1. IntroductionGREAT AMERICAN HEART, INC. “Enhancing lives through Opportunities for the Children of Haiti” Planting for Hope Projects CAFÉ CACAO AND MORE FOR NORTHEN HAITI 11 CALAIS DR READING PA 19605 www.greatamericanheart.org Email Address: info@greatamericanheart.org Telephone: 800-349-6219//484-272-1210 FAX:800-349=6219 About Great American Heart, Inc. Great American Heart, Inc. a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt not-for-profit organization. It was formed on February 2010 in Temple Pennsylvania by Ermilus Fleurinvil and four other founding members. The organization’s mission is to change the lives of young children and their family in Haiti by providing them with adequate care to fulfill their basic needs, such as shelter, education, clothing, nutrition, community integration, and health care. Great American Heart, Inc. was formed primarily to respond to the increased in lack of food, shelter and education of an already poor population in Haiti. The dire socio-economic conditions that exist in the country were further exacerbated by the recent January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people in Haiti. This catastrophic event destroyed critical infrastructure, and left more than a million people homeless. The earthquake damaged several cities in Haiti not just the capital city of Port-au-Price. Many of those cities affected are 20 to 30 miles way from the capital. As of today there are many organizations in Port-Au-Prince providing assistance to the needy. Unfortunately, the people in the faraway country side cities have not receive any help. Great American Heart, Inc. is dedicating the majority of their programs and resources to helping the habitants of several cities the Northern country side of Haiti where the earthquake caused hunger, homelessness and hopelessness. In Haiti, Great American Heart, Inc. is committed to serving the voiceless and the helpless of the Northern countryside cities. The organization will provide services to orphan children and poor women through innovative programs that span the field of agricultural, job training, health services, and academics. Our services improve the ability of children and women to achieve self-sufficiency and self-confidence. Yours Sincerely, Ermilus Fleurinvil Executive Director A Message from the Director Ermilus Fleirinvil is the founder and Director of Great American Heart, Inc. Ermilus was born in Haiti on October 10, 1969. He migrated to the United States on January 1, 1991. He currently resides in Redding Pennsylvania, USA with his wife and #3 of children. Ermilus studied Political Science at Katherine Gibbs and Georgia Tech in 1999 I founded Great American Heart in February 2010 after the earthquake in Haiti, right after the devastating event I flew to Haiti to offer humanitarian assistance to family and friends. However upon my arrival I realized that the need was so great and there were millions of people in need of food and shelter among them millions of children crying to find their parents and million more of women in pain from losing their husband, all their children and everything they had. There are several organizations in Haiti now providing assistance to the needy and contributing to the rebuilding effort in Haiti. However, the majority of the help being provided never reached the poor children and women I meet on my first trip to Haiti. During my trip, I found that a great number of people affected by the earthquake do not reside in Port-Au-Prince. They are on the countryside in places like Au-Borgne, a city 30 miles northwest of the capital. Several people in that region does not know how to read and write and does not know how and where to ask for help. The difference between Great American Heart and the other organizations currently helping in Haiti is our pledge to reach out to the voiceless and powerless in the country side of Haiti. My goal is to speak for these children, and ask for help for these mothers in English, French, Spanish, and Creole. I pledge to stand for them in whatever language the help is being provided in. Yours Truly, Ermilus Fleurinvil Introduction Great American Hearts, Inc is pleased to submit our proposal to fulfill the requirements as outlined below, We are familiar with and support the US Government , and the international community’s efforts to assist Haiti and other nations in providing for their own health care, nutrition, food security, reconstruction and humanitarian assistance initiatives. Our professionals have supported emerging nations in the Partnership for Peace programs and provided assistance to many humanitarian programs worldwide. We are fully prepared to provide the same expertise and experience to the international organizations and contributors to Haiti, as we have for the past year, as a part of their proposed initiatives. We fully understand the need of the proposed requirements specified in this technical proposal and are capable of performing all tasks. This team, henceforth known as “GAH,” has worked cooperatively and contractually for the reconstruction and betterment of Haiti for the last year. Our combined experience, coupled with on-hand, immediately available professional personnel have the required skills; excellent retention plans; and proven effective corporate management and execution infrastructures readily available which enables us to provide responsive and reliable support to the international community. GAH possesses the right mix and depth of core capabilities, and employs professionals with a strong history of working together. A tailored, repeatable quality program is implemented to accomplish the technical requirements outlined below. We understand the role of the US Department of State, USAID and United Nations in each country, and fully understand the coordination required between the host nation’s government, the various Embassy’s and the United Nations as well as any funding organization. We understand the importance of the various humanitarian assistance mission sanctioned by the international community, and believe that we are the team best equipped to assess, design, and apply the solutions and responsiveness for foreign entities worldwide. GAH is prepared to provide the required professional logistics and technical management support across the full spectrum of planning, operating, maintaining operations, agriculture development, land use management, health care structuring, contingency planning, and program monitoring. We bring the Minimum Risk/Best Value Team with proven planning and operational training and educational expertise to provide efficient and effective support. Our professionals have the depth and breadth of experience in providing a responsive Mobile Technical Team (MTT) to support the various countries throughout the world in times of need and will continue to do so in support of the proposed Haiti program. We recognize that our employees are our greatest asset, and our skilled professionals are the primary reason for our success. Our professional staff’s key competencies include: • Operational Expertise • Field Training • Testing and Evaluation • Acquisition Management • Contracts Management • Decision Making Support • Engineering • Health care and social development • Agriculture planning and development Understanding the requirement. GAH understands the requirements outlined in this proposed work statement for the proposed training to be fully conducted in four locations throughout Haiti. GAH is prepared to achieve the requirements outlined in this project within our proposed schedule. GAH has a management structure that will have oversight for the execution of this training project. GAH will provide all program of instruction (POI) for proposed training courses. GAH’s Program Manager (PM), Jimmy Savino has experience in managing programs, training and oversight. Jim has already led two teams conducting Brigade Staff Training and was the government technical monitoring and contract manager for the Department of state in Washington DC and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kisangani. The project team will be located on-site during work hours, and will coordinate with the appropriate local government, U.S. Government representative(s) United Nations representative and local NGO’s in country. For the purpose of the proposal submission, GAH will address the task requirements. Since the procurement process will began immediately following receipt of funding, GAH proposes to begin on the first day of contract award with the development of the course curriculum, and has already begun planning for the execution of this major training effort. The team will focus on the refinement of the health and nutrition Course POI and lesson plans as well as, the development of the agriculture Course POI and lesson plans. GAH will conduct a Site Survey of facilities and proposed land use during the third week of the deployment. Managing the Training Task Planning In managing the work in Haiti, GAH will follow a task planning approach that directs activities from receipt of a task through completion of the task activities specified. As tasks are initiated, this planning approach is used to ensure that requirements are fully planned and supported with the appropriate resources to ensure successful completion of the requirement. Management and Control The GAH on-site Program Manager (PM), Jimmy Savino, will assign responsibility for each task to an appropriate Team Leader (TL). The GAH PM will work closely with Team Leaders to determine the optimal organizational team structure and appropriate mix of personnel to reach a cost-effective balance for the work to be performed. The PM will also, schedule In Progress Reviews (iprs) and provide technical direction as required. The Team