This October, finally the children of Haiti will return back to school. We are excited to announce that thanks to all of your support, these kids will have access to the first free secondary school in the slums. APJ has begun to build beyond the 6th grade, which has been the standard education limit of this country. We will welcome 200 7th graders to our APJ secondary school as we continue construction on the remainder of the campus. Our goal is to build a school for grades 7-13, serving approximately 1400 students, with the highest standards of functional design and safety, that utilizes solar and wind energy, includes an amphitheater, a basketball court and an edible garden. We will incorporate training in the arts, film, music and computers in addition to vocational programs in agriculture, accounting and medical assistance.

Artists for Peace and Justice believes that getting the children of the slums back to school is a crucial step in helping them rebuild their lives. By providing a safe place to learn, two meals a day, clean water and basic medical services we are investing in the children of Haiti and providing them with the tools that will benefit Haiti in the long term. APJ is confident that this secondary school campus and its programs will serve as a best practice model for future schools and contribute to the improvement of the overall education system in Haiti.
Thanks to the effectiveness of our grassroots local partners, we have been able to overcome many of the obstacles that large NGO’s are facing in Haiti. There is still so much work to be done. Our medical relief efforts are expanding to support a new family hospital and to setup a blood bank for those in need.
We thank you for your continued support of Haitian children.

Reza Nabavian M.D. and Olivia Wilde
Co-Chairs, Executive Committee, APJ Board of Directors

In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, APJ has provided humanitarian relief for the injured population at St. Damiens Pediatric Hospital in Port-au-Prince. In addition to donating food/water/shelter, APJ medical efforts have been directed at providing limb salvage operations for children and adult victims of this horrible disaster. By performing complex reconstructive surgery and wound care, our team has been able to save many arms and legs.
Unfortunately, there was a need to perform many amputations in Haiti due to the nature of the injuries and lack of access to advanced surgical care. For the children who have lost their arm or leg, APJ has set up a rehabilitation center to provide the necessary physical therapy and wound care to hasten their recovery. Moreover, in collaboration with NPH-Italia, we will provide artificial arms and legs for our young amputees. By providing prosthetics and proper rehabilitation, we hope to improve the integration of this devastated group of children back into their society.

APJ medical efforts are in line with our mission to address the basic medical needs of our school children and is directed at training and enabling local Haitian providers to deliver the care.

Sincerely,

Dr. Reza Nabavian, APJ Board of Directors

Dear Friends,

We are incredibly excited to have begun demolition and the planning for re-construction of the damaged street schools in Haiti. Last week we started demolition on our school in Cite Soleil, working with some amazing partners in Operation USA and Homes for the Heart to build disaster proof structures. We’ve contracted a number of Haitian workers to assist us in the rebuilding process and they are happy to be working on such vital structures for their community. They’re already excited about the next project.

We’re doing great things on the ground, providing supplies to Father Rick and his team at St. Damiens Pediatric Hospital as well as reinforcing the medical compound. Long term, APJ is committed to raising enough funds to build and support 50 street schools. We move forward with the generous support of our donors.

Love,

Team APJ