From May 13th to 16th, three representatives of Air Canada’s employees visited the area of Baille Tourible in order to identify and evaluate opportunities for long term cooperation with KANPE. They were accompanied by KANPE’s Program Coordinator on the ground, Fritz Louis, and members of the Board of directors, Madeleine Féquière and Marie-Josée Desjardins. Air Canada’s Priscille Leblanc, Hélène Rivard and Patrick Swann were able to assess the local infrastructure. The trip gave them a chance to discuss KANPE’s role and its singular design as a comprehensive program with representatives of our partners established on the ground in Haiti, FONKOZE and Partners in Health (Zanmi Lasante). The employees also learned more about the process of identifying families who are most in need, a collaborative process that takes place with the help of local citizens. Indeed, this trip was a real opportunity to connect with the inhabitants. For Air Canada employee Hélène Rivard, the trip revealed many ways in which KANPE’s programs can bring lasting change to the lives of the people of Haiti:

« Giving people money, food, clothes, building schools without making sure you have teachers or making sure kids can actually afford it (everyone has to pay tuition) is not the way to save the country. The way to do it is the way FONKOZE, Partners In Health have done it and the way KANPE proposes to do it with our help. (…) You will think that this plan sounds a bit too unreal and that it’s a bit of a fantasy to think that the lives of 300 families can be that easily turned around but let me tell you from seeing it myself, it is possible. (…) When I think of KANPE, I think of the Chinese saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Although the scale of despair can be quite overwhelming, we witnessed firsthand that progress can be made when our energy and resources are focused into the right direction. I truly believe we’ve chosen the right path with KANPE and I’m looking forward to our partnership in the years to come. »

KANPE would like to thank all the members of the Air Canada Action Haiti team and the Air Canada employees who demonstrate a first rate commitment to the mission of our foundation.