What is the area HAFF serves like? If you click on the photos, you will get a larger photo.
HAFF in located in the southern part of the Haitian Department of the North and on the plateau that in Haiti is called the Central Plateau and in the Dominican Republic is known as the Central Valley. We are just about 4 miles south of the town of Pignon and 14 miles north of Hinche. HAFF’s immediate environs are very rural as are the people to whom HAFF ministers.
The more immediate area visitors to HAFF will be familiar with is National Route 3 between Pignon and the Bohoc Market, east of HAFF. The plateau climate is tropical with 2 seasons – rainy season from about April or May through September or October and dry season the remaining months. Most residents do some farming even if they also have other jobs.
HAFF is easily recognized from the air or on satellite photos. The curve of the IPB school buildings is quite distinctive! And HAFF’s borders are simple to trace due to the amount of tree cover that has been allowed to grow.
Here you can see the IPB campus with Mount Pignon (just north of the town of Pignon) visible in the distance.
HAFF staff and visitors come and go from Haiti on Missionary Flights International (MFI, based in Fort Pierce, FL) via the airport at Pignon. MFI also brings in mail once a week and cargo once a month. And, yes, that is a DC3!
Grocery shopping is done mostly at the open air markets in the western part of Pignon and at the market in Bohoc.
HAFF is fairly closely surrounded by neighbors – individual families, a couple of orphanages and, nearby, several churches.
You can check the HAFF Facebook page for more photos from the area.