Leader will direct daily team efforts, acquire resources, monitor progress, and assist the PM in developing and executing scheduled iprs, preparing and delivering reports, executive summaries, and any other briefings and reports specified by the funding agency and/or grant representative, Deliverable Requirements List (cdrls) or the customer. GAH’s Team Leader will ensure direct responsibility of the task efforts, provide guidance for work planning and performance measurement, and establish milestones to monitor both task execution and related local labor hours for internal and external visibility and allowing total complete transparency of all funding and activities. Task Management Planning and Coordination Our structured task management approach facilitates team coordination and task control, defines team responsibilities, and enables timely execution of specified tasks. The schedule is base lined, published, and distributed to the team members and used as a metric to measure work quality and progress. Close interaction with the customer is maintained during the planning and updating process as required. Notification of significant problems will be forwarded to the customer by the GAH PM immediately after he is made aware of the problem. As part of our dedication to customer satisfaction, GAH’s Quality Assurance Program incorporates a series of reviews ranging from Program Level Reviews by Senior Management to Detailed, intra-Program level operational reviews. These reviews are described in the following table: MANAGEMENT REVIEW Conducted by the Division Manager. Ensures that program management is meeting the cost, schedule, and performance requirements of the contract. Reviews Program plans, schedules, and budget requests. Determines if additional resources are required. OPERATIONAL REVIEW Conducted by senior operations personnel outside the program, as required. Ensures that the technical work meets GAH’s standards of excellence. Reviews deliverables (analyses, designs, documents, etc.) For completeness, quality, and accuracy. Provides guidance for operationally improving the product. Determines if additional resources are required. PROGRAM REVIEW Conducted within the program by technical peers. Directed to ensuring the quality of technical work. Ensures that designs, analyses, documents, etc. Are accurate and complete. Reviews methodologies, assumptions, requirements, data sources, tradeoff studies, technical approaches. Compares deliverables with the contract requirements to ensure the product meets customer requirements. Determines if additional technical work must be performed. Operational multi-level management review is the basis of our surveillance program to ensure quality. Reports and Meeting GAH fully understands the importance of initial kickoff meeting(s) and its impact on successfully executing of the project(s). We are prepared to support this meeting with the client if requested. The information gained at this meeting will be fully disseminated to all employees as required. The GAH meetings with the team members, ensures that each member of the Team fully understands task management policies and procedures, quality control, and technical and operational performance standards used to assess work quality. This familiarity with GAH’s procedures presents a low risk situation for our contract/grant management oversight team. The technical and administrative reporting requirements described in this technical proposal and clarified in the initial meeting between employees and client if requested and will also be disseminated. Further timelines will be developed (pending funding availability) to ensure requirements are completed on time. To ensure compliance, an operational review conducted by senior management ensures that format, organization, and contents satisfy client requirements. The management review ensures that the operational work performed meets GAH’s standards of excellence. The GAH PM and an assigned Quality Control (QA/QC) representative, conduct the management review. When results fail to pass this quality assurance inspection, the PM will provide the team leader(s) sufficient guidance for technically improving the product. These multiple reviews are important to GAH and ensure: • Technical consistency and quality of the delivered product. • Products do not conflict with data in other documents. • Impacts to the other areas within the program are identified. • Provide our program management with a barometer of program performance. The final updated deliverable is then produced by the Team leader, and after a final review by the PM, will be delivered as specified by this technical proposal and or client request. Each GAH Team Leader is responsible for the accomplishments of all tasks assigned to his/her team. Control/inspection of task efforts is accomplished through daily monitoring and mentoring by the team lead. The GAH PM will ensure the completion and submission of all required reports. GAH will provide the Grant Representative (GOR)/ Technical Monitor (TM) with a detailed listing of all materials and equipment procured/acquired under this task order as may be required from time to time, but no less than bi-monthly. The GAH PM will provide a complete progress report of the training schedule, programs of instruction (POI) associated with proposed training, inventory lists—for all equipment and materials procured for the training and or development support, as well as complete and total equipment and personnel report for those items and participants on site, no later than 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time each Wednesday throughout the performance. Identification of Deficiencies and Improvement Deficiencies and improvements will be identified through: • Customer feedback • Internal and external IPR’s • Teleconferences • Coordination with GAH PM and the country team • Management Reviews • Program Reviews “Key” Personnel Responsibilities • Program Manager (PM) is responsible for assuring that the quality control program is executed in accordance with this plan. The PM will solicit customer feedback on GAH’s performance with the intent of precluding potential problems and improving service. Our PM will periodically seek customer feedback on GAH’s performance and will take any steps necessary to ensure that the employees supporting the project are provided the resources they need. • Team Leader (TL) is responsible for daily performance of the Teams in their assigned tasks within the PWS, and Performance Criteria Matrix. Provide primary quality control for the program through excellence in execution. Responsible for customer satisfaction at the execution level. Provide the GHA PM with another source of customer feedback, expectations and preferences, both positive and negative. May be required to implement corrective actions as required. • Team Members (TM) are responsible for daily execution of their assigned tasks within the task, Performance Criteria Matrix to include: Providing primary quality control for the program through excellence in execution. Responsible for customer satisfaction within his/her area of responsibility at the execution level. Providing the TL with another source of customer feedback, expectations and preferences, both positive and negative. May be required to implement corrective actions as required. Manning: In-country staff and local nationals GAH’s approach to staffing is to provide the right person with the appropriate expertise in the required task activity and/or discipline. GAH conducts an extensive review prior to hiring any individual to ensure the individual is not only technically competent, but also is of exceptional character and capable of independent work. The successful candidate for employment is compensated with a very competitive salary, and has a stake in our dynamic and growing organization. As a result, turnover of personnel is extremely low. GAH has an aggressive recruiting program that uses in-house and independent recruiting professionals/agencies, extensive data bases and specialized consulting/placement services. This program also benefits from the personal connections and referrals of the personnel selected to fill key positions on this training support mission. This process will ensure current positions are adequately staffed and that replacement/backup personnel are available. This process will also support a rapid response to additional requirements/replacements as necessary. As previously discussed, the personnel we have recruited to support this proposed operation have, and will continue to, assist us in recruiting additional qualified candidates to afford more than sufficient depth to quickly respond to program changes. We will continue this process on an ongoing basis to establish a wider pool of trained and available professional personnel to meet known or emerging requirements. LABOR CATEGORIES GAH proposes to use the following labor categories for schedule. It should be noted in case of the Training Requirements Specialist, we will, in some cases, use 5-10 years of experience in lieu of a Bachelors Degree. Title: Project Manager Scope: Responsible for managing and overseeing work performance on one or more task orders. Primarily responsible for planning, managing and overseeing work efforts of project team personnel; determining and monitoring task order schedules and budgets; and ensuring compliance with all contract, task order requirements and quality standards. Duties: serves as the interface with the task order customer, in-country officials, contracting officer, grant officers and technical representatives. Demonstrates skills in the scope of work, PWS, or technical grant award encompassed by the contract task order award; provides technical guidance to the project team leaders in performance of the work; and provides quality review of all work products Responsibilities: a. Responsibility for cost, schedule, and technical aspects of assigned task orders. b. Performs functions associated with resource provision, tracking of technical progress and resource consumption, and quality control of emerging and final products. c. Assists technical employees by providing access to sources of expert advice; recommending and resourcing appropriate training, and ensuring appropriate mix of technical skills. d. Authors, edits, and contributes to production of technical and cost and performance reports. Provides quality control of same. