In many caribbean and Latin American countries, elderly men and women are the most neglected in society. Despite their old age, they are forced to work and provide for themselves. In most cases they become the children of their own daughters and sons whom they depend on to provide for everything.
In Haiti, I have met an Eighty Years old manforced to work for the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communication (TPTC) with his pick axe on a road improvement project. Most of the workers were elderly men aged between 60 to 82. Since there is no social security income, no health care, no food, no clothes etc available to them, they are forced to work to survive.
In response to the plight of this aging group and to alleviate the suffering of the elderly population, AHAAMES has purchased 27,000 square feet of land to build a retirement home and a healthcare center on site to house the elderly. Ahaames is looking forward to obtaining fundings to begin the construction phase of this retirement – health care facility. Upon completion, this will be the first of its kind in the country. We welcome any volunteers’ participation in the project as well as donors’ contribution to this worthy endeavor.