CHF - Helping Rebuild Haiti

I recently visited a St Marc fishermen’s association in the downtown area. St Marc is on the Caribbean sea and fishing is a major industry. But traditionally, fishermen would go out, catch some fish then come back and try and find a good place to sell them. It might be the side of the street somewhere, it might be near the sea, or maybe in the center of town. But too often their wares were spoiled by the heat or simply went unsold because of the unsettled location – consumers need to know where to come to buy. Additionally, they would have to travel for hours to get to Port au Prince to buy fishing materials and as lone buyers, never got a good deal.

The C in CHF stands for “Cooperative” and we always aim to get people to cooperate for greater benefit. We brought together many individual fishermen in the community and encouraged them to form an association. We then worked with that association to build a central market place where they can sort and prepare their catch, then sell it. In the office of the building we put in place several solar powered freezers so that unsold fish can be kept for the next day. With the building being a market place, there is now a centralized location for sales and, because of the footfall in the building, local businesses pay to advertise on their walls. Additionally we provided them with materials for wooden fishing boats, built by a local boat builder, new net technology, and a local partner provided them with a fiberglass boat in case of emergencies that can reach distressed fishermen. Finally, there are the other benefits of an association – increased purchasing power drives down prices and they can buy in bulk. A part of their – massively increased - profits goes towards running the association, the rest goes into their pockets.

When we visited it was the middle of the afternoon. The fish had been sold (the freezers were pleasingly empty) and the market place had become a place of social gathering for fathers, mothers and children, both of the human and animal variety. Ducklings, goat kids and piglets ran around on the beach alongside children who shouted to me in Spanish (presumably the language they hear most from foreigners) and posed for photographs. My eyes went to the trash washing up on the beach and I began to think about how we could install a solid waste management system, but that was for another day. Our guide, a local CHF staff member, Georges, pointed me in the directions north and south – we have built three of these buildings for the local associations. He was extremely proud of this work – genuinely passionate – and so he should be. He and all the staff in St Marc – all Haitian - had worked with his community to put in place changes along the whole market chain from improvements in catching fish to storing and selling them. And, motivated by their improved profits and lifestyle, I am certain the associations will remain in place in the future and, I hope, influence others in the area.