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to program management. b. Minimum Experience: 10-15 years of relevant management experience. . Title: Training (Team Leader) Scope: Assesses training requirements, develops alternatives for training methods, implements methods, and leads training efforts for selected options. Responsibilities: a. Provides training packages to meet specific needs b. Performs or leads two or more of the functions as required. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to training management. b. Minimum Experience: 8 years of training requirements specialist experience or general MOBIS support. Title: Organization Design/Strategic Planning (Training Strategy Mentor) Scope: Consults, advises, and documents. Performs organizational assessments, analyzes data, makes organizational design recommendations, and advises / implements selected changes. Responsibilities: a. Performs management studies to determine most efficient organizations. b. Creates documentation in support of studies, projects, and efforts. c. Supports administrative appeals d. Performs or leads two or more of the functions as outlined in labor category code OD-8. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to organization design/strategic planning. Graduate degree preferred. b. Minimum Experience: 12 years of relevant organization design/strategic planning experience or general MOBIS support. TECHNICAL APPROACH Background Political insecurity and the failure of Haiti's government to invest in developing the country's natural and human resources has contributed significantly to the country's current state of underdevelopment. U.S. efforts to strengthen democracy and help build the foundation for economic growth aim to rectify this condition. The U.S. has been Haiti's largest donor since 1973. Between FY 1995 and FY 2003, the U.S. contributed more than $850 million in assistance to Haiti. Since 2004, the U.S. has provided over $1.5 billion for improving governance, security, the rule of law, economic recovery, and critical human needs. Following the tragic January 12 earthquake, the U.S. government, working with the Government of Haiti and the United Nations system, executed what became the largest international humanitarian response to a natural disaster in U.S. history. In a corresponding outpour of support, one out of every two U.S. households made some form of private contribution to Haitian relief. The U.S. Congress passed a supplemental appropriation to support the long term recovery and relief efforts in Haiti. In total, the U.S. government will provide $2.6 billion towards relief, recovery and reconstruction after the tragic earthquake. Haiti’s recovery is a strategic imperative for the United States. The U.S. government’s development strategy focuses on stimulating economic activity and enhancing the delivery of basic services in designated development corridors, while engaging the private sector in the reconstruction process. Consistent with the GOH Haiti Action Plan, the U.S. government’s reconstruction and long-term development plan seeks to support new and diverse economic opportunities outside of Port-au-Prince using focused and catalytic investments in housing, energy, agriculture, health, security and national and local governance. The U.S. government as well as the international communities strategy consists of investments in four focus areas or “pillars” critical to achieving economic growth and stability: • Infrastructure and Energy including: • Permanent housing in identified development corridors for internally displaced persons with housing developments in and around secondary cities, including provision of infrastructure services, conversion of existing transitional shelters to permanent housing and construction of upgradable core housing units. • Investing in an electricity sector that is reliable and financially viable. This includes: rehabilitation of high-priority energy infrastructure and generation facilities; modernizing the sector by improving governance; strengthening institutional capacities; and attracting private sector participation. Given the magnitude of Haiti’s needs, U.S. government investment will be coordinated with other donors, the Government of Haiti, and the private sector. • Investment in infrastructure for the agricultural and industrial sectors for road and port development to help expand economic activity beyond Port-au-Prince, including improving rural farm-to-market feeder roads and bridges to reduce transportation costs and loss of value of agricultural products en route to local or export markets. • Food and Economic Security • Promoting agriculture sector growth within targeted corridors. This includes targeting assistance to farmer groups to increase farm productivity by providing commercially produced seeds, fertilizers and tools, as well as support to producer associations to use applicable research and increase access to finance. Increasing farm incomes will be the key driver of improved food security in the priority areas. • Integrating agricultural assistance with natural resource management, such as rebuilding canals and strengthening local farmers’ governance of water use. These investments in natural resource management are focused on the protection and improvement of yields in high-priority fertile plains. • Support the development of micro, small and medium (MSME) sized enterprises. Fostering and enabling a policy environment for MSME growth; providing technical assistance and professional and vocational training services to MSMEs; and, where appropriate, increasing access to capital for these businesses, which will help increase the number of new jobs created by formal MSMEs. • Health and Other Basic Services • Developing comprehensive referral networks at the communal and departmental levels. Within the development corridors, the U.S. government will provide health services through investments in the 12 Government of Haiti-designated “communal health referral networks” that fall within the U.S. development corridors. The U.S. government will invest in all aspects of the network—from facilities to equipment to training to supplies to human resources, including community health workers. • Supporting the delivery of a “basic package” of services, including in areas outside the development corridors. For epidemiological, sustainability and humanitarian reasons, the U.S. government will continue to make a core set of investments in service delivery and health systems outside of the development corridors, including targeted interventions for infectious disease as well as interventions to address gender-based violence and child protection. • Establishing disability care to support the Government of Haiti. The U.S. government will expand disability care to rehabilitate and reintegrate into society persons with disabilities due to the earthquake, while building the capacity of governmental and non-governmental institutions to sustainably and effectively support persons with disabilities in the future. • Governance and Rule of Law • Building the capacity of the Government of Haiti to decrease reliance on international assistance. Through investment in infrastructure and equipment to enable to functioning of key government offices, skills development to build a more capable public administration at national and local levels, and support systems to improve transparency and accountability, the U.S. government will assist the Government of Haiti in becoming more responsive and increasingly capable of performing essential governance functions without reliance on international assistance. • Investing in the Haitian National Police, Haiti’s sole indigenous security force, to adequately provide for the safety and security of Haitians throughout the country. This includes: support for training and recruitment of new officers and in-service learning for mid-to-senior level officers to increase the overall professionalization as well as investment in infrastructure and equipment to enhance the sustainability of the force. • Targeting assistance in key areas to strengthen the justice sector and improve access to legal services. This includes: providing equipment and technical assistance to reduce pre-trial detention and to strengthen key criminal justice institutions to manage cases more efficiently; providing free legal assistance to vulnerable populations; and renovating the corrections sector to reinforce prison infrastructure severely damaged by the earthquake and provide additional space to alleviate severe overcrowding. • Funding initiatives to increase protection of human rights and vulnerable populations. U.S. government investments target improvements in the physical security in IDP camps, provision of services to victims of violence and human trafficking, and empowering vulnerable populations through economic opportunity and increased awareness. Phase 1 Activity 4 (Strategy Planning and training conference) In coordination with the State with the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, GAH shall facilitate a Joint Strategy Conference (JSC) for