GER³ ASSISTS HAITIANS IN RECOVERING FROM HURRICANE MATTHEW THROUGH A SUSTAINABLE TREE RECYCLING PROGRAM - 2017

On October 4, 2016 Hurricane Matthew struck the southwestern coast of Haiti. In its wake it left 540 people dead, 200,000 homes destroyed, and over 1.4 million people affected.

In January of 2017, GER³ began the Haiti Tree Recovery Operation in order to help the people of Haiti continue to rebuild their lives. With the goal of empowering the local people, GER³ partnered with UNDP to begin assisting the Haitian people. GER³ focused on recovering an overlooked, but important, resource: the fallen trees. Hurricane Matthew left 350,000 trees felled. These trees, if harvested before they rot, provide a great source of lumber, and must be cleared in order for farmers to be able to return to farming the land.

GER³ provided the following resources to the Haitian people:

• Training and safety equipment for the removal of trees from the field
• Portable table saws and training on creating planks from harvested trees
• Organization and distribution of equipment

The planks and harvested lumber from these sites were used to rebuild homes, furniture, boats, and other products that Haitians have had the skills to create for decades. Furthermore farmers have been able to plant on the land cleared by these efforts. Over 3,000 square meters were harvested with over 2,000 Haitian people directly benefitting from GER³'s project and 10,000 indirectly benefitting.