Progress Amid the Chaos: Lambi Fund Responds to the Earthquake Disaster in Haiti

By: Sarah Leavitt

On January 12 the ground shook. It trembled like never before. In just a few horrifying moments, a massive earthquake destroyed Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, and major provincial cities like Jacmel, Léogâne, and Petit-Goâve.

The world watched in horror as the toll on human life unfolded. Never before, declared UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, has a natural disaster been so devastating.

The Presidential Palace crumbled, UN headquarters were destroyed, building after building collapsed like pancakes.

Unbelievably, 250,000 residences were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.

The horrible stench of death lurked in the city for weeks afterwards. Over 200,000 people were killed. More than 150,000 individuals injured and left to live life as amputees. In the blink of an eye, nearly 2 million Haitians were rendered homeless.

Photo: Roberto (Bear) Guerra

Responding to such a catastrophe has not been easy. Through the rubble, roads were impossible to navigate and trying to coordinate the influx of international donor agencies was declared a logistical nightmare.

Earthquake survivors left with no homes, no food, and no jobs quickly realized that aid distribution would be slow and unreliable.

Thus over 500,000 affected residents caught the first bus they could find to live with family members and friends in the rural provinces of Haiti.

This massive migration of internally displaced persons has wreaked havoc on already impoverished rural communities, where the average person still survives on less than $2 a day. Some rural populations (so much as) doubled overnight.

Keeping with the Haitian tradition of peasant solidarity, rural communities have been quick to take in quake survivors and have shared with them everything they have. The 80-year-old mother of the field monitor for Fon Lanbi Pou Ayiti has taken in 39 people in her small house.

Christianne Adrien, a street vendor, and her husband Ilson, a farmer, took in 18 members of her extended family. "If it were for the money, we would never have done it."

After the earthquake, more than a half million people fled Port au Prince and relocated to rural areas.

They, along with thousands of peasants throughout Haiti have spent what little they have on clean water, medical supplies, clothing, bags of rice, and cans of beans for their new neighbors. Peasants have slaughtered precious cows to bring meat to patients at local hospitals.

Christianne continues, "We did this because we wanted them to have a life. If God saved the life of some people from a catastrophe of that size, it's so that we can protect the life of others. People have to live; you have to receive them."

Clearly, the earthquake has touched each and every Lambi Fund of Haiti staff member who along with their fellow citizens sustained damages and suffered personal losses. In spite of these hardships, Lambi Fund staff members sprang into action to help address the urgent needs of 43 rural communities impacted greatly by the massive exodus out of the capital.

In collaboration with our grassroots partners, Lambi Fund convened regional assemblies of local peasants to define immediate needs and prioritize rebuilding efforts.

In the first phase, Lambi Fund focused on the delivery of food and other essentials to rural communities to meet the immediate needs of earthquake survivors who had resettled to these communities.

With the help of regional committees and other partners, the Lambi Fund was able to distribute the following:

• Done (wired $712k)
• Grants to 22 grassroots groups in Artibonite, which has received over 162,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Port au Prince - to buy clothes, food, meds, and other essentials and infuse the local economy
• Cash disbursements to cover losses of Fon Lanbi Pou Ayiti staff members in Port au Prince
• Grants to two grassroots women's groups in Port au Prince who lost everything in the quake - to buy clothes, food, meds, and other essentials and infuse the local economy
• Grants to four grassroots groups in the Northwest, which has received over 45,000 IDPs - to buy clothes, food, meds, and other essentials and infuse the local economy
• Grants to 17 grassroots groups in the South, which has received over 25,000 IDPs - to buy clothes, food, meds, and other essentials and infuse the local economy
• Distributed medications (value $8K, donated by UUSC) to hospital in Gwomon
• Distributed tents and basic supplies to 17 grassroots groups in South (donated by Hope for Haiti)
• Grants to 42 peasant organizations for Farmers Credit Funds so that 1,260 farmers in the Artibonite, South, West and Northwest departments can plant increased crops to feed themselves and IDPs with locally grown food.

