Our Longest Mission: Haiti

The threat to survival is at an all-time high in Haiti with the ongoing gang wars that have increased the risk of getting shot by a stray bullet, kidnapped, raped, or worse. This year, more individuals from the Deaf Community have died. Everyday we are adapting to the gang wars to continue our vital life-saving programs there. Despite the hardest year since our inception in Haiti, here is an inside look into what we were able to accomplish.


We Built an OTG Basecamp

Our new Basecamp in Haiti is home to our inventory of emergency response resources. Our Frontlines (Deaf OTG Leaders responding to provide emergency aid to Deaf people) come here to meet, strategize, train, and deploy from.

This year, the leaders of our Frontlines have became certified in Level 2 First Aid!


We Carried our “Safe Haven” Program into it’s Third Year

A tribute to the CHF Foundation, in partnership with our cause to save Deaf lives in Haiti.

The Safe Haven program is a secure and undisclosed location where Deaf and Hard-of-hearing women come to connect, learn, access job opportunities, and thrive. Outside the walls the threat of gang wars is evolving, so some days or weeks we are forced to close and everyone stays at home. The Safe Haven is staffed 100% by Deaf Haitians, and consists of Deaf-friendly neighbors too! Our goal was to sponsor the Safe Haven program to continue to provide a safe learning environment, and this year we surpassed that goal by increasing the quantity and improving the quality of the sewing machines and jewelry-making supplies; we also expanded the small job opportunities into soap-making and have begun preparations to make reusable period pads. 100% of the profits made via the small job opportunities at the Safe Haven are given back to the Deaf women; and during the months that they are unable to sell the products made as a result of civil unrest (when it is unsafe to leave their homes), we would make monthly contributions to help cover their personal needs.

We Deployed High-Risk Missions to Feed Isolated and Starving Deaf Families

The increase in gang violence makes it impossible for Deaf people in certain regions of Haiti to leave their homes for risk of being attacked, kidnapped, or worse. Gang wars have taken over the gas and inflation has food and water. So we have been deploying special missions to deliver emergency food relief packages to Deaf families facing a hunger crisis, solar technologies, water filtration systems, and reusable period pads.



We Continue to Advocate for Human Rights in Haiti

As a result of the ongoing violence targeting deaf people in Haiti, and in conjunction with our team working on the frontlines of these emergencies, we responded last year by developing a petition to help end human rights violations against deaf people in Haiti. Despite all of our efforts to bring light to this issue, it still has not been enough to save the lives of countless Deaf people we have lost once again this year alone. #offthegridHAITI