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Jeunes Contre la Criminalité Haiti
(Youth Crime Watch of Haiti)

About Youth Crime Watch of Haiti

Haiti's Youth Crime Watch program (Jeunes Contra la Criminalité - JCC) helps schools and communities start and sustain their YCW programs. Services include:

Background information about Youth Crime Watch
YCW awareness presentations
YCW implementation training for your site
Technical assistance getting your site started
Technical assistance once your site is up and running

If you are in Haiti and are interested in Youth Crime Watch, please contact the address at the right.

News from Haiti

January 2008: Haiti celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Youth Crime Watch of Haiti dedicated January 14-19 as a week of non-violence to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, whose birthday falls at this time.

The program included two major events. The first, a conference involving 100 high school and college students, was held with the cooperation of the Public Affairs section at the U.S. Embassy. The even drew students from some of the best schools in Haiti as well as some with the highest risk factors for juvenile delinquency. According to event organizers, "That was the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.: Unity within the society, poor together with rich, black skin with brown skin."

The second event, and a powerful experience for everyone involved was a "Non-Violence Cultural Show" followed by a walk starting at 6pm. One hundred youth followed Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in a candle-light procession shouting chants against violence and kidnapping. Unfortunately the walk did not make it all the way to its original destination, the National Palace. Organizers had to call it short due to cases of murder and kidnapping the same day.

Oct 2007: YCW Haiti helps flood victims

YCW members help flood victims in Haiti
Youth Crime Watch Haiti delegates visiting a shelter in Cabaret.

Deadly rains ravaged Haiti this month, causing mudslides and extensive flooding and leaving dozens dead. As communities struggled to cope with the disaster, Haiti's newly formed Youth Crime Watch group rose to help.

On October 17 a delegation of three young people and two members of the executive board of YCWH, including the president, travelled to Cabaret to evaluate the situation and identify the greatest needs of the people living there and how they could help out.

The youth planned the activity themselves, in response to their peers' calls for help. YCWH had originally planned an implementation session in November in that province. The delegation went to visit three shelters, all schools that had been adapted to accommodate victims of the disaster. Hundreds of students were subsequently left without a place to study while the community dealt with basic questions of housing and health. In addition, hundreds more were unable to return to school after August's Hurricane Dean and the October floods washed away everything their families had.

The YCW delegation joined with young volunteers at the local committee of the Haitian Red Cross to make a list of all of the students and children in distress. When the group visited shelters on October 17, they met people who hadn't received any food for three days, information that was confirmed by those running the shelters.

The delegates also visited stricken neighborhoods where there are still a number of people who prefer to stay in what is left of their homes instead of spending all day in a shelter. These people mostly return to the shelter for the night. There were many sick children who had no way to get to a hospital.

Upon their return to Port-au-Prince, the three youth called a special YCWH all-hands meeting to share their findings, including the photos they took (see below). After some discussion the group voted unanimously to take the YCW motto of "Watch Out! Help Out!" to heart and help their peers in the affected provinces. As a result, they have started a donations drive to collect food, clothing, household items, school books and bags from their own schools and neighborhoods. In addition, 45 young people have pledged themselves to go to Cabaret on November 3 for a Help Out Day!

To offer your help in the YCWH campaign, please contact Youth Crime Watch of Haiti at youthcrimewatchaiti@yahoo.com.

flood shelter in haiti
YCW members at the flood shelter in Cabaret.

flood shelter in haiti
Children playing at one of the shelters.

flood shelter in haiti
Many families have been displaced by the deadly rains.

Sept 2007: Youth Crime Watch Training in Haiti

A Youth Crime Watch of America delegation consisting of Vince Taylor, former Assistant Secretary for the US Department of Transportation; Terry Allen Jones, our lead YCW trainer; Commander Gary Eugene of the City of Miami Police Department; and Haitian-American businessman Georges William of Miami visited Haiti last week to conduct a training of trainers in order to establish Youth Crime Watch of Haiti. The Haitians have wanted for several years to get a program established. The training was very successful, opening the minds of Haitians to youth and the police working together for citizen safety, and providing hope that, yes, something can be done.

In this poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, perhaps what best characterizes our delegation’s effort was this story: halfway through the first day of the training, someone (we don’t know who) went to another part of the US Embassy, where the training was being hosted, and said of the YCW Training – “There’s a revolution going on down there.” (said in a good way). The staff of the Embassy and others immediately took an additional interest (this was not just another workshop) and later commented that they had never seen a delegation come with so much enthusiasm and drive. By the way, the Government of Haiti and the US Embassy picked up the cost of the training.

Photos from this training will be available online soon.

Congratulations to our sister program in Haiti! We at YCWA wish you the best of luck in your efforts!

Jeunes Contre la Criminalité Haiti (Youth Crime Watch of Haiti)