Terre Rouge is a hilltop village located 30 minutes (give or take) outside of Jacmel (though the drive time has doubled since Hurricane Matthew). The population of Terre Rouge, which totals 205,000 spread across 25,625 households, is primarily made up of children and young people between ages 5 and 25. Female caregivers make up 80% of those 205,000 residents, as most men have either gone to the Dominican Republic looking for jobs, or have died from diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

The nearest health clinic is located 20-30 miles outside of the village. This, combined with a lack of education and financial means renders the community susceptible to diseases that are otherwise preventable and curable.

The primary source of income in Terre Rogue is agriculture, with the most common crops being beans, corn, sweet potatoes and cassava; some families also raise animals. Farming in Terre Rouge is not easy, however. Recently, farmers have been forced to face challenges such as drought, lack of training, the degradation of the environment, and lack of equipment and tools.

The majority of people in Terre Rouge identify as Roman Catholics, while the rest consider themselves Protestants. Additionally, many practice voodoo, a mixture of indigenous Caribbean and imported African practices.

Education

Following the catastrophic earthquake in 2010, New Life helped rebuild Bon Berger School. The mission of the school is to provide quality education to a deprived community, and support the well-being of orphans and their caretakers in the face of great adversity. Around 95 students from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 (75 girls and 20 boys) attend the school, which has 11 staff members including a principal, teachers and a janitor.

All of the Ecole Bon Berger students received school supplies (e.g., pencils, pens, notebooks and art supplies), book bags, uniforms, and hygiene kits packed with soap, shampoo, wash cloths, combs, toothbrushes and tooth paste; teachers also received hygiene kits. Six buckets and four water filters were provided to the school in an effort to improve water quality for children and staff alike.

Child Sponsorship

Child Sponsorship applications began in January 2017, as the students were hard at work studying for exams.

Health and Nutrition

A New Life medical team visited Terre Rogue while local medical professionals were on strike, allowing for 411 residents to be treated over the course of 3.5 days.