Employment and Small Business Promotion
Our schools and projects provide steady jobs for over 350 people. Whenever possible, we look for ways to promote small business projects such as bakeries, local radio stations, computer cafes, auto-repair, building and contracting jobs and small market stands. We recognize that the fundamental right to work is essential to true development.
Haitian Staff
Our projects are primarily Haitian-run and this has been a key to our success. But it is also the source of our greatest problems and challenges. Haiti's greatest resource -- its labor force -- is also its most underdeveloped one. Our workers lack the skills and formation needed to run things well. This manifests itself in behaviors such as: theft, violence, apathy and poor work ethic, negligence and many other self-defeating behaviors. For these reasons we will recruit U.S. volunteers to help mentor our current staff and invest in ongoing training and formation programs for our staff.
Major Goals & Needs
- Improve the quality of our staff. Eliminate all workers who do not merit new contracts and hire at least 34 well-trained teachers, 4-8 well-trained school administrators and 4-6 agronomists and agricultural technicians;
- Develop a volunteer community that helps train our workers and provides needed oversight, discipline and structure;
- Create training programs for all staff and conduct 2-3 ongoing education modules each year.
Small Business Creation
In FYE 2011 we funded two major small business initiatives: 1) a bakery project that provides our Becky DeWine School with fresh breakfast bread and 2) a small market merchandize project for 100 women in Gonaives - as well as continuing to support Radio Boukman with staff funds and material support. What Haiti needs most is education and jobs and we will provide seed money to various small businesses and agricultural cooperative efforts.
Major Goals & Needs
- Target most vulnerable for seed money grants
- Link more of our seed money grants to a work project or a need within the communities of our schools
- Provide Radio Boukman with staff funds and a new antenna