Next steps in rebuilding Haiti include focusing on sustaining and strengthening development in rural areas including:

• Mid and long term ($1M)
• Increase micro-enterprises with additional community microcredit funds
• Increase organic, locally-grown food and clean water with expanded sustainable agriculture, reforestation and water access projects
• Increase livelihoods with expanded sustainable development projects, such as pig and goat breeding, grain mills and sugar cane mills
• Build 880 latrines to prevent spread of disease and increase sanitation in rural areas, as a result of rapidly growing population from IDPs
• Distribute 100 wheelchairs to the large number of amputees whose limbs were crushed in the earthquake.
• Expand women's programs to address the special needs of women (who are more vulnerable to domestic violence and sexual assault in tent cities but several organized women's groups are standing up for the rights of women and children)

Advocacy Efforts

Supporting Policy Advocacy to express the voice of the Haitian people in rebuilding Haiti will be an important component of long-term rebuilding plans. Lambi Fund is committed to taking a leadership role in advocacy by speaking out on behalf of rural communities, by creating strong partnerships with a coalition of like-minded groups working together to rebuild Haiti, and by supporting the needs of women, particularly within the context of the rebuilding effort now underway. As foreign corporations and governments jockey for rebuilding contracts, the Haitian voice has been neglected.

Photo: Roberto (Bear) Guerra

This cannot continue; the voice of the majority must be heard.

In order to incorporate Haitians and their perspectives, Lambi Fund has developed a five point plan for prioritizing rebuilding in Haiti:

1. National sovereignty. The ownership of rebuilding Haiti must come from the Haitian people. Real change must come from the majority poor. Not from politicians. Not from the elite. And not from foreign governments. Haitians must be the change agents through participatory democracy.
2. Decentralization. The migration of over 500,000 earthquake survivors from the rubble of Port-au-Prince to rural Haiti offers the opportunity to create a decentralized infrastructure that can lead to regional centers for economic development, better roads, public education, health care, social services and access to potable water and sanitation.
3. Stimulate local economy. The earthquake offers a unique opportunity for the international community to work in partnership with Haitian peasant groups to increase our capacity to feed the country and support the local economy.
4. Rebuild Haiti right. In addition to true land reform, Port au Prince and other damaged towns must be rebuilt with disaster resistant building codes that are rigorously monitored. Rebuilding must be done by Haitians, who are desperately in need of a boost in fair and equitable employment opportunities.
5. Environment must be at the center of restoring Haiti. Deforestation represents one of the greatest threats to Haiti's food security. Restoration of the environment is crucial to sustaining a functioning economy and productive agricultural sector, providing sufficient employment, and recreating natural buffers against inevitable environmental challenges, which include climate change.

Lambi Fund recognizes the critical role that will be played by women and farmers in the rebuilding of Haiti, and will continue to advocate for their inclusion in the creation of a plan and a new vision for Haiti.

Read the Lambi Fund of Haiti's Spring 2010 Newsletter in its entirety.

A Bottom-Up Transformation

BY: Leonie Hermantin

In August 2008, while working in Haiti's upper Artibonite region, I visited the village of Rivye Blanch as the deputy director of the Lambi Fund of Haiti, which supports the community's sustainable economic development and reforestation projects. The people of Rivye Blanch, represented by their leader, requested that I convey their message of support to then candidate Barack Obama.
``When you go back to the other side of the water,'' said Eddy, president of the Association of Peasants from Rivye Blanch, ``please tell Barack Obama that the people of Haiti support his candidacy. Please tell him that his victory will also be ours.''
Last week, I attended a special ceremony organized by President Obama at the White House in honor of President René Préval's visit to Washington. As Obama pledged his country's support for Haiti's reconstruction, I could not stop thinking about Eddy and the people of Rivye Blanch. I wish that Eddy could have heard Obama speak of his strong commitment to Haiti and to the Haitian people.
I would have also loved to see Eddy's reaction to President Préval's inclusion of ``decentralization'' in his government's list of priorities for a new Haiti. According to Préval, the government plans to rebuild Haiti through the decentralization of major institutions by providing basic services such as healthcare and education to areas where about 60 percent of the Haitian people live.
Eddy and the people of Rivye Blanch would have been pleased to know that such plans were on the drawing board, but their reaction would be one of guarded optimism. They have heard these promises before, in the aftermath of hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters; promises that quickly evaporated when the funds were extended elsewhere and the attention of the world waned.
The people of Haiti, both rural and urban, understand that it can no longer be ``more of the same.'' But as the Haitian government and the international community are poised to discuss plans for reconstruction the voice of the majority has been muted. While we have heard from the Haitian government, the international community and Haiti's business interests, we have not heard from the people themselves in an organized and coherent manner.
In order to address this gap, the Lambi Fund convened regional assemblies of dozens of Haitian grassroots organizations to define and prioritize rebuilding needs. They focused in their conversations on how to sustain the needs for the mid- and long-term to rebuild and strengthen Haiti.
In their statement about the reconstruction process, peasant leaders asserted that Haiti was a sovereign nation and that the vision and articulation of a new Haiti should come from the Haitian people themselves. They also proposed that the government make decentralization a priority by ensuring through investments that cities and towns in the provinces and rural communities become vital centers for national productivity.
Moreover, grassroots leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the environment, acknowledging that deforestation represents one of the greatest threats to Haiti's food security. Pointing to international relief strategies, they asserted that some of the activities adopted by the international community are threatening to disrupt the local economy if they continue to plan relief under the assumption that goods must be imported.
The earthquake, they argue, offers a unique opportunity for the international community to work in partnership with Haitian peasants to increase their capacity to feed the country and support the local economy.
If President Obama had the opportunity to speak to Eddy and to the people of Rivye Blanch, they would have reminded him that supporting Haiti's successful bottom-up transformation would be one of his most memorable legacies. Haiti's victory would also be his.