Haitian government officials and the local community leaders at each identified area. The Government of Haiti officials including governors and mayors, including any additional official identified by the various Governments represented or requested by the Haitian Government should be invited to participate in the JSC. The JSC will assist the local and national leaders in defining its doctrine, goals, immediate and long term strategy for:, NGO’s, resources, management, structure, and personnel management at the regional level . Great American Heart proposes that the Joint Strategy Conference (JSC), should be a seminar-focused on developing a strategy for and with particular emphasis on humanitarian assistance and development doctrine, goals, strategy, resources and personnel management. This is done in order to clearly define the requirement of each of the agency and organizations operating in the geographic region and the resources required by the international community and the government of Haiti to support the desired reconstruction, training and humanitarian assistance, and the desired end state of all proposed programs throughout the various regions. Agriculture Training Philosophy The economy of Haiti and the well being of all mankind require productive and efficient agriculture programs which incorporate Training and training as part of any sustainable food production and processing program for sustainable living . GAH understands the increasing demand for food and other related resources in our environment and will adopt training and Training as part of our programs worldwide. Demand dictates the need to specifically educate skilled individuals. Programs in agricultural Training should be aimed at preparing the individual for employment and be a focused effort for the well being of the individual, economic opportunity for the community and an asset to the industry by preparing professionally educated individuals to share their knowledge and train others how to be self sufficient. The following concept identifies the role of Agricultural Training in our proposed targeted communities: • Agricultural Training programs must be developed and conducted as a part of an Trainingal System and be in harmony with a total philosophy of Training for the individual and/or the society in which he/she lives and works. • Agricultural Training programs combine the skills and technical content of various disciplines with the practical requirements of the agriculture professional in order to prepare a person to succeed technically in their occupation. • Technical competencies and the interests of the individual must be considered, but the opportunities within and the needs of community and overall society must be considered as Agricultural Training programs are established. • All Agricultural Training programs must be developed and conducted in cooperation with an advisory committee representing business and industry in which the program is being offered. • Agricultural Training programs are essentially for and must relate to the productivity of people, not only in competency but in the attitude toward an occupation and willingness to produce. • Agricultural Training programs are unique in their requirements for community resource utilization, facilities, and equipment needed for the instructional program, curriculum, instructor qualifications, and goals. Combined Agricultural Training and Production: Our organization will utilize a farmer to grow crops to feed our participants and as much of the Haitian population as possible in the targeted areas. In the long term, we aim to strengthen this service through training and education to achieve the ability to provide crops to other communities and countries in need in order to provide a micro economic value to the communities processing their products. Our agricultural training program will teach basic agricultural skills to our older residents (ages 14 and up), as well as to members of the surrounding community, in an effort to help them to become self-sustaining. The program will teach subjects such as when and how to plant each individual plant, how to care for each individual plant, when and how to harvest each individual plant. We will also provide instruction on the proper and safe use of agricultural equipment. Our volunteers will lead this program and it will be made available to the entire public through mobile training teams in each of the targeted areas. We will advertise the program by posting flyers around the four cities of Cap Haitien, Orbobne, Margo Pilate, Novion, Leogane, Saria Sud Cavaillon, Baradere, Nord-West, Jean Rabelle Department De L’artibonite, Gros Morne and informing locals in other surrounding areas and villages. We will specifically target adults because our goal is for them to sustain themselves so that their children can leave the fields and attend local schools. We will have hands on demonstrations and provide hands-on instruction of farming equipment use that cannot be provided within a classroom setting at our facility. This furthers our purpose of meeting the needs of the poor. Instead of traveling year after year with food to feed the poor and bring about dependency, our mobile training team(s) will travel and teach people how to grow their own food. We believe that hands-on teaching is most effective and gives us an opportunity to get families started. Currently, there are thousands of orphans and others who are living in the streets because they have lost their homes and families. Some of them are living in tents and are receiving aid from other organizations and agencies; however, the majority of them still have not received any aid or care. Our volunteers will seek the orphans and others who have not received any aid and try to meet their basic needs. Continued Targeted Evaluation Each quarter the Executive Director and program manager and staff will review the current population of youth enrolled in the program. He will observe the program activities and review the participants’ records. Progress notes and assessment forms will be used to document and record the progress of each participant. He will evaluate the state of funding, and determine how many additional individuals could be supported by the About the Location: Figure 1 Borgne, Province of the Northern Department was once called Embarcadère. It has seven (7) communal sections. Its best feature is the beautiful mountain. Borgne enjoys year-long tropical climate. The inhabitants of this province carry the name of Borgnelais. Because of its stable climate, Borgne is capable to growing many different crops. Unfortunately, due to lack of resources, many land owners are not able to farm on their land. There are thousands of underdeveloped acres available and not being utilized. Traveling northward from Port-Au-Prince towards the city of Borgne, one would be pleasantly surprise to see seemingly endless miles of green pastures and entire ravines and mountaintops that are green with trees and nonagricultural flora. Continuing another few miles down the road just outside of Borgne the definitive transition continues; enormous rolling mountains run parallel to the roadway and dominate the landscape. Their tree-cover has been almost entirely preserved and were it not for knowledge of geography they might have been cut out of the American Smoky mountains and pasted along the coastal route. This pattern of arboreal preservation only continues and expands upon entrance into Borgne proper, where the surrounding mountaintops are almost always cloud-covered. Due to being thirty rugged miles away from the capital, Borgne greenery and the tree-covered mountain tops have been spared the plague of deforestation that affect many other cities in Haiti. To Haitians’ traveling standards thirty miles is a three to four hours bus ride. The roads leading to Borgne are rocky and unpredictable. Being far away is both a blessing and a curse for the people of Borgne. It’s uneconomical for merchants to cut down tree to make coal and transport it to nearby markets. On the same token, the people of Borgne remote location prevent organizations from going to them and providing assistance. In 1981, the United States Agency for International Develop (USAID) funded a venture in collaboration with several NGO’s to provide trees to over 300,000 Haitian peasant households While certainly the AOP made the impactful contribution in the city of Borgne, where local farmers were trained on how to efficiently plant trees and learned about farming techniques that they can use to grow fruits and vegetable trees. That effort provided jobs to the locals the effort was discontinued in the year of 2000 and funding was no longer provided to continue the program. Since then, ten years, and an earthquake the city of Borgne is desperate need of assistance. The goal is to utilize those farmer that took part of the 1981-2000 USAID initiative and recruit new farmers to provide them with technical and financial assistance to grow rice, coffee and cacao as a mean of economic development for the region of Borgne. In 1998, the Borgne population was estimated at 60,323 people and have increase to about 80 000 people since then. For an area of 191,52 Km2, its density was 315 inhabitants per square kilometer in 1998 and has gone up to 500 inhabitants per square kilometer since then. Although the number of people living there has drastically increased, the amount of local resources such as food, schools and jobs have not. Figure 2 About the People of Borgne: Figure 3 This rural culture embodied a moral economy entailing norms of solidarity and reciprocity” (White and Runge 1995: 1690 ome to the Mouvement Developpement Integral Borgne (Movement for the Integral Development of Borgne-MODEIB) and the Organizasyon Gwoupman