At Human Community Services, Inc. (HCS), our vision and our mission are so broad and the need so great that we feel that our accomplishments can only be limited by our funding possibilities, because we have numerous worthwhile and urgent projects in those parts of the world, that are the focus of our concentration, namely the Caribbean, South America, Africa and the United States.
There are sufficient commonalities of both needs and culture in these geographic areas of concentration that our idea is to have some pilot programs in anyone of these areas of concentration, experience them, learn from them and then duplicate their improved versions in additional geographic areas either of the same country or export the successful model to another country.
Presently HCS envisions several projects already, such as:
- Re-invigorating the Agro-industry and forestry.
In many of our areas of concentrations there exist two fundamental problems in this domain i) the land parcels are so small that they are used to cultivate just for just family consumption ii) Trees are cut down to make charcoal as the only means of cooking heat in the absence of electricity. These two problems perpetuate other major development handicaps for these areas because 1) there is no excess production of agricultural products for economic development and 2) the amount of arable land is declining because the lack of trees causes the top soil to easily be displaced by heavy rains into either rivers or the ocean, reducing the availability of cultivable lands, not to mention the affectation to the environment as a whole. This is a vicious circle that can be dealt with only with a well-reasoned and aggressive approach through both education and the implementation of new crop growing methodologies and better irrigation systems. HCS will assemble the adequate team of scientists, agronomists and people from other disciplines in order to address this issue and change the economic vitality of these areas for the long term.
- HCS Animal, Poultry and Fish Farms.
In the same context of improving the agro-environment in order to insure the production of adequate and sustaining food supplies for the needy, it is also appropriate to concentrate in the creation of farming for the growth and development of protein sources in both animal and poultry and fish farms. In this context, specific known animals, poultry and fish that are part of the local diet of the respective region will be the focus. At HCS, we recognize that part of the dietary deficiency of many of the needy people in our areas of concentration can be attributed to the lack protein, ergo our attention to this domain.
- Manufacturing of Generic Pharmaceutical Products.
There are several considerations in this domain for the needy, principally the lack of availability of pharmaceutical products in remote areas to either cure or prevent many of the traditional diseases. It only makes sense that, to the extent that many of these products can be manufactured locally, we should do so, not only to bring down the cost and make the products more readily available, but to also create jobs, and thereby avoid the importation of many of these products from developed countries.
The Pharmaceutical companies that spend a lot of time, efforts and money in Research and Development traditionally recoup their money by i) having an exclusive license for production, due to their patents for many years ii) by exiting the specific product category once their patents expire, since companies have the right to manufacture the generic and cheaper versions of these products. For economic reasons sometimes they even abandon all together the production of many products for diseases that are still plaguing many remote areas of the world. If we manufacture these products, we can make them more readily available through our health and mobile clinics. Of course these products will have to follow the FDA guidelines and meet with the respective FDA approval.
- Water Treatment and Electricity Generation Plants
There are two lacks that are very common among the remote rural areas that we intend to concentrate on as well 1) lack of fresh drinking water and lack of electricity. These lacks are definitely handicaps that are impairing the development of these areas. It would be inconceivable, not to say hypocritical, to address bringing relief to these needy people without addressing these fundamental requirements. That is why HCS plans to address the building of both water and electricity plants in order to satisfy the needs of these communities. Of course the solution to each community will be appropriate to not only their respective needs but also the kind of local resources that are available that we can work with and draw from, both in terms of physical resources and human resources. There again, we will enlist the help of companies and scientists whose area of expertise is to deliver those services.
- Tourism Development.
We recognize that each region and geographic area have got its own identifiable potential. Therefore when it comes to this domain, each area will need to be evaluated accordingly.
It is very well known that the Caribbean has been the cherished destination for tourists throughout the world, in particular the Dominican Republic (DR), which in 2014 had in excess of 5 million visitors, mostly in the area known as Punta Cana. However, it is clear that the government of the DR is putting development emphasis in the Puerto Plata / Cabarete area, located on the northern shores of the country.
Haiti has long wanted to take advantage of this large flux of tourists from the DR by encouraging their stay in the northern part of Haiti, in the area of Cap-Haitian in particular. This is now quite possible, except there is a lack of appropriate accommodation structures in and around Cap-Haitian that need to be built in order to encourage 2 to 5 day stay in the area. HCS plans in getting involved in the building of these structures, as they will engender an industry that will create many jobs. There are advantages to this focus on tourism in that part of Haiti:
- Puerto Plata is not that far from Cap-Haitian, perhaps two to three hours by car.
- A road was recently built on the side of Haiti to accommodate this traffic from the DR.
- The beaches are as gorgeous on the Haiti side of the island as they are on the DR side, so much so that Carnival Cruise line, for the past several years, has utilized one of these beaches in the Haiti side as a regular scheduled stop for its cruise ships traveling the Caribbean area.
- The Haiti side has got some attractions that are non-existent on the DR side such as the impressive and magnificent stature of the Citadelle Laferière as well as the nostalgic ruins of the Palais Sans-Souci, just to name a few.
- Last but not least are the recent daily flights by American Airlines directly to Cap-Haitian as well as the recent announcement of Air Canada to follow suit to make use of the newly constructed international airport. At HCS we very much think that these kinds of commitment augur the renaissance of the Cap-Haitian area. We want to be there to facilitate good things to happen for the people of the region.
Although there are other areas in Haiti that can greatly benefit from the tourism industry, the northern part of Haiti seems to be a natural place to get started for the reasons stated above.
The above projects represent some of the immediate aspirations of HCS, but are certainly not an exhaustive list of many of the current goals at HCS. As we said before, our execution of our planned projects can only be limited by our funding. When it comes to the needy and less privileged among us, we only wish to satisfy and save as many of them as our resources allow us to. Our Vision is clear. Our Mission is ready to be put to life on behalf of HUMANITY.