Pssst...Did You Know These Women are Building a Vibrant Economy?

I was reading through a recent project report for the Association of Women in Action of Gwomon (AFAGM) and it was chock-full of so many great nuggets that I just had to share some highlights with you.

First off, these women partnered with the Lambi Fund of Haiti to expand their community credit fund.   In order to prepare the organization to successfully manage and issue loans to its members, a series of training workshops took place.

 

Following these workshops, Lambi Fund provided 250,000 Haitian Gourdes to increase the current fund’s lending capacity.

Now, AFAGM is preparing to issue its second cycle of loans to members.  

It is results like these that make me a steadfast believer in Lambi Fund's work.  Through holistic approaches that provide training and financial resources to partner organizations, institutions are set in place that benefit hardworking Haitians time and again and not just in one-and-done scenarios.

Moreover, Lambi Fund’s program staff is gearing up to launch AFAGM’s second phase of the community credit fund expansion where even more capital will be infused into the fund and these women will have the capacity to issue even more loans to enterprising merchants.  Cheers to that

Happy World Water Day!

Are you one of the lucky ones that got water out of the tap this morning without thinking about it?  780 million people lack access to clean water.  That's more than 2 and 1/2 times the U.S. population.

Women and children spend hours of their day trekking to retrieve water and dirty water causes a myriad of illnesses.  In fact, 3.4 million people die from water related diseases each year.  These are preventable diseases!

Let's work to change this!  Join the Lambi Fund of Haiti as we work this World Water Day to improve clean water access in Haiti.  

Looking Back: Three Years Later

Tomorrow is the day that marks three years since the earthquake shook the ground we walk on and forever changed the face of Haiti.  While it is much easier to look at the stumbles, falls and steps backwards that have been taken since the earthquake, I am thinking differently.  I am thinking instead about cumulative gain.

In spite of it all, when I look at the Lambi Fund of Haiti’s programs and talk with Lambi Fund’s program partners, I see progress and I see hope.

I see an organization that has more than doubled its projects since 2010.  I see communities that have transformed the way they care for their environment.  I see farmers growing more food and I see small merchants increasing their incomes and providing for their families.

In the past three years, Lambi Fund has worked hand-in-hand with 32 grassroots organizations and over 6,100 members throughout Haiti to provide them with not only the tools and resources they need to get back on their feet, but to help build a solid foundation for years to come.  

When you take the time to zoom in and look at specific communities and families, you will find substantial efforts that indicate change is coming.  Since the earthquake:

• Three grain mills have been built that are providing entire communities with low-cost and high-quality milling services.  These mills have become commercial centers in their communities and 708 members of local organizations are working to manage and maintain the mills so that they are open for years to come.
• Five ox-plow services have been launched that are plowing more land and increasing crop outputs - benefiting 276 members and numerous farmers in their communities.
• Five goat breeding projects are being managed by 900 organization members who built pens, fenced in grazing areas, and learned how to breed the animals for a reliable source of income.
• 634 members built three grain storage and seed banks that are allowing communities to store grains for the offseason and to sell local and organic seeds to farmers.
• 17 community credit funds have been created impacting more than 2,200 members.  These locally managed funds are providing low-interest loans to rural Haitians so that they can invest in small-business enterprises and purchase more seeds and tools so that they can grow more food.
• One tool bank was established providing 50 members and nearby locals with access to tools needed for farmers to work their fields more efficiently.
• 44 members worked with Lambi Fund to launch one sheep breeding enterprise, which is allowing families to steadily increase their incomes.
• In partnership with Lambi Fund, 89 members built and are managing a sugar cane mill that is transforming abundant sugarcane crops into more lucrative sugarcane syrup.
• Three coffee cooperatives are enabling 1,548 members to grow more coffee and to process the beans into market-ready coffee.
• 32 grassroots organizations have worked with Lambi Fund to build community-led nurseries and have planted hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings throughout Haiti’s countryside.
• One irrigation canal is providing 150 farmers in an arid region of the country with a consistent source of water for their crops.