Peyizan Kot de Fer (the Gwoupman Peasant Organization of Kot de Fer-OGPK), who have in recent years undertaken a tree-planting and education initiatives in the commune. While their work is decidedly important for their own community, which still retains significant tracts of forested land “It’s simple, the difference here is that we understand the value of trees. Here, everyone knows that trees are life.” This is phrase of “trees are life” is common in conversation with Borgne’s residents. It also is not age, gender, income, or educationally bias as the almost anyone will describe their community as “the most beautiful in Haiti, for we have trees.” Skill sharing, teaching and charity are a major part of the GATP ethos. Outside of working their own individual plots as a collective (as is typical of gwoupman), the organization also rents a communal plot of land. Though they sell what they can (there is a lack of available markets), they often fè kado (literally “make gifts”) of the food they grow, providing to poorest community members. These individuals, who now occupy leadership positions within the community, were trained extensively in the practices, value, distribution, education, and care of tree production and distribution. About the Program: Farming Cacao, Coffee and Rice to provide economic stability and development to the people of Au-Borgne, Morne Au-Borgne , and lagras margo After extensive research and from personal first-hand experience, Great American Heart sees the opportunity that exists in those three northern cities in Haiti. Au-Bogne has that is distinct to the location unlike the overpopulated areas of Port-Au-Prince Subsequently pooragricultural yields hinder the nation’s ability to produce enough food to feed itself. The program is a five year plan to plant rice, cacao and coffee throughout the region of Au-Borgne. These three crops are the main crops of the region. Great American Heart, Inc. strongly believes in helping by empowering. With that philosophy, we are launching this farming program. The program will involve educating the locals on efficient farming of the selected crops on their own land. We will collaborate with locals who own lands that are not being utilized to teach land owners how to use their land to farm and feed their families and sell to the local and near markets to become self-sufficient and contribute to the growth of their region. Great American Heart will through IMF funding provide the seeds, fertilizers, agricultural and administrative training, and financial assistance to the locals to learn how to efficiently grow these crops. Through co-operative collaboration with mayor and deputy of the city of of borgne, the organization will receive 65 acres from the local government. In exchange, the organization will utilize the land to create jobs at a rate four women and two men per carreau (3.19 Acres). In addition, Great American Heart will work with locals land owners to farm these three crops of the program (rice, cacao, and coffee). In cases where the available farmable lands that are not owned by the locals Great American heart will lease land space from the owners and hire farmers to work the land. The program will involve the following steps: 1- Team up with landowners- 5 to 7 year lease in exchange for education and all the resources the landowner will need to grow their crops. Collaborate with the local authorities to contract out government land for farming in exchange for local job creation 2- Preliminary education for farmers/landowners on how to grow crops more efficiently and promote timely harvest. 3- Provide seeds, fertilizers, and farming equipments and technical support to local farmers. 4- Job creation, the program will focus on training women how to farm. Women will be hired throughout the farming process, pruning, harvesting, packaging, distribution, and in administrative roles such as marketing and selling the final products. The hiring ration will be four women and two men per farmable carreau (3.19 acres). 5- Micro finance assistance to farmers without land to provide financial support to lease farming land. Advantage of the program: 1. Opportunities for Women The aim of the program is to provide women of Au-Borgne with opportunities to feed their children, become self-sufficient and contribute to their family economic advancement. After the earthquake, there are thousands of women who lost their husband and in turn fell deeper into proverty. Women are at a greater disadvantage in Haiti when it come to their involvement in the labor market. The unemployment rate is already the biggest economic issue in Haiti, it is even more felt by the women in Haiti as a whole. Due to the fact that the education rate is lowere among women, it is nearly impossible for a woman to find a job. The low education and low employment factor exist for the women who live in major cities, the women in countryside like Au-Borgne, it is nearly unheard for a woman to have a job. Most women work in what is called “backyard garden” farming fruits and vegetable in their yard, harvesting enough just to feed their family. Great American Heart plans on providing women in the community if Au-Borgne with training and give them an opportunity to contribute to economic advancement of their community. 2. Economic development With the job created by the program, the workers will be able to contribute to the economic advancement of their families by being able to provide for their basic needs food shelter and clothing. In addition, those involved will now be able to provide education to their children which in turn will promote to the socio-economic development of the community. 3. Job creation The project will create jobs for over 350 women on the field and in administrative capacities. 4. Self-sufficiency With the training received, the people who participated in the program will be able to continue The Planting Process 1- The coffee It takes coffee trees 4 years to start bearing fruit, and 6-7 years to reach maturity and yield about 1 kg of green bean per tree. When germinating the seeds, you can choose between two methods. The first method is spreading the coffee seeds on sand beds and covering them with straw or burlap bags. Another method would be mixing the seeds with expanded polystyrene or moist vermiculite. The seeds are kept in polythene bags. When the seedlings have grown to 20 to 40 centimeters, they will be planted on the fields. The soil should contain rotted manure from cattle as well as phosphate fertilizer. The beds should be at least one meter in width and the seedlings should be planted around 50cm deep. Each seedling should be spaced 12-15cm. 2- The Cacaco While soil characteristics of cocoa growing countries vary immensely. Cocoa plantations are usually established on land where the drainage moderates the wet and dry climate seasons. And the composition of the soil has to be neutral, neither acid nor alkaline. The Au-Borgne has a neutral climate with all the rives and the greenery landscape that the place cool. 3- The Rice The landscape of the rice fields is dotted with canals, valves, pumps and drains. In the process of contour farming, the system of checks which create the beautiful lines and patterns in the rice field, are designed to; contour the land, regulate, control and level the water flow, reduce erosion and increase infiltration. Through these sinuous lines, small dams are created, sediment and runoff is reduced and this improved infiltration promotes better water quality. Planting grasses on the waterways helps to prevent further erosion, although sometimes farmers battle the grasses encroaching into the rice plantings. While much of the world is dependent on monsoon rains and seasonal flooding of rivers for rice cultivation, the Au-Borgne farmers will have the opportunity to create a good canal system and pumping stations from the water supply that is available from the natural rivers. Harvesting 1- The coffee In north NSW the industry was started from small plots where the coffee was manually picked. Manual harvesting allows selective picking of the ripe cherry, but is prohibitively expensive with one picker picking 150 kg of cherry per 8 hour day. At a casual rate of $120/day, this works out at some $5.28/kg green bean. A self-propelled mechanical harvester and a tractor driven harvester have been Successfully developed and more may be put into use as the requirements grow. Costs for harvesting are of the order of $150/hr, plus a $100 transport charge each way which growers may share if located in proximity. About 700 trees are harvested per hour in one pass, so harvesting costs are about 50c/kg of green bean. 2- The Cacaco Quality chocolate is made from beans taken from cocoa pods that have reached just the right degree of ripeness. Under-ripe pods have low cocoa butter content and over-ripe pods may contain microbes. Both affect the fermentation process and damage chocolate flavor. 