COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Building capacity in the developing world

AIRLINE AMBASSADORS’ humanitarian efforts have also lead to long term commitments and development projects. Last year we provided community development support and services worth $15,101 building the capacity of Haitian Law Enforcement, UNICEF, MINUSTAH and IBESR (Haitan Social Services). AAI is the only NGO in Haiti working with the Haitian National Police and we also facilitated partnerships between local officials and law enforcement in the Dominican Republic. We also provided engineering for the development of sustainable agriculture, vocational training programs in Hinch and Mirebalais Haiti.

The CASA Corps manual for building codes was translated into French and Haitian workers were trained to build according to the US building code. This simple to use construction manual “The Essential Elements of a Building Code” is a basic instructional manual for building earthquake resistant housing. The AIRLINE AMBASSADORS CASA Corps team is comprised of architects, engineers and municipal officials from the highest-level institutions. We intend to expand this successful pilot training program into other municipal building departments in Haiti next year and possibly to expand to the Dominican Republic and Colombia. Our Safe Houses in Haiti are prototype structures that can be duplicated in any country with seismic challenges. This manual has become a teaching aid to train local professionals in proper building techniques. These programs build capacity at the local level and share valuable knowledge with developing countries.