Leonie Hermantin is deputy director of the Lambi Fund of Haiti. She lives in Miami. You may contact her at Leonie@lambifund.org

Lambi Fund Update: A Path to Recovery in Haiti

The days following the earthquake were a busy and stressful time for Lambi Fund. Contacting staff and partner organizations proved to be a difficult task given the lack of phone service, power, internet and destruction of major roads to rural communities.

On January 16, 2010 staff in the US finally heard from Lambi Fund’s country director in Haiti. While staff in Haiti have been struggling to survive in a city that has been demolished, we here overjoyed to hear that all Lambi Fund staff members were alive and suffered relatively minor injuries.

January 18, 2010: Lambi Fund Country Director Josette Perard finally made it through the debris and checkpoints to our office space located in downtown Port-au-Prince. It sustained damages but is still standing! Important documents and equipment were salvaged for the time being as it lacked electricity needed for the office to be functional.

January 19-24, 2010: Staff have been working out of our Field Coordinator’s house; one of the few houses still standing that has electricity. Lambi Fund’s office building is being used as shelter for those that have been displaced.

Several Lambi Fund led regional meetings have convened in rural communities outside, under trees throughout Haiti. These communities are currently experiencing tremendous rates of outmigration that are severely stressing already limited resources. The 1,000’s of refugees streaming into these villages daily desperately need immediate relief. As such our local partner organizations and Lambi Fund have begun distributing major essentials like food, water and medical supplies to displaced persons. Shelters are in the process of being built as well.

January 25, 2010: Staff finally managed to purchase gas for Lambi Fund’s generator. The office has electricity, is up and running and is fully operational! Continued discussions with grassroots organizations in rural communities have led to the development of a four-phase recovery plan that will be critical in Haiti’s long-term recovery:

1. Distribute food and emergency essentials to those migrating from Port-au-Prince to rural areas.

2. Repair damage in rural communities
3. Expand sustainable agriculture programs to meet the increased demand for food in rural areas
4. Increase opportunities for sustainable income for those displaced by the earthquake so that the influx of people migrating to countryside can start earning sustainable livelihoods

Play a major role in expanding resources, rebuilding, and providing refugees with the means for economic livelihoods in rural communities by supporting this important long-term recovery program in Haiti today.

Lambi Fund's Executive Director on CBS Denver

Watch Lambi Fund Executive Director on CBS Denver channel 4 as her and her adopted daughter from Haiti discuss the earthquake.

http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=66589@kcnc.dayport.com

Lambi Fund of Haiti Earthquake Recovery

The strong 7.3 earthquake that rocked Haiti has left this impoverished nation in a state of ruin.
Nearly every building over one-story has collapsed. The Presidential Palace has collapsed. Schools have fallen, hospitals have fallen, and hotels have fallen. The ministries of finance and other depart-ments, Supreme Court, and Parliament have all collapsed as well.
This strong earthquake and its 20+ aftershocks have pounded Haiti and destroyed many of the sus-tainable development projects run by grassroots groups that are partnering with the Lambi Fund of Haiti. Here are our plans for helping communities recover:
The Lambi Fund of Haiti is not a first responder, but a second responder meaning Lambi Fund will be there to help Haiti rebuild long after the relief service providers leave.