Despite these incredible triumphs, our work is by no means finished.  Everyone at Lambi Fund is looking forward to 2013 with newfound determination.  While we believe the tangible outcomes of these projects like increased incomes are important, it is the strengthening coalition of grassroots organizations that is slowly changing the tide.  Entire communities are seeing that they have the capacity, know-how and will to successfully manage community-led enterprises.   Through this, Haitians are realizing that, together, anything is possible. 

And with that, I leave you with this call to action in 2013: may we work harder, come together more than ever before and strive to build a Haiti that is just, fair and rich in love.  Let us do this in the name and remembrance of all loved ones lost on that fateful day on January 12, 2010.

Onward,

Marie Marthe Saint Cyr

Executive Director

The Lambi Fund of Haiti

Hurricane Sandy Emergency Relief UPDATE

December 19, 2012 - The Lambi Fund of Haiti's efforts to respond to Hurricane Sandy has been swift.  Field Monitors in both the North and South have met with community organizations throughout the country to asses damages.  Unfortunately, the impact of Sandy is proving to be quite severe.  Widespread loss of crops and livestock has been reported, rainwater cisterns and irrigation canals were damaged and tree seedlings planted for reforestation efforts have washed away.  Lambi Fund staff members also estimate that the overall pace of projects, organizational capacity, and economic conditions in these communities will be negatively affected.  

As such, Lambi Fund has been working with community organizations throughout the country since the storm.  So far, 13 grassroots organizations have been provided emergency relief grants.  These grants are going straight to Haitians hit by the storm to help:

• Rapidly replant crops to increase their resilience to the famine that experts predict will occur in Haiti within the next few months
• Accommodate short-term family needs
• Allow the organization’s community-run enterprises to get back on track
• Prepare soil for planting
• Repair irrigation canals as necessary 
• Purchase seeds that do not require a long time to harvest (such as beans, vegetables and corn)
• Groups with animal husbandry projects will also be provided with funding to replace lost livestock 

In addition to this, Lambi Fund’s field monitors have been in contact with over 50 other community organizations that may qualify for similar emergency relief.  Once initial assessments are complete, these groups will be provided with the resources necessary to get back on their feet as well.

For each and every one of you that donated to Lambi Fund's emergency relief efforts following Hurricane Sandy, a very big mesi ampil  is in order.  Your support is helping Lambi Fund respond swiftly and appropriately to communities in need.  Hopefully through concentrated efforts like these, we can work to help curb the impending food crisis as much as possible and keep impoverished Haitians’ incomes flowing.

Hurricane Sandy Update

   

     As you are well aware, Hurricane Sandy barreled through the Caribbean and Eastern coast of the United States and wrought extraordinary damage.  Millions of families and many of you, I am sure, are looking to pick up the pieces from this powerful super storm.  Those living in Haiti are no different. 

Photo by: EFE
Flooding in Haiti from Hurricane Sandy

     Over the course of four days, Haiti received over 20 inches of rainfall, which inundated communities with massive amounts of water and debris.  The Lambi Fund of Haiti is now in the process of contacting partner organizations to assess damage and losses.  Initial estimates calculate that thousands of acres of crops in Southern Haiti have been washed away and large numbers of livestock have been lost. 

     

     For impoverished families in Haiti still struggling to recover from the earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Isaac in August, this news is just devastating.  These crops are the very essence of rural Haitian’s livelihoods  and the rammifications of this storm could spell widespread starvation. 

     Please take urgent action to help rural communities throughout Haiti pick themselves up and get back on their feet again.  It is during trying times like these that even a little can go a long way.  Donate now and you will help:

• Purchase local seeds so small farmers can replant their crops
• Provide the resources needed for community organizations to replenish local grain reserves
• Replace livestock like goats, pigs and sheep that were lost in the storm
• Contribute to community-led efforts to clean up debris, fallen trees, and destroyed roads in towns throughout Haiti
• Replenish community credit funds which provide local  members with valuable access to capital so that they can purchase life essentials like food and water

Its efforts like these that will lessen the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on impoverished Haitians.  Together we can help clean up the wreckage, replant crops and move forward.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy.  

May your recovery be swift,

Marie Marthe Saint Cyr

Executive Director

The Lambi Fund of Haiti