Staff members currently employed by Afya in Croix des Bouquets will recruit three individuals from the neighborhood around our storage site. These individuals will include children from the area who are looking to help provide for their families. These three will collect bottles from the area, clean and deliver them to the storage facility.
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Haitian government estimated more than 300,000 people were injured, many with long-term disabilities. Today, an enormous percentage of Haitians, as high as 10%, qualifies as disabled. Additionally, 70% of the population does not have salaried employment and lives on $2 a day.
To address these intersecting issues, Building with Bottles looks to create a sustainable business model in Port-au-Prince.
The program will be expanded to include 10 cottage industry set-ups in Port-au-Prince, 10 trained and employed furniture makers, 10 local seamstresses employed at each site, 20 employed bottle collectors (2 per site), and 1 Haitian Project Manager. As the program continues to develop, all furniture makers will be encouraged to take on apprentices and additional bottle collectors after the microloan has been repaid.
