Volunteer Safety

Dear HAC-Haiti Volunteers and Partners,

The safety and security of all HAC-Haiti Volunteers is our highest priority. HAC-Haiti devotes significant resources and manpower to ensure all of our volunteers and visitors are able to live, travel, and volunteer in a safe and healthy environment.

HAC-Haiti is aware of recent precautions issued by the US State Department regarding volunteers and travelers in Haiti.  We can assure all of our volunteers we are taking the necessary measures to keep them healthy and safe in light of the conditions outlined by the State Department.

HAC-Haiti has been hosting and facilitating volunteers travel to Haiti for over three years. We have an experienced local and international team dedicated to hosting volunteers in the country. Our current operations are located in small predominantly rural areas and close knit-communities who are aware of our services and volunteer program. Many of our neighbors are participants in our programs and therefore have the best interest of the organization at heart.  We take pride in operating with the community and not just in the community. Our neighbors and program participants are our best security guards and source of information and updates around the country. In additional to our close community connection we also receive constant security updates from the US embassy and UN and take necessary steps to immediately eliminate any risks to our volunteers.

Volunteers live on the second floor of our community center in Haiti. The building has previously been inspected by Architecture for Humanity and proved safe in the event of a natural disaster. Our building survived the earthquake of 2010 with minimal damage and suffered no damage during hurricane Isaac and Sandy. We have a walled in-enclosure, locked and guarded front gate, all of our doors have locks and all of our windows have security bars. We have security personnel on staff to protect our volunteers and their belongings.

We also have partnerships with security personnel at the airport and work with the Haitian National Police when volunteers travel throughout the country and to their project sites.  Before accepting a volunteer and establishing a work placement HAC-Haiti makes a thorough assessment of the health and safety conditions that could effect the volunteer’s experience with us in Haiti. In choosing sites at which to place volunteers, we carefully consider factors such as work role, potential for integration, vulnerability to natural disasters, emergency preparedness, access to essential health care and other support services, and security climate.  Our local staff, translators, and security personnel always accompany volunteers in any partnership work placement, outings, or excursions.

HAC-Haiti partners with many local clinics and health care providers to keep our volunteers and community healthy. During orientation we inform volunteers about local health issues and provide them with the basic medical supplies they need to stay healthy. We currently work in the community providing clean water and cholera training and take extra precautions to ensure our volunteers are not made vulnerable to communicable diseases. If a volunteer becomes ill and cannot be treated properly by our on-staff medical personal we have 24/hour transportation available to take them to our partner clinics in the neighborhood and western standard hospitals.

In addition, HAC-Haiti holds a full in country volunteer orientation where volunteers are made aware of any safety or health issues and are taught ways to prevent undue harm and stay healthy. HAC-Haiti continually updates materials for volunteers with specific information about safety and security risks in the areas where we work. This enables HAC-Haiti volunteers to make informed decisions and have a safe, healthy volunteer experience.

We recommend all volunteers make themselves aware of the current health and safety concerns before visiting Haiti, and work with our volunteer coordinators to ensure they take the necessary precautions before traveling, including taking out any travel insurance plans, or receiving any relevant vaccinations. We encourage an open dialog and want any potential or existing volunteers to feel comfortable speaking with their in country representatives about any issues or concerns they perceive while volunteering with HAC-Haiti.

Samuel Darguin

Country Director

Haitian American Caucus-Haiti