Volunteer on a trip to Haiti

RAW Haiti takes many different types of professionals to volunteer in Haiti. We are always looking for psychologists, doctors, nurses, contractors, teachers, business people, and students to join us on our on the ground work in Haiti. We run a family guest house in Lizon, Bon Repos, PAP for volunteer teams and work with the children from Cite Soleil.

RAW Haiti wants to provide more international training programs for professionals that seek experience working with impoverished cultures. We invite clinical psychology students and other disciplines for 1-2 week internships in January and June.

Costs

Current pricing for a 7 day trip, which includes guest house, food, water, translator, beach trip, and shared transportation for $700 USD each person. In addition to this you will need a plane ticket ($600 depending), a little spending money, and additional funds to help support the program that you would like to work with during your trip. We will work with you to make an individualized trip program plan that fits your strengths and work. Please contact Corey for further information about trip possibilities and we will set up a phone or video meeting.

Contact Dr. Gifford

Next Volunteer Trips

Next Trips options January 15–February 7, 2020 and June 2020

Please contact us to set up group trips at other times of the year, with 4-10+ people.

We welcome youth group and church teams to Haiti to get involved in missions work. We want to bring our youth’s learning full circle by taking them to Haiti to put on a creative arts and athletics camp for a group of children in Haiti.

Haiti has many beauties and many struggles.

Vaccine Information
Volunteer Application

Examples of past trip programming

Medical Program

RAW Haiti partners with nurses, doctors, EMTs and dentists to provide basic medical care to children in communities during volunteer trips. Volunteers help lead health clinics, where they provide wellness screenings to children as well as dental clinics and teach children about appropriate oral hygiene. RAW Haiti is always looking for healthcare professionals to implement or lead healthcare-related projects or clinics with our partners in Haiti. Many of our programs support the mental health and well-being of children, but we are seeking to expand opportunities for other types of structures for healthcare support.

We are currently seeking donations and volunteers of medical professionals that wish to support RAW Haiti and add to this effort in these Haiti communities. Donations fund needed trips to the hospital for emergency issues, medication, and basic medical supplies that are desperately needed for the children. It is an important goal of this program moving forward will continue to focus on teaching the kids application skills: the teachers physically brushing their teeth with the kids and coaching them to have better hygiene. Our goal is to equip kids with the skills and tools necessary to lead healthy lives despite their challenging living environment and lack of parental supports.

Field Trip Program

The executive director initiated the field trip program in the past. When the American teams are visiting and the RAW Haiti team is all together, a couple of orphanage children are offered to come and visit for 2-3 days at the guest house. This gives them the chance to experience a different kind of family and team setting. They are brought to the beach with the team and have lots of fun! Art supplies are always available along with clothes and good meals.

The picture above at the beach speaks to the impact of this program. This is Woodlyn and Deinett, 2 children in the past from an orphanage we worked. Woodlyn was one of the winners in the English competition. Deinett is a boy with a serious heart problem, who RAW Haiti continues to monitor. We would like to reconnect with Woodlyn and others.

At times, when needed we do social work for the children. Deinett is now in a new orphanage in St. Marc doing great, due to RAW Haiti volunteers.

Training and Consulting with Haitian Teachers

Dr. Gifford started training Haitian teachers in 2011 to utilize positive and healthy forms of discipline in their classrooms. A significant number of elementary schools in Haiti use corporal punishment (hitting as one example) as their main form of discipline. Providing behavioral training and consultation to teachers could improve children’s wellness.  With better behavioral management in classrooms it may be possible for Haitian children to be happier, more productive, get better test scores, increase their learning, and reduce stress. The schools may also obtain happier teachers, modernized strategies, better funding and tuition rates.

Eliminating corporal punishment in classrooms in an attempted culturally sensitive way is the major focus of these trainings along with encouraging team building and teamwork among the schools administration and teachers. Visible improvements have been seen through training along with reported teacher satisfaction in the past. Continued training, development, evaluation, and new locations are still needed. Change is not easy, especially within the difficult environment of Haiti with limited resources.  We are looking for a new group of teachers in PAP that is willing to learn and grow.

All RAW Haiti Coaches teach discipline through respect and discussion, never utilizing corporal punishment.