Employ 100 Rural Women: Create a sustainable Haiti

 Haiti Projects is pleased to report that it has hired a new community coordinator in Haiti.  With the support of a generous grant, Melanie Debrosse from Port-au-Prince, joins Haiti Projects to oversee our community development efforts in Fond des Blancs. A human rights attorney, Melanie has worked for USAID and has been a community coordinator for a variety of organizations in Haiti.  She will be responsible for coordinating the development and construction of our library and education center and for the expansion and facilitation of our women’s health clinic.  She will support the general director of the Artisanat, helping women employed there to expand their skills and educational opportunities.  With grant support, Haiti Projects is developing skills-based educational courses based on a community assessment of need. The initial design for the new library and education center has been completed.

For the Artisanat, we are developing leather samples with designs by Haitian designer, Prajie, with raw materials sourced in Haiti. This is an exciting opportunity for the women at the Artisanat to use their embroidery skills on new product lines that have a potentially significant market.   We are pleased to report that Cherie Miot Abbanat has joined our team as Vice President. Cherie is Haitian-American and has an extensive background in community development and planning.  She is excited about Haiti Projects becoming a model for other regions in Haiti.

Haiti Projects is planning to build on its reputation as a leader in community development in Fond des Blancs by expanding its library and education center in Sainton, Haiti. True to its mission, for over eighteen years, Haiti Projects has been providing economic opportunities for women in Fond des Blancs.  In conjunction with its commitment to bringing employment to this rural region , the organization recognized the need to develop a sustainable community. Community building included establishing a women’s health clinic, developing a microloan program and creating a library.  The library was an immediate success and quickly become the center for activities in the region for all ages.  To the library, in 2004, Haiti Projects added a computer lab where residents can reach out on the Internet to the world beyond this remote region. There are few libraries in Haiti and this is an opportunity to make a library that is a community center and a resource for educational opportunities.  With an advisory board made up of residents, the library will provide programs and educational outreach that directly benefit the community it serves.  This local leadership gives the community a vested interest in its ongoing success.

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