3- The Rice The cycle of rice is 190 days and the harvest season lasts for about 30 days in mid-September to October. The process itself begins with leveling, rolling and preparing the field, flooding, airdropping the seed and fertilizing. Water is brought in from the local rivers by a series of pumps, valves, and drains. Water levels control the growth and later will be used to break down the straw. The fields are allowed to dry out in preparation for the extremely demanding work of harvesting. The harvest is a 24-hour operation, as the window of opportunity is small. The moment for harvest, like the moment of a photograph, is critical Great American Hearts, Inc is pleased to submit our proposal to fulfill the requirements as outlined below, We are familiar with and support the US Government , and the international community’s efforts to assist Haiti and other nations in providing for their own health care, nutrition, food security, reconstruction and humanitarian assistance initiatives. Our professionals have supported emerging nations in the Partnership for Peace programs and provided assistance to many humanitarian programs worldwide. We are fully prepared to provide the same expertise and experience to the international organizations and contributors to Haiti, as we have for the past year, as a part of their proposed initiatives. We fully understand the need of the proposed requirements specified in this technical proposal and are capable of performing all tasks. This team, henceforth known as “GAH,” has worked cooperatively and contractually for the reconstruction and betterment of Haiti for the last year. Our combined experience, coupled with on-hand, immediately available professional personnel have the required skills; excellent retention plans; and proven effective corporate management and execution infrastructures readily available which enables us to provide responsive and reliable support to the international community. GAH possesses the right mix and depth of core capabilities, and employs professionals with a strong history of working together. A tailored, repeatable quality program is implemented to accomplish the technical requirements outlined below. We understand the role of the US Department of State, USAID and United Nations in each country, and fully understand the coordination required between the host nation’s government, the various Embassy’s and the United Nations as well as any funding organization. We understand the importance of the various humanitarian assistance mission sanctioned by the international community, and believe that we are the team best equipped to assess, design, and apply the solutions and responsiveness for foreign entities worldwide. GAH is prepared to provide the required professional logistics and technical management support across the full spectrum of planning, operating, maintaining operations, agriculture development, land use management, health care structuring, contingency planning, and program monitoring. We bring the Minimum Risk/Best Value Team with proven planning and operational training and educational expertise to provide efficient and effective support. Our professionals have the depth and breadth of experience in providing a responsive Mobile Technical Team (MTT) to support the various countries throughout the world in times of need and will continue to do so in support of the proposed Haiti program. We recognize that our employees are our greatest asset, and our skilled professionals are the primary reason for our success. Our professional staff’s key competencies include: • Operational Expertise • Field Training • Testing and Evaluation • Acquisition Management • Contracts Management • Decision Making Support • Engineering • Health care and social development • Agriculture planning and development 2. Understanding the requirement. GAH understands the requirements outlined in this proposed work statement for the proposed training to be fully conducted in four locations throughout Haiti. GAH is prepared to achieve the requirements outlined in this project within our proposed schedule. GAH has a management structure that will have oversight for the execution of this training project. GAH will provide all program of instruction (POI) for proposed training courses. GAH’s Program Manager (PM), Jimmy Savino has experience in managing programs, training and oversight. Jim has already led two teams conducting Brigade Staff Training and was the government technical monitoring and contract manager for the Department of state in Washington DC and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kisangani. The project team will be located on-site during work hours, and will coordinate with the appropriate local government, U.S. Government representative(s) United Nations representative and local NGO’s in country. For the purpose of the proposal submission, GAH will address the task requirements. Since the procurement process will began immediately following receipt of funding, GAH proposes to begin on the first day of contract award with the development of the course curriculum, and has already begun planning for the execution of this major training effort. The team will focus on the refinement of the health and nutrition Course POI and lesson plans as well as, the development of the agriculture Course POI and lesson plans. GAH will conduct a Site Survey of facilities and proposed land use during the third week of the deployment. 2.1 Managing the Training 2.1.1 Task Planning In managing the work in Haiti, GAH will follow a task planning approach that directs activities from receipt of a task through completion of the task activities specified. As tasks are initiated, this planning approach is used to ensure that requirements are fully planned and supported with the appropriate resources to ensure successful completion of the requirement. 2.1.2 Management and Control The GAH on-site Program Manager (PM), Jimmy Savino, will assign responsibility for each task to an appropriate Team Leader (TL). The GAH PM will work closely with Team Leaders to determine the optimal organizational team structure and appropriate mix of personnel to reach a cost-effective balance for the work to be performed. The PM will also, schedule In Progress Reviews (iprs) and provide technical direction as required. The Team Leader will direct daily team efforts, acquire resources, monitor progress, and assist the PM in developing and executing scheduled iprs, preparing and delivering reports, executive summaries, and any other briefings and reports specified by the funding agency and/or grant representative, Deliverable Requirements List (cdrls) or the customer. GAH’s Team Leader will ensure direct responsibility of the task efforts, provide guidance for work planning and performance measurement, and establish milestones to monitor both task execution and related local labor hours for internal and external visibility and allowing total complete transparency of all funding and activities. 2.1.3 Task Management Planning and Coordination Our structured task management approach facilitates team coordination and task control, defines team responsibilities, and enables timely execution of specified tasks. The schedule is base lined, published, and distributed to the team members and used as a metric to measure work quality and progress. Close interaction with the customer is maintained during the planning and updating process as required. Notification of significant problems will be forwarded to the customer by the GAH PM immediately after he is made aware of the problem. As part of our dedication to customer satisfaction, GAH’s Quality Assurance Program incorporates a series of reviews ranging from Program Level Reviews by Senior Management to Detailed, intra-Program level operational reviews. These reviews are described in the following table: MANAGEMENT REVIEW Conducted by the Division Manager. Ensures that program management is meeting the cost, schedule, and performance requirements of the contract. Reviews Program plans, schedules, and budget requests. Determines if additional resources are required. OPERATIONAL REVIEW Conducted by senior operations personnel outside the program, as required. Ensures that the technical work meets GAH’s standards of excellence. Reviews deliverables (analyses, designs, documents, etc.) For completeness, quality, and accuracy. Provides guidance for operationally improving the product. Determines if additional resources are required. PROGRAM REVIEW Conducted within the program by technical peers. Directed to ensuring the quality of technical work. Ensures that designs, analyses, documents, etc. Are accurate and complete. Reviews methodologies, assumptions, requirements, data sources, tradeoff studies, technical approaches. Compares deliverables with the contract requirements to ensure the product meets customer requirements. Determines if additional technical work must be performed. Operational multi-level management review is the basis of our surveillance program to ensure quality. 2.1.4 Reports and Meeting GAH fully understands the importance of initial kickoff meeting(s) and its impact on successfully executing of the project(s). We are prepared to support this meeting with the client if requested. The information gained at this meeting will be fully disseminated to all employees as required. The GAH meetings with the team members, ensures that each member of the Team fully understands task management policies and procedures, quality control, and technical and operational performance standards used to assess work quality. This familiarity with GAH’s procedures presents a low risk situation for our contract/grant management oversight team. The technical and administrative reporting requirements described in this technical proposal and clarified in the initial meeting between employees and client if requested and will also be disseminated. Further timelines will be developed (pending funding availability) to ensure requirements are completed on time. To ensure compliance, an operational review conducted by senior management ensures that format, organization, and contents satisfy client requirements. The management review ensures that the operational work performed meets GAH’s standards of excellence. The GAH PM and an assigned Quality Control (QA/QC) representative, conduct the management review. When results fail to pass this quality assurance inspection, the PM will provide the team leader(s) sufficient guidance for technically improving the product. These multiple reviews are important to GAH and ensure: • Technical consistency and quality of the delivered product. • Products do not conflict with data in other documents. • Impacts to the other areas within the program are identified. • Provide our program management with a barometer of program performance. The final updated deliverable is then produced by the Team leader, and after a final review by the PM, will be delivered as specified by this technical proposal and or client request. Each GAH Team Leader is responsible for the accomplishments of all tasks assigned to his/her team. Control/inspection of task efforts is accomplished through daily monitoring and mentoring by the team lead. The GAH PM will ensure the completion and submission of all required reports. GAH will provide the Grant Representative (GOR)/ Technical Monitor (TM) with a detailed listing of all materials and equipment procured/acquired under this task order as may be required from time to time, but no less than bi-monthly. The GAH PM will provide a complete progress report of the training schedule, programs of instruction (POI) associated with proposed training, inventory lists—for all equipment and materials procured for the training and or development support, as well as complete and total equipment and personnel report for those items and participants on site, no later than 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time each Wednesday throughout the performance. 