- 1 December 2016

Libraries for displaced people camps in Haiti

BACKGROUND

After Haiti’s tragic earthquake, more than a million people took shelter in tents in camps in the metropolitan center of Port-au-Prince. The earthquake damaged many of the libraries and other cultural venues in the metropolitan zone of the capital Port-au-Prince and made them inaccessible to the public.

While most efforts by non-profits and the international community concentrated on reconstruction and providing much needed basic aid (food, water, medicines, shelter), we realized that nothing was being done to adress the lack of access to information, culture and education in the post-emergency context. As a result, Libraries Without Borders began building tent libraries in camps set up around Port-au-Prince.

ACTIVITIES

  • Construction of libraries in the internally displaced camps
  • Equipping libraries with books and other material
  • Facilitating access to the libraries, hosting activities

OBJECTIVES

  • To promote access to culture, reading and information for displaced populations
  • To strengthen resilience and fight against trauma and boredom in the camps

BENEFICIARIES

79,000 children and adults in 17 internally displaced people camps around Port-au-Prince

WITH SUPPORT FROM

Financial partners