Birr businessman to co-host Haiti fundraiser

Birr businessman Stephen Grant is hoping the local community will get behind his Haiti charity efforts on April 27 for a fundraiser in Dooly's Hotel. Stephen has organised the upcoming fundraiser with fellow local Kevin Egan as part of the “Soul of Haiti” campaign.

Stephen has been actively involved in projects in Haiti since 2008 and has made a total of five trips to the country, while Kevin has visited twice. The two are hoping to raise funds to help build an accommodation block for medics as well as pay for medical supplies and equipment.

On Stephen and Kevin's most recent trip to Ile La Vache in Haiti, in February of this year, ten solar panels were installed and a sewing room was set up to enable people to make and repair clothes and boat sails in order to give themselves a way of making a living and obtaining a better standard of living. Currently unemployment in Haiti is running at 80 per cent, with no social welfare, free education or medical assistance. The average wage in the country is $3 a day.

Medical staff who accompanied Stephen and Kevin on their most recent trip to Haiti worked in a medical clinic tending to queues of up to 200 people each day. Mobile clinics were also set up for people who were unable to get to the main clinic, as well as a database of people and their ailments to help future medics in the area.

Dentists on the trip had a gruelling week, as the majority of Haiti's residents have bad dental problems thanks to bad diet and poor dental hygiene. There is a small full time medical staff on the island, but those have not been paid by the government in the last three months, Stephen explained.

Future projects planned include building an accommodation block for medics on Ile La Vache. The project will cost something in the region of $80,000 to build. It's also hoped that two containers – one of which will include a tractor and another which will contain medical supplies and equipment – can be shipped at a cost of €4,000 each.

In Dooly's on April 27 a slide show will show what life on Haiti is like. Everyone is invited to the event, which will include finger food and music from the 1980s and 1990s.