• Help members of peasant groups get food and essentials for their families to re-establish their lives.
• Help Lambi Fund field staff replace their belongings (food, clothing, furniture) that were lost in the quake. The sooner we help them get back on their feet, the sooner they can help peasant communities rebuild.
• Recapitalize micro–credit funds run by peasant organizations so that people can replenish and continue their small businesses.
• Rebuild grain mills, sugar cane mills and other economic development community enterprises lost in the earthquake. These buildings are the centers of communities’ economic livelihoods.
• Repair rainwater cisterns so people will have a supply of safe drinking water.
• Help peasant organizations buy goats, pigs, and chickens to replenish livestock. A few animals will quickly reproduce and provide offspring for animal husbandry projects.

To help our Haitian neighbors, please donate now!
Lambi Fund of Haiti
PO Box 18955
Washington DC 20036
(202)-833-3713

Lambi Fund's ED Responds to News of the Earthquake in Haiti

Watch Lambi Fund Executive Director, Karen Ashmore, respond to news of recent earthquakes in Haiti.

Collapsed Presidential Palace

Lambi Fund just received this photo of the collapsed presidential building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti from friend Natania Etienne.

The damage in Haiti is catastrophic by all reports: the UN Ministah building has collapsed, Hotel Montana has collapsed, the center of Port-au-Prince destroyed, 1,000's are dead, countless residential homes are in ruin and electricity and phone lines are down.

Haiti needs your help now more than ever, donate at www.lambifund.org to help rebuild today.

Earthquake Update

Just got word from a Lambi Fund board member that Presidential Palace, Ministries of Finance, Public Transport, Communications, Justice and Parliament have all collapsed. Delmas, where several Lambi Fund staff members live, was heavily damaged. Unibank (where we have our bank account) collapsed. People are going by on stretchers. No phone service, no electricity. Port au Prince dark except for fires. If stable buildings have collapsed, we know the grain mills, sugar cane mills and rainwater cisterns that Lambi Fund helped support have collapsed. To help rebuild, go to http://bit.ly/4ELiUs

Earthquake Hits Haiti

Major 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti today. Epicenter 10 miles SW of Port au Prince. Haiti needs our support!

Fall Newsletter

Hope you enjoyed reading Fall newsletter of the Lambi Fund of Haiti, packed with news and info from Haiti. Thanks to all of you who sent year-end donations and are making a difference in Haiti!

If you have not yet sent a gift, this is your last chance to send a tax deductible donation that will help support self-sustaining community organizations in Haiti.

You can click here and make a credit card donation now.

Or you can send a check dated 12/31/2009 to Lambi Fund of Haiti, PO Box 18955, Washington DC 20036.

Pase yon bon lane! Happy New Year!

Meet Marie

As a supporter of the Lambi Fund of Haiti, you know all too well about poverty in Haiti - where almost three in every four people are living on less than $2 a day.

The effects of such poverty are devastating to families like Marie's, a single mother of four, who could barely eke out a living for her family.

Marie's fortunes changed, however, when her community organization launched a goat breeding program with the Lambi Fund's support.

The Lambi Fund provided funds for Marie's community group to purchase 132 goats, materials for the goat enclosures, and veterinary medicine for treating the goats. Organization members built the pens, and now are managing the project of raising and selling the goats.

With goats to raise for sale, Marie is now able to make a living and provide food, health care, and education for her family.

At Lambi Fund, we don't give food aid, we partner with community organizations like Marie's to build their capacity with tools, seeds, livestock and knowhow. We work together to build lasting solutions to poverty and hunger, with dignity and respect. Click here to donate now.

People like you make all this possible, giving the funds necessary to provide Haitian organizations with the resources they need to build sustainable community enterprises. As a result:

• More communities are able to feed their families and send their children to school.
• New rainwater cisterns are improving the health of entire communities with access to safe drinking water.
• Organic planting methods are improving the nutrient content of food while stabilizing the soil and minimizing erosion.
• Reforestation projects are reversing an alarming trend of forest destruction that threatens further damage to the earth.
• Thousands of people are learning the skills they need to for self-sufficient communities.
• Micro-credit funds are financing successful community-run micro-enterprises.

With your past support, Lambi Fund has partnered with community groups on more than 175 projects and touched more than a million lives in Haiti in the past 15 years.

That's why I'm asking you to please make a donation to the Lambi Fund today, so that we can continue to bring hope and opportunity to families in Haiti.

On behalf of families like Marie's, and all those seeking hope in Haiti, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your support.

