Many people are wondering what we can do, after we deal with the immediate crises caused by the horrific January earthquake, to make sure the people of Haiti can have a bright future. I'm the father of a young daughter, so I especially worry about the kids.
The children of Haiti have a right to dream. They have a right to dream of a future not where they live in shacks without clean water to drink or food to eat, but where they have the necessities of a healthy life, a future where they can learn to read and write and get an education. They have a right to dream of having a family and being able to provide for those families. I know I don't want to be sitting here five years from now asking, "Why aren't the children any better off now than before the quake?" So I asked myself right now, in 2010, what's next?
I think the answer is in building permanent communities that run themselves. You need to start with agriculture and establish a strong job base. You need to teach people the skills they need to do for themselves. Once you make them proud of themselves, and they're given a chance and they see that the dream is real, they have something to work toward. It's like the philosopher and astronomer Galileo supposedly said: "You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it within himself."
Yéle Haiti, the charitable organization I started five years ago, is looking to build a permanent agricultural community, and I'm really pumped about this. It's going to be a farming community for about 5,000 people near Croix-des-Bouquets. The idea is to introduce simple and sustainable techniques for improved farming, education, health and other services that begin to spark changes at the community level in other parts of the country.
And check this out: The government of Haiti is going to be our partner in this project, and so are my professional Haitian brothers and sisters from around the world, who will give back to their native country by lending us their expertise. My hope is that this agricultural community will introduce simple ideas that can be easily duplicated, and that it will launch a national agroforestry movement. In doing that, we'll be creating permanent, self-sufficient, strong communities that will benefit the entire country for many, many years.
Keeping in mind this idea of sustainability and self-sufficiency, I am also really excited about our plans for a large kitchen initiative to be based at Yéle headquarters in La Plaine that will be modeled on a program we have run for several years in Cité Soleil called Yéle Cuisine. The concept here is to create jobs for local women and train them to improve the quality of the food they prepare and increase the output of meals to 15,000 a day to help feed the children at schools and orphanages in the area. Now, that's really going to help people, right? Additionally, this program will focus on teaching women the business skills necessary to bring in more money for the food they sell at the marketplace every day. This program will help the Haitian people stand up on their own two feet and help rebuild the structure of Haiti organically. We hope to start construction on the facilities to house this ambitious program by June.
So, you see, even though we've been shipping containers full of cans of food and ration kits to feed the starving -- and I want to again thank everyone who has helped us get that food to them -- with this massive kitchen, our plan is to not only feed the hungry but also teach skills and provide permanent jobs that will help lead Haiti to a brighter future.
Here are some words of wisdom. (Bear with me while I quote a long-dead American president, but what he says is still true a century later.) I read somewhere that Woodrow Wilson once said: "We grow great by dreams ... Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true."
I won't stand still until the dream for a brighter future for Haiti becomes a reality. We don't have any time to waste.
Thats how Grand Chemin Housing project is planning a community in Croix de Bouquets.
Wyclef I hope you see the light of cooperation: not just with those with money or the GOH but also with like minded members of the diaspora. L'Union fait la Force
"For all that I'm loosing, much more will I gain,
The hard part is choosing,
To change what needs changed"
I wish you and Haitians success in this endeavor.
While the article is good on ideas, I'm not sure this is one of them. Haiti is a literal ecological disaster, one of the bigger ones on the planet. The deforestation alone is a nightmare. In 1923, over 60% of Haiti's land was forested; by 2006, less than 2% was. The errosion damage alone makes alot of the area unfarmable with the topsoil washed away.
I'm not really sure agriculture is the key there. A better fuel source other then the charcoal and cutting trees is the place to start, and invest in businesses other then Agriculture since the ecological damage is so great like importing some kind of plants for manufacturing.
Not sure if partnering with the government will help this project, giving their bad track record on past issues.
Good luck.
in an ecological disaster, agriculture MUST be the foundation of any recovery! The development of sustainable agriculture is the only way to restore Haiti's productivity. With sustainable agricultural methods, topsoil can be rebuilt. Other energy sources, such as solar stoves and water heaters can reduce the need for charcoal. Of course, Haiti will continue to need aid of all sorts for some time to come, but without a robust, local agriculture, all those efforts will come to nil.
"Our goal is to reach 10,000 farmers this growing season with these seeds," said Jean Robert Estime, the director of the WINNER project. "The vegetables and grain these seeds will produce will help feed and provide economic opportunities for farmers, their families and the broader community. Agriculture is key to the long-term recovery."
The seeds are being provided free of charge by Monsanto. The WINNER project will distribute the seeds through farmer association stores to be sold at a significantly reduced price. The farmer stores will use the revenue to reinvest in other inputs to support farmers in the future. The farmer associations alone will receive revenue from the sales.
We have a similar project called "GRAND CHEMIN HOUSING COMMUNITY". Indeed, we're planning to build an exciting and innovative community, in one of the economically distressed neighborhoods of Croix-Des-Bouquets. The Grand Chemin Housing Community (GCHC) Project will provide housing to 20 families who become homeless after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010. In addition, it will provide occupational training construction skills and Entrepreneur and Business skills as well as basic educational services and leadership development counseling to Haitians.
20 Houses ( 6 people per house)
1 Trade School (Electricity, Welding, Plumbing, Carpentry, Masonry, Bricklaying)
A Literacy Program Target: 1000 Haitians during the first year
LPN and Nursing Assistant Programs
1 Computer Center
1 Medical Clinic (1000 patients/month)
1 Small Business Center
1 Recreational Center
1 small park for Kids
1 20 Units Bed & Breakfast (A cozy, exquisite, intimate place)
Please support Grand Chemin Housing Community
Al Sem
Haiti Fresh Start
alsem@haitifreshstart.org
Follow me on Twitter: haitifreshstart
A few links: GRAND CHEMIN HOUSING COMMUNITY
http://haitirewired.wired.com/group/architectureforhaiti/forum/topics/grand-chemin-housing-community
http://haitirewired.wired.com/profiles/blogs/grand-chemin-housing-community
http://haitirewired.wired.com/forum/topics/whos-here?id=4920407:Topic:133&page=3#comments
http://newhaitiproject.ning.com/group/kay2
http://newhaitiproject.ning.com/group/grandchemincommunityproject
"Our goal is to reach 10,000 farmers this growing season with these seeds," said Jean Robert Estime, the director of the WINNER project. "The vegetables and grain these seeds will produce will help feed and provide economic opportunities for farmers, their families and the broader community. Agriculture is key to the long-term recovery."
The seeds are being provided free of charge by Monsanto. The WINNER project will distribute the seeds through farmer association stores to be sold at a significantly reduced price. The farmer stores will use the revenue to reinvest in other inputs to support farmers in the future. The farmer associations alone will receive revenue from the sales.
Beware of their hidden agenda.
As for the selfish people that insist that human beings in other countries should be left to their own devices: Haitians are not lazy people whose economy is in shambles due to their own fault. The earthquake was not the first calamity to hit their shores. Soon after independence, for example, France demanded millions in a monetary restoration for losing a profitable colony. And the loans the IMF extended on behalf of much richer countries simply enslaved Haiti to the global economy. In order to pay back these loans (which were mostly absorbed by a corrupt governement), Haitians had to grow cash crops. They farmed in oder to pay richer countries interests, rather than to feed their own people. So before you jump to conclusions about whether or not we should support our Haitian sisters and brothers, keep in mind that the nation we reside in has been part of the problem all along.