Partners in Health (PIH) was founded in 1987 as a preferential option for the poor in health care, two years after the Clinique Bon Sauveur was set up in Cange, Haiti, to deliver health care to the residents of the mountainous Central Plateau. PIH co-founders had been working in the area for years. The Clinic was just the first of an arc of successful projects designed to address the health care needs of the residents of the poorest area in Haiti. In the 20 years since then, PIH has expanded its operations to eight other sites in Haiti and five additional countries and has launched a number of other initiatives. To learn more about PIH, its vision, mission, current and future initiatives, please visit www.pih.org.
Engineers Without Borders - USA (EWB-USA) is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students. The activities of EWB-USA range from the construction of sustainable systems that developing communities can own and operate without external assistance, to empowering such communities by enhancing local, technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial skills. These projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from the host community working with our project teams. To learn more about EWB-USA and its mission please visit www.ewb-usa.org.
Engineers Without Borders - Virginia Tech (EWB-VT): is the Virginia Tech chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA which partners with disadvantaged communities to improve quality of life through implementation of environmentally, equitable, and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing internationally responsible engineers and engineering students through education, encouragement, and experience. For more information about EWB-VT and its ongoing mission, please visit www.ewb.org.vt.edu.
Maison Fortuné Orphanage (MFO) located near the city of Hinche in the central plateau region of the impoverished country of Haiti was founded in February of 2000 by a young Haitian man named Lefort Jean-Louis. The orphanage offers the orphaned and less fortunate children in the area a safe alternative to living in the streets. Providing food, shelter, clothing, and an education, all in a loving Christian environment. Referred to in Haiti as kokorat or grapiay (a Haitian term meaning "leftovers"), some of the children had simply been left to live in the streets and had it not been for this remarkable man and his orphanage, it is believed many of them probably would have died. While much has been accomplished at the orphange, there is still much more to be done. As the number of children continues to grow, Jean-Louis and his staff must continue to meet their needs providing them all with these same very basic needs. For more information on the orphanage and what the future holds, please visit, www.maisonfortune.org.