The commune of Léogane compared to other areas of the country is often affected by natural disasters, some more devastating than others. As in the hinterland, the constructions in Lompré, a small rural town in the commune of Léogane, are particularly rough and flimsy. They possess few characteristics able to resist major climactic phenomena. In fact, in this area, you could count on the fingers of one hand how many little houses resisted last January’s earthquake. Since then, many families have suffered. Cordaid Haiti and IDEJEN have come to their rescue with a construction project of houses with a light structure. IDEJEN youth are the pillars of the project implementation.

Berta Mica, 53, is a single mother who battles the harsh reality of rural Haitian life to take care of her three children. A trader before January 12, today made helpless due to the collapse of her home and the loss of the small boutique where she sold her products in Lompré, Berta did not even have a tent to protect herself and her children from the whims of nature for three months after the catastrophe. On Thursday, May 6, 2010, she is a woman who is full of life, her eyes filled with gratitude and hope, who stood under the roof of the house constructed by IDEJEN youth and financed by Cordaid in the courtyard suddenly cramped due to the debris from the old, collapsed house.

Berta had a difficult time containing her joy. “When the people came to take photos of the debris of my destroyed house, I didn’t think that they were going to build me this pretty house. Yesterday, they arrived and began to dig. I felt overwhelmed with an immense joy and thought that from then on I would be able to sleep with my three children under a roof that shelters against rain and bad weather,” she said.

Under a harsh sun, three youth in IDEJEN t-shirts put the last touches on the tin roof of Berta’s new home. They are only three out of thousands of IDEJEN youth trained in plumbing, electricity, carpentry, masonry, etc . to offer a hand with devotion and a spirit of service in Port-au-Prince and other communes touched by the January earthquake.

Berta, this woman in her 50s, has refound her joie de vivre and says she is ready to begin selling again now that her worry of housing is taken care of thanks to the generosity of Cordaid and IDEJEN. “It’s God who put these organizations on my path. I don’t know how to thank them,” said Berta.

One hundred and fifty families have benefitted from the program implemented by IDEJEN youth and financed by Cordaid Haiti. Community volunteers were also at the heart of the work, assisting IDEJEN youth and adding to an atmosphere reminiscent of the days when konbit was used on the farms to complete important tasks together quickly.