2.1.5 Identification of Deficiencies and Improvement Deficiencies and improvements will be identified through: • Customer feedback • Internal and external iprs • Teleconferences • Coordination with GAH PM and the country team • Management Reviews • Program Reviews 2.1.6 “Key” Personnel Responsibilities • Program Manager (PM) is responsible for assuring that the quality control program is executed in accordance with this plan. The PM will solicit customer feedback on GAH’s performance with the intent of precluding potential problems and improving service. Our PM will periodically seek customer feedback on GAH’s performance and will take any steps necessary to ensure that the employees supporting the project are provided the resources they need. • Team Leader (TL) is responsible for daily performance of the Teams in their assigned tasks within the PWS, and Performance Criteria Matrix. Provide primary quality control for the program through excellence in execution. Responsible for customer satisfaction at the execution level. Provide the GHA PM with another source of customer feedback, expectations and preferences, both positive and negative. May be required to implement corrective actions as required. • Team Members (TM) are responsible for daily execution of their assigned tasks within the task, Performance Criteria Matrix to include: Providing primary quality control for the program through excellence in execution. Responsible for customer satisfaction within his/her area of responsibility at the execution level. Providing the TL with another source of customer feedback, expectations and preferences, both positive and negative. May be required to implement corrective actions as required. 2.1.7 Manning: In-country staff and local nationals GAH’s approach to staffing is to provide the right person with the appropriate expertise in the required task activity and/or discipline. GAH conducts an extensive review prior to hiring any individual to ensure the individual is not only technically competent, but also is of exceptional character and capable of independent work. The successful candidate for employment is compensated with a very competitive salary, and has a stake in our dynamic and growing organization. As a result, turnover of personnel is extremely low. GAH has an aggressive recruiting program that uses in-house and independent recruiting professionals/agencies, extensive data bases and specialized consulting/placement services. This program also benefits from the personal connections and referrals of the personnel selected to fill key positions on this training support mission. This process will ensure current positions are adequately staffed and that replacement/backup personnel are available. This process will also support a rapid response to additional requirements/replacements as necessary. As previously discussed, the personnel we have recruited to support this proposed operation have, and will continue to, assist us in recruiting additional qualified candidates to afford more than sufficient depth to quickly respond to program changes. We will continue this process on an ongoing basis to establish a wider pool of trained and available professional personnel to meet known or emerging requirements. 2.1.7.1 LABOR CATEGORIES GAH proposes to use the following labor categories for schedule. It should be noted in case of the Training Requirements Specialist, we will, in some cases, use 5-10 years of experience in lieu of a Bachelors Degree. Title: Project Manager Scope: Responsible for managing and overseeing work performance on one or more task orders. Primarily responsible for planning, managing and overseeing work efforts of project team personnel; determining and monitoring task order schedules and budgets; and ensuring compliance with all contract, task order requirements and quality standards. Duties: serves as the interface with the task order customer, in-country officials, contracting officer, grant officers and technical representatives. Demonstrates skills in the scope of work, PWS, or technical grant award encompassed by the contract task order award; provides technical guidance to the project team leaders in performance of the work; and provides quality review of all work products Responsibilities: a. Responsibility for cost, schedule, and technical aspects of assigned task orders. b. Performs functions associated with resource provision, tracking of technical progress and resource consumption, and quality control of emerging and final products. c. Assists technical employees by providing access to sources of expert advice; recommending and resourcing appropriate training, and ensuring appropriate mix of technical skills. d. Authors, edits, and contributes to production of technical and cost and performance reports. Provides quality control of same. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to program management. b. Minimum Experience: 10-15 years of relevant management experience. . Title: Training (Team Leader) Scope: Assesses training requirements, develops alternatives for training methods, implements methods, and leads training efforts for selected options. Responsibilities: a. Provides training packages to meet specific needs b. Performs or leads two or more of the functions as required. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to training management. b. Minimum Experience: 8 years of training requirements specialist experience or general MOBIS support. Title: Organization Design/Strategic Planning (Training Strategy Mentor) Scope: Consults, advises, and documents. Performs organizational assessments, analyzes data, makes organizational design recommendations, and advises / implements selected changes. Responsibilities: a. Performs management studies to determine most efficient organizations. b. Creates documentation in support of studies, projects, and efforts. c. Supports administrative appeals d. Performs or leads two or more of the functions as outlined in labor category code OD-8. Qualifications: Education, Experience, Training, Certifications: a. Minimum Education/Training: Bachelors degree in field appropriate to organization design/strategic planning. Graduate degree preferred. b. Minimum Experience: 12 years of relevant organization design/strategic planning experience or general MOBIS support. 3. TECHNICAL APPROACH Methodology To accomplish our goals, Great American Heart, Inc. Will employ the following methods based on the expertise of the Great American Heart professional staff, as well as the lessons learned and success of similarly organizations. Phase 1 activity 1(Orphanage and Facilities planning and development) Under phase one of our plan; GAH will rent facilities for an estimated two years while we raise the funds necessary for the permanent construction and land procurement of our own facilities, in the four identified locations throughout Haiti. Thus, we have not yet identified what agencies and/or organizations we will contract for the construction phase of this program. We will select contractors by utilizing a competitive bidding process, to ensure the most effective use of funds and any allocated land resources offered by local government. We do not anticipate any personal relationship with any agency which we may consider sub-contracting for the future construction project and/or land development. We are currently seeking land for purchase and are still in consultation with the government of Haiti as well as local officials on identified areas to acquire land and facilities that can accommodate a more permanent site for our orphanage and school, however we will not purchase land from any individual or company with which there is any inside relationship. We will simply identify the most cost-effective land purchase that will accommodate our required facilities. Phase 1 activity 2 (Residential child facilities “Orphanage”)  Identify available facilities and shelter allowing best utilization of space for up to 100 children and 16 local national staff excluding security staff at each location; o 4 teachers  One elementary teacher grade 1-4  One elementary teacher grade 5 and 6  One junior (secondary 0 educator grade 7 and 8  One High school (College) grade 9-12 o 7 child day care givers (four during day three at night) o 2 food preparation cooks/servers o 2 facility managers (one day and one night) o 1 nurse (day schedule and on-call night)  Ease of access for vendors and deliverers  Local Security (on site and perimeter roving patrol and static security guards for children, staff and resources)  Readily available facility resources including water, indoor plumbing, electrical, kitchen cooking facility (Phase One) Adult and Family Shelter: Immediate need  Adult and Family Shelter: Immediately following grant/contract award GAH will travel to all four locations identified above to determine the immediate needs of family as it relates to shelter. This identification will establish the total number of families with or without shelter from the climatic changes of Haiti. GAH will work with established organizations to acquire tents, cots, blankets, food and water to address the immediate need of those communities.  