EXTOLLO INTERNATIONAL

Our approach is based on the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, you feed him for a life-time." For the past five years, Extollo International has been developing and implementing a program that teaches Haitians how to care for themselves. Using the apprenticeship approach of “learning while earning and learning by doing," Extollo combines classroom instruction with on-the-job training and supervision. Haiti has a need for skilled construction workers at the journeyman and contractor level. Extollo is meeting this need by teaching employable skills and character development to the people in Haiti that need it the most, those living in extreme poverty.

We teach and train people to rebuild their own communities. By participating in the process of “raising up" buildings, we believe dignity and self-respect can be instilled and restored. (Extollo means “raise up" in Latin). We want to help communities build permanent homes, churches and schools using local labor, readily available materials and international building codes. Using our design/build techniques and vast experience in construction, development and training, we train students from all over the country to build structures that are cost-effective, high-quality, permanent and earthquake/hurricane resistant. As we build, we create jobs, training nationals with employable skills, we stimulate local economies by employing nationals in our projects, and we develop men and women of character

Our plan is uniquely simple.....educating Haitians to rebuild Haiti resulting in reduced unemployment, less crime and improving the quality of life and living conditions of the Haitian people.

Extollo partners with trained professionals from around the United States and brings them in to provide training in Masonry, Concrete, Electrical, Plumbing, Welding and Carpentry. We have our own 5-acre property located 30 km north of Port-au-Prince where we conduct our training, in addition to launching a new campus in Port-au-Prince in late 2021. Our trainers have years of experience, many licensed in California and specializing in building earthquake-resistant structures. All of Extollo's trainers teach to the International Building Code and insure that students have a comprehensive knowledge of those regulations and building practices. Extollo also partners with businesses and organizations throughout Haiti and assists with job placement for many of the training graduates. As our curriculum continues to develop, we will be adding classes on business creation and development so graduates have the tools needed to begin their own businesses.

At the end of 2021, Extollo graduates have built 22 community structures, completed 34 different projects supporting those structures, brought in 84 US volunteer trainers, providing housing for 128 orphans and have trained over 650 men and women. Our program has continued to grow and we have developed a Practicum / apprentice training curriculum. We have brought back many of our graduates and they have become trainers for our Level 1 classes. We are also putting significant investment into bringing tilt-up construction technology to Haiti and we are developing an entire training program around teaching men and women this new construction method. Additionally, we have developed a sophisticated metal fabrication facility that will allow us to train in advanced metal techniques as well as provide high-quality metal products to the marketplace.