Peace,

Karen Ashmore

Executive Director

Five Ways Your Gift to Lambi Fund Makes a Difference

1. Promote self-sufficiency and economic strength among Haiti's poor.

2. Help create a fertile ground for democracy.

3. Help stamp out malnutrition by sustaining rural communities

4. End deforestation and promote care of the earth.

5. Teach proper farming methods that diminish erosion

Thank you for helping make a difference in Haiti!

Gift Catalog

This holiday season, you can make a donation to the Lambi Fund of Haiti in honor of someone special. See our gift catalog at http://www.lambifund.org/support_catalog.shtml

By buying the items listed here, as well as in our complete gift catalog, you're making a symbolic purchase of the types of things rural Haitian community organizations need to build sustainable economic progress.

Here are some samples from our gift catalog, but you can click here to see all 20 items.

Tree Seedlings: $22
Green is Great
The Lambi Fund of Haiti is passionate about the environment, and believes that deforestation has critical impacts on food security and the environment. Haiti, described by the United Nations as "one of the most degraded countries in the world," suffered epic levels of flooding from recent hurricanes, which were exacerbated by severe soil erosion and deforestation.

Your gift will purchase one tree seedling, train local farmers on proper tree care, and plant and nurture the tree seedling until it has become properly substantiated.

To make a gift of tree seedlings, click here, enter $22 in the amount field and tree seedlings in the comments field.


Seeds: $50
Seeds for Tomorrow
The food crisis in Haiti is an urgent plea for more food. A seed bank enables Haitian communities to plant inexpensive, high-quality seeds and grow food to feed their families sustainably for years. Farmers have had to buy seeds at triple the cost of what they can earn from their crops.

Your gift will provide community members seeds for an organic seed bank and provide sustainable agriculture training, empowering Haitians to provide food for their families and increasing food security.

To make a gift of seeds, click here, enter $50 in the amount field and seeds in the comments field.

Goats: $100


The gift of a goat is a sustainable way to help a struggling family in Haiti. Goat breeding can be a pathway out of poverty. Goats can thrive on just about anything - even grass and leaves on the dry land in rural Haiti - so there is little cost for their upkeep. Goat meat is a popular food in Haiti, so there is a strong demand at the local market. Goats often have two or three kids a year, so a community organization that wants to start a self-sufficient goat breeding enterprise can see immediate success.

To make a gift of a goat, click here, enter $100 in the amount field and goat in the comments field.


Support Women: $500
When Women Win, We All Win
Women make up 70% of the world's poor and produce 80% of the developing world's food, yet they own less than 1% of the world's land. Sadly, this rings true in Haiti. Lambi Fund understands that economic progress in Haiti cannot be achieved without the help of women. Women are overlooked by government programs, receive lower wages, and have fewer opportunities for education.

Your gift to support women will pay for leadership, organizational, and technical training to women. This enables women to become leaders in their organizations and communities, and builds a lasting foundation for gender equity.

To make a gift to support women in Haiti, click here, enter $500 in the amount field and for women's programs in the comments field.

After making your contribution, don't forget to print out Lambi Fund gift cards to let your loved ones know about the gift you've made in their honor.

Travel to Haiti

Travel to Haiti with Lambi Fund March 14-19 and see firsthand some of the amazing work being done by grassroots groups in rural Haiti.This is a life changing opportunity to meet Haitians face to face and hear about their struggles and how their community is working to support economic justice, democracy and alternative sustainable development in Haiti. Come see how our partners raise food locally and offer sustainable alternatives to food aid.

For more info go to http://www.lambifund.org/news_travel.shtml

Sa je pa wè, kè pa santi.
What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't feel. (Haitian proverb)

While traveling through the countryside, we will meet with local grassroots organizations. Through Lambi Fund's support, these groups are creating small-scale sustainable projects that are making a tremendous difference in the lives of their members and their communities. In what is sure to be a moving and inspiring experience, we will spend three days in the Northwest visiting sustainable agriculture, fishing, potable water, and grain mill projects and talking with Haitian peasants that run these local enterprises.

Join us for an unforgettable trip that can change the way you see the world!

The delegation fee is $1500 per person for double occupancy (we will assign you with a roommate or you can pay $2000 for a single room). This fee includes all hotel accommodations, meals, transportation within Haiti, and translation and guide services. (Because people will be arriving from different locations, you are responsible for your own airfare to Port au Prince.

American Airlines, Air France, Spirit and Delta have flights from Miami or NY to Port au Prince. We