Orphans; In order to immediately be able to fulfill the need, members of Great American Heart’s board of directors and program manger will travel to Haiti and locate facilities to rent in all four locations as identified above, with a capacity to host 50 to 100 children at each facility at which to begin offering shelter to homeless, abandoned children. Currently, there are thousands of orphans and others who are living in the streets because they have lost their homes. Some of them are living in tents and are receiving aid from other organizations and agencies; however, the majority of them still have not received any aid or care. Our local staff and volunteers will seek the orphans and others who have not received any aid and try to meet their basic needs. We anticipate operating from a rental facility for the first two years while funding is raised for the construction of our own facility. Each facility established will provide the following services;  Education: While residing at the facility, children will be educated in basic reading, writing, arithmetic, social studies, basic science and health in an effort to prepare them for success in life. Local qualified teachers will be hired to provide general education to the residents ranging in age from age 6 to 18. Our teachers will provide them with instruction in basic subjects. It is our goal to prepare literate, positive thinkers who have the ability to care for themselves in adulthood. In addition to providing educational services at our facility, we will also provide tailored assistance and contributions via international grants from education institutions to enable youth who are already attending other schools to continue their education. To ensure that our target communities’ at-risk youth are supervised and nurtured as much as possible, Great American Heart will also host an afterschool program for those children who may be in need of a safe place to study and play. This program will enable youth to engage in monitored recreational activities as well as social development and educational activities with their peers.  Nutrition: Each child residing at our facility will be provided with nutritious meals and snacks in order to ensure that their physical health needs are met. Care givers at the facility will also provide the older children with information regarding proper meal choices and balancing of foods in an effort to give them the tools to continue to make nutritious food selections throughout their lifetime.  Healthcare: Many of the children who reside at our facility will most likely have related illnesses, many of which will have been developed due to inadequate nutrition. It is our intention to provide these children with the basic care they need to become healthier, and to begin to thrive in their early childhood and beyond. Children residing at the facility will have access to private nurses who will be employed by Great American Heart to provide all residents with general preventative healthcare. If any child faces an illness for which the nurse is unable or inadequately qualified to provide care, the children will be referred to the services of a physician. We have not yet identified any specific physician to which to refer residents. Once we are in Haiti we hope to communicate with local physicians about our organization, and identify one or more physicians who will be willing to provide care, when necessary, to our residents on a volunteer basis. Phase 1 Activity 3 (Strategy Planning and training conference) In coordination with the State with the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, GAH shall facilitate a Joint Strategy Conference (JSC) for Haitian government officials and the local community leaders at each identified area. The Government of Haiti officials including governors and mayors, including any additional official identified by the various Governments represented or requested by the Haitian Government should be invited to participate in the JSC. The JSC will assist the local and national leaders in defining its doctrine, goals, immediate and long term strategy for:, NGO’s, resources, management, structure, and personnel management at the regional level . Great American Heart proposes that the Joint Strategy Conference (JTSC), should be a seminar-focused on developing a strategy for and with particular emphasis on humanitarian assistance doctrine, goals, strategy, resources management structure, and personnel management. This is done in order to clearly define the requirement of each of the agency and organizations operating in the geographic region and the resources required by the international community and the DRC Defense Force to support the desired training, and the desired end state of the MTT. Gahs understands that the participants from the DRC will be senior military and civilian defense officials as well as the DRC national security advisor, Minister of Security and members of the National Assembly. GAH is prepared and will provide retired flag/general officer participation in the JTSC. GAH will make every effort to schedule and conduct the JTSC early as to achieve the desired result. Agricultural Training: Our organization will utilize a farmer to grow crops to feed our participants and as much of the Haitian population as possible. In the long term, we aim to strengthen this service enough to achieve the ability to provide crops to other countries in need as well. Our agricultural training program will teach basic agricultural skills to our older residents (ages 14 and up), as well as to members of the surrounding community, in an effort to help them to become self-sustaining. The program will teach subjects such as when and how to plant each individual plant, how to care for each individual plant, when and how to harvest each individual plant. We will also provide instruction on the proper and safe use of agricultural equipment. Our volunteers will lead this program and it will be made available to the entire public. We will advertise the program by posting flyers around the city and informing locals. We will specifically target adults because our goal is for them to sustain themselves so that their children can leave the fields and attend local schools. We will provide the agricultural training on their own property because we will have demonstrations and provide hands-on instruction on equipment use that could not be provided within a classroom setting at our facility. This furthers our exempt purpose of meeting the needs of the poor and others. Instead of traveling year after year with food to feed the poor and bring about dependency, our organization will travel a minimal amount of times to one location and teach people how to grow their own food. We believe that hands-on teaching is most effective and gives us an opportunity to get families started. We aspire to reduce obstacles faced by youth and their families in Haiti while providing them with the basis for a high quality of life. Through the collaboration of Great American Heart, Inc. And funding agencies, a cost-effective plan for achieving our goals is on the horizon. All Great American Heart, Inc. Activities are overseen by qualified individuals who have expertise in their particular service area. The Executive Director of the organization will oversee all staff and client interaction, while continuously employing his years of training and experience. The organization will operate on the calendar year. Currently, there are thousands of orphans and others who are living in the streets because they have lost their homes and families. Some of them are living in tents and are receiving aid from other organizations and agencies; however, the majority of them still have not received any aid or care. Our volunteers will seek the orphans and others who have not received any aid and try to meet their basic needs. We will initially travel to the area and find children begging in the streets, and offer them shelter at our facility. For the agricultural program, we will advertise the program by posting flyers around the city and informing locals. Our organizational does not work directly with the Haitian government. All of our activities are offered free of charge. Children residing at the facility will have access to a private nurse who will be employed by the organization to provide all residents with general and preventative healthcare. If any child faces an illness for which the nurse is unable or inadequately qualified to provide care, the children will be referred to the services of a physician. We have not yet identified any specific physician to which to refer residents. Once we are in Haiti we hope to communicate with local physicians about our organization, and identify one or more physicians who will be willing to provide care, when necessary, to our residents on a volunteer basis. Evaluation Each quarter the Executive Director and program staff will review the current population of youth enrolled in the program. He will observe the program activities and review the participa