This week, we officially started work on the Beatrice Road Drainage project in Petit Goave, which will ensure that the first kilometer of the Route Des Palmes has masonry drainage to protect this important residential and farm-to-market road. Through this project, CHF will construct 1,461 linear meters of drainage structures, plus a 15-meter-long retaining wall to stabilize a precarious part of the road.

Images by Wilner Saint-Preux, CHF Communications Officer in Petit Goave

The Beatrice area is home to a number of internally displaced Haitians who searched out high, solid ground to pitch tents and build temporary shelters. When complete, the drainage network will ensure that the mountainous Beatrice area is accessible at all times of the year and will protect homes from flooding along the length of the road. Additionally, the employment generated by this public works project is currently the only way for the majority of residents of Beatrice to earn money, which is desperately needed after so many of them lost property and homes in the January 12 earthquake.