.  The children live in family groups with a house parent.  They maintain small vegetable gardens, a few flowers, a place to call “My Home".

Much construction at the village has been completed with the labor of many of our young men.   They are learning the skills of masonry, carpentry, welding and electrical work.

Pwoje Espwa's planned vocational training school will expand the number of students and scope of their training as well as the variety of trades that can be taught.  Presently, our vocational students work in cooperation with community development agencies on projects such as reforestation and building homes for the poor.

Agricultural and animal husbandry programs provide vocational education while enabling the village to increase self-sustaining capabilities. Current farming efforts include the planting and harvesting of corn, beans, melons, peppers and bananas.  Mangoes, papayas, peanuts and citrus fruit are also harvested.  We plan to market our products as more acres can be cultivated with an effective irrigation project.

Although the current number in the herd is small, the dream for a working dairy farm is very much alive. We are hopeful to market other meat products in the future, including poultry, pork and goat.

Music, dance and the visual arts play a vital role in the life of the village. An "Artist in Residence" is teaching painting, decorative metal working.  A dance professor who is particularly interested in Haitian dance and the historical significance of the African heritage of the country has started to work with a small dance troupe.  Music is every day for every event, whether it be song of welcome for visitors, joyful singing accompanied by the drums at church services or the beating of tin cans at a soccer match.

Basic education is one of the keys to loosening the bonds of poverty.  An elementary school provides for 700+ children at this location, residents as well as neighbors.  More than 80 young men are enrolled at secondary schools in the city.  Pwoje Espwa also maintains free schools in the communities of Tiburon and Camp Perrin, serving 400+ children.

Housing is clustered into neighborhoods for the children to live in a family setting-- groups of children with a housemother.  Donated by a generous New Jersey family, a central kitchen with covered dining area is where meals are prepared and served for all the children.  A team of 20 children tend vegetable gardens where they can learn to grow some of their own food.

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HISTORY

Pwoje Espwa, was founded in 1998 by Father Marc Boisvert O.M.I. in response to the overwhelming plight of homeless children coming to him seeking help. The original site was a small house, providing safety, shelter and food to six boys.

The mission then, as it is today, ...to alleviate the devastating effects of poverty on children...set the focus for a multifaceted program with the following goals:

· Provide basic care: shelter, clothing, food and medical care

· Provide formation through education, vocational training and holistic personal development

· Provide for adult independence through education and  job/career counseling