Victoria Yeghoyan - PROJECTS OF HOPE IN HAITI
About
Rev. Victoria Yeghoyan is an American Baptist minister who has been in and out of Haiti since childhood when she lived in Limbe, Haiti, with her American Baptist missionary grandparents for a few years. She was always eager to return to Haiti, whether for vacations or volunteer work as an adult. In 1999, she was hired as a Mission Specialist for PC/USA to work at Hospital Sainte Croix in Leogane, Haiti, as Co-Ordinator for their visiting mission teams from the US.
In 2013, She became the Founder and Executive Director of Empower Haitian Women, working with the Progressive Women of Leogane, a group that she met and worked with while working at Hospital Sainte Croix. In 2018, Empower Haitian Women became Projects of Hope in Haiti, as Victoria became involved with Haitian Heritage and Friends of Haiti, an organization in Charlotte, NC on whose board she serves. In 2024, Victoria was asked to help raise money for RadyoNou (Our Radio) in Leogane.
Project 1
The Progressive Women of Leogane
In 1991, a group of Christian women in Leogane, Haiti gathered to pray and to envision their response to the problem of women who came to Leogane after having been raped and beaten during a time of serious political turmoil in the country. These women, already working in the open-air marketplace, committed themselves to helping the newly arrived and abused women get started in business in the marketplace. From the beginning, a critical characteristic of the Progressive Women of Leogane was to offer support and encouragement to each other, whether it be providing childcare or sharing parenting tips, attending to the needs of a member in the hospital, sharing ideas and, in their words, "becoming family to each other." Amazingly, in such a poor country they are not competitors in the marketplace, but rather companions.
Here is a partial list of some of their other activities:
Unfortunately, the president of the group died and no one was successful in leading the group, and I am no longer able to go to that part of Haiti.
Project 2
Haitian Heritage & Friends of Haiti
Our Mission
Haitian Heritage & Friends of Haiti (HHFoH) is a grassroots community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization strongly committed to strengthen and improve the quality of life of the Haitian Community in the Charlotte Metropolitan area and beyond.
We will accomplish our mission through education, social services, advocacy, community support, leadership development, community organizing, and by establishing alliances with other organizations in the community at large while promoting our heritage and culture.
In Haiti there are 1.6 medical doctors, 1.9 nurses, and 0.2 dentists for every 10,000 people in Haiti. Chronic malnutrition affects one-third of the childhood population.
In the meantime, since 2010, HHFoH has sent 12 mobile clinic teams to see patients in school buildings and church buildings in that area. Or, as in one trip, we delivered and ran a mobile medical clinic using the ambulance we currently have in Haiti. We were able to treat over one thousand patients in four days. We have an ambulance, a van and a generator that stays in Haiti for our use. We only go to places where we've been invited by Haitian authorities. Our mobile clinic teams are made up of doctors, nurses, and many other volunteers to pass out medications and hand out food, hygiene kits, and any other giveaways we might have.
When we go to Haiti for mobile clinics, we pack medicines and supplies for rehydrating those in need, hygiene kits prepared by our churches, donated eyeglasses, basic food supplies, clothing, and other items that have been donated. In 2018, because of the high incidence of women with urogenital diseases, we began preparing special hygiene kits for women. Victoria met with groups of women to talk about feminine hygiene and explain the kits' contents. In 2021, after an earthquake in the southern peninsula, we packed buckets of cleaning supplies to pass out.
Project 3
RADYONOU (Our radio)
Gerald Toussaint, a friend and colleague from Hospital Sainte Croix, opened Radyonou in 2012 online from his home in Orlando, FL. In August of 2023, he opened a studio in Leogane, Haiti.
Here are his words:
“RADYONOU plays Haitian popular music, known as kompa, French music and gospel music. The programs are very diverse. We give youth between 20 and 26 the opportunity to develop their talents as “animateurs”–hosts. The emissions are very educational, speaking about health, sports, love, and the responsibility of every citizen to know their rights. There are programs for children to let them speak and to share their favorite experiences at school and church.”
A generator is needed so they can broadcast regularly, not just when the state supplies electricity, which isn’t often! They also need air conditioners.
Rev. Victoria Yeghoyan is an American Baptist minister who has been in and out of Haiti since childhood when she lived in Limbe, Haiti, with her American Baptist missionary grandparents for a few years. She was always eager to return to Haiti, whether for vacations or volunteer work as an adult. In 1999, she was hired as a Mission Specialist for PC/USA to work at Hospital Sainte Croix in Leogane, Haiti, as Co-Ordinator for their visiting mission teams from the US.
