John Aeby, Director of Communications
Montrouis, Haiti—“Welcome to paradise,” announced the pilot after our plane bumped down hard on the airstrip seemingly in the middle of a vast tropical village. Paradise is an apt description… when you view Haiti from a distance. North of Port-au-Prince it was truly spectacular: an azure sea laps lazily on a white, curving shore; deep green mountains soar in the background; palm trees, bougainvillea and other lush tropical growth overflow nearly everything. Up close though, Haiti presents a harsh reality.
Our drive on the coastal highway (a narrow two-lane road) was a gauntlet of washouts, rubble, wicked speed bumps and crater-size potholes. The third poorest country in the world, Haiti’s inability to provide adequate opportunities for its people is evident in the shanties jumbled together, sellers struggling to hawk a vegetable or two from a scant basket, people wringing a few pieces of laundry washed in a mocha-colored flood. In rural areas of Haiti, four out of five households live below the poverty line, over 60 percent of children 1 to 4 years old are underweight, only 38 of every 1,000 children who enter kindergarten will complete secondary school. The country’s stability appears to depend upon the UN forces patrolling in jeeps with soldiers carrying guns at 
the ready. Armored personnel carriers positioned at strategic intersections projected a contradictory message: they’re here making it safe, but they’re here because it’s not safe.
An hour and a half drive from the Port au Prince airport, we turned off the road, and then down a rough gravel lane where Holt Fontana Village huddles amid the tropical growth. The gate slides open revealing a small, self-contained community. Two rows of four neat and sturdy cottages line the driveway. The rest of Haiti has intermittent (at best) power and little access to clean water, but at Holt Fontana Village a water tower at the back supplies clean water, and a solar power generation plant keeps everything running. The Village’s satellite uplink provides Internet access that also doesn’t depend upon Haiti’s infrastructure.
Credit for the engineering of the Village’s independence goes to Peter Fontana, a former college physics professor who built the facility and partnered with Holt to run the program. Peter and his wife Shay have been long-time partners with Holt. And at Holt Fontana Village it’s the children who catch your eye.
A couple of healthy-looking boys romp after a bright yellow soccer ball. Some girls sit with a caregiver. Two girls wrap their arms over the caregiver’s shoulder, while she methodically parts and combs out a third girl’s hair before braiding it. Their ease tells a lot about their closeness and attachment with each other. Some of the 25 children at Holt Fontanta are a little shy at first, but soon you start to pick up many signs of health: openly happy, inquisitive, with clear, clean skin and fresh clothes, bright smiles and sparkling eyes.
These are fortunate ones. Most of the children go out for school daily, but within the walls of Holt Fontana Village, they are safe and nurtured, while being prepared for the next hopeful chapter in their lives.
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