In January 2010 the earth-quake hit Haiti. Almost 3 million people in one of the world’s poorest countries have been affected, and over one million people do not have a home anymore.  The need for help is enormous. To contribute to the re-building of Haiti, Sapa is sponsoring Raincatchers, a non-profit US charity that is coordinating a project through which houses for up to 500 people outside of the capital Port au Prince are planned to be built.

Sapa’s support of Raincatchers has been led by Sapa North America’s Operational Effectiveness Director, Kevin Stuban.  He and his daughter will go to Haiti as volunteers for Raincatchers, together with colleagues from Sapa North America.  “One of the best ways to rebuild and restore Haiti, is to build homes outside of Port au Prince, in rural areas”, says Kevin. The location that Raincatchers is targeting is called Petit Goave and is located approximately 40 miles outside of Port au Prince.

“We will build the houses in a semi-circle, creating somewhat of a security system for the Haitians living in the houses”, says Kevin. The houses will be made of hurricane / seismic rated bricks and tin roofs and have 2 rooms. “One home plus the land will cost $1,300 and we’re looking to build 50 homes,” says Kevin. Kevin estimates that 250-500 Haitians will have a home, that wouldn’t otherwise.

 Sapa North America has agreed to support the project through a challenge donation.  Some of our North American employees have already agreed to volunteer their time to help with the project.  Tim Stubbs, Business Area President - Sapa North America, says, “I think this is a humanitarian effort that no other company in North America is doing right now, and I’m proud to support it.”

The Raincatchers project will be done in cooperation with other local volunteer-groups with previous experience of similar projects in Haiti. Raincatchers plans to start building the houses in May-June 2010 and to complete them in about 4-6 weeks. “Volunteers will stay in tents, but we will have security all hours, to provide safety protection”, says Kevin.

Sapa will fund the initial phase of this project with a donation of 12.000 USD to Raincatchers to make the preparations. To complete the project, additional funds are needed, and we are now making it possible for all employees as well as customers and suppliers to contribute to the restoration-village project.

To make a donation to Raincatchers, you can pay any amount to the restoration-village account that has been set up with www.raincatchers.org. For each dollar collected from employees, customers and suppliers Sapa will contribute with another dollar. “If our employees reach into their pockets to contribute to this project, we will do the same”, says Sapa CEO Bjørn Wiggen. This is a unique opportunity to make a real difference in Haitian peoples’ lives by supporting Sapa employees on the ground in Haiti building homes for people who have none.

Make a donation!

The donations are made through PayPal where we have set up an account. To get to the Pay Pal site and make a donation, please use the button below and just follow the instructions. Please note that you will need to have internet access to be able to go to the Pay Pal site.

If you want more information regarding Raincatchers or if you would like to inquire about volunteering please contact Kevin Stuban at Kevin.stuban@sapagroup.com
or +1 870-904-1050.