La Vallée-de-Jacmel explained

Official Name:La Vallée-de-Jacmel
Native Name:Lavale de Jakmèl
Settlement Type:Commune
Pushpin Map:Haiti
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Haiti
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Haiti
Subdivision Type1:Department
Subdivision Name1:Sud-Est
Subdivision Type2:Arrondissement
Subdivision Name2:Jacmel
Population As Of:7 August 2003
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:36,188
Coordinates:18.2667°N -72.6667°W
Elevation M:800

La Vallée (in French pronounced as /la vale/; Haitian; Haitian Creole: Lavale) is a commune in the Jacmel Arrondissement, in the Sud-Est department of Haiti. It has 36,188 inhabitants.

Geography

Situated between the communes of Jacmel et Bainet. The name La Vallée de Jacmel could translate as "The Valley of Jacmel" but it is located 800 meters above sea level.

Demography

As of March 2009 La Vallée had 36,188 inhabitants. The small urbanized area of Ridoré had 1039 people with 239 households, roughly about 3.13% of the total population. The area's population has a slightly higher than average mixed-race population. It is believed descended from French colonists and Polish Haitians, descendants of Polish soldiers who ended up siding with former slaves in the Haitians Revolution.

La Vallée has an extensive diaspora in the United States and Canada due to a substantial emigration beginning in the 1950s.

Administration

Ridoré is La Vallée's administrative district. The other sublocalities are:

History

La Vallée really started to gain importance by 1910 when it was raised as a parish. The first resident priest was Léon Bonnaud, from Brittany, France. Father Bonnaud played a major part in the development of the area; he supervised construction of its first masonry buildings. These included the Presbytery in 1912, St John the Baptist parish church, completed in 1922; the boys' school, école Léonce Mégie in 1926; and the girls' school, école St Paul, inaugurated in 1931. Bonnaud had been called to return to France shortly before the girls' school was completed. He also built the first dispensary, and restructured and enlarged the local open air market, one of the most important in the area.

La Vallée was a pioneer in the Haitian "cooperative movement" with the founding of the historic "Caisse Populaire" in 1946. An association of locals created CODEVA in 1975, an organization that initiated many development projects, such as building the St Joseph hospital and the Lycée Philippe Jules.

Places of interest

Notable residents

Facilities

The commune is home to the Saint Joseph hospital.[3]

Sister cities

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d'Informatique (IHSI)
  2. Web site: Le Nouvelliste - Hinche, entre séduction singulière, patrimoine négligé et richesses inexploitées . lenouvelliste.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180515184019/http://lenouvelliste.com/lenouvelliste/article/157029/Hinche-entre-seduction-singuliere-patrimoine-neglige-et-richesses-inexploiteesPartez . 2018-05-15.
  3. The Times-Picayune, "New Orleanians pitch in to provide medical aid for Haiti", Katy Reckdahl 23 January 2010 (accessed 25 January 2010)
  4. Whittier Daily News, "Covina set to partner with Haitian sister city for support", Maritza Velazquez, 1 March 2010 (accessed 6 March 2010)