In 2013, She became the Founder and Executive Director of Empower Haitian Women, working with the Progressive Women of Leogane, a group that she met and worked with while working at Hospital Sainte Croix. In 2018, Empower Haitian Women became Projects of Hope in Haiti, as Victoria became involved with Haitian Heritage and Friends of Haiti, an organization in Charlotte, NC on whose board she serves. In 2024, Victoria was asked to help raise money for RadyoNou (Our Radio) in Leogane.
Project 1
The Progressive Women of Leogane
In 1991, a group of Christian women in Leogane, Haiti gathered to pray and to envision their response to the problem of women who came to Leogane after having been raped and beaten during a time of serious political turmoil in the country. These women, already working in the open-air marketplace, committed themselves to helping the newly arrived and abused women get started in business in the marketplace. From the beginning, a critical characteristic of the Progressive Women of Leogane was to offer support and encouragement to each other, whether it be providing childcare or sharing parenting tips, attending to the needs of a member in the hospital, sharing ideas and, in their words, "becoming family to each other." Amazingly, in such a poor country they are not competitors in the marketplace, but rather companions.
Here is a partial list of some of their other activities:
- Going into the mountains, on foot, to be present during elections
- Going into the mountains, encouraging women to come to the hospital for gynecologic checkups and care
- Meeting with other community groups (such as cane workers or banana growers), sharing their experiences, encouraging them to collaborate in the same way
- Cleaning the town of Leogane for New Year's Day (Haiti's Independence Day) and other special occasions
- Providing water during Rara, the big cultural event every year in Leogane
Unfortunately, the president of the group died and no one was successful in leading the group, and I am no longer able to go to that part of Haiti.
Project 2
Haitian Heritage & Friends of Haiti
Our Mission
Haitian Heritage & Friends of Haiti (HHFoH) is a grassroots community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization strongly committed to strengthen and improve the quality of life of the Haitian Community in the Charlotte Metropolitan area and beyond.
We will accomplish our mission through education, social services, advocacy, community support, leadership development, community organizing, and by establishing alliances with other organizations in the community at large while promoting our heritage and culture.
In Haiti there are 1.6 medical doctors, 1.9 nurses, and 0.2 dentists for every 10,000 people in Haiti. Chronic malnutrition affects one-third of the childhood population.
- 40% of the population has no access to health care.
- 60% in urban and 75% in rural areas have no running water.
- Leading causes of death are HIV, diarrheal illness, acute respiratory diseases, malaria and measles.
In the meantime, since 2010, HHFoH has sent 12 mobile clinic teams to see patients in school buildings and church buildings in that area. Or, as in one trip, we delivered and ran a mobile medical clinic using the ambulance we currently have in Haiti. We were able to treat over one thousand patients in four days. We have an ambulance, a van and a generator that stays in Haiti for our use. We only go to places where we've been invited by Haitian authorities. Our mobile clinic teams are made up of doctors, nurses, and many other volunteers to pass out medications and hand out food, hygiene kits, and any other giveaways we might have.
When we go to Haiti for mobile clinics, we pack medicines and supplies for rehydrating those in need, hygiene kits prepared by our churches, donated eyeglasses, basic food supplies, clothing, and other items that have been donated. In 2018, because of the high incidence of women with urogenital diseases, we began preparing special hygiene kits for women. Victoria met with groups of women to talk about feminine hygiene and explain the kits' contents. In 2021, after an earthquake in the southern peninsula, we packed buckets of cleaning supplies to pass out.
Project 3
RADYONOU (Our radio)
Gerald Toussaint, a friend and colleague from Hospital Sainte Croix, opened Radyonou in 2012 online from his home in Orlando, FL. In August of 2023, he opened a studio in Leogane, Haiti.
Here are his words:
“RADYONOU plays Haitian popular music, known as kompa, French music and gospel music. The programs are very diverse. We give youth between 20 and 26 the opportunity to develop their talents as “animateurs”–hosts. The emissions are very educational, speaking about health, sports, love, and the responsibility of every citizen to know their rights. There are programs for children to let them speak and to share their favorite experiences at school and church.”
A generator is needed so they can broadcast regularly, not just when the state supplies electricity, which isn’t often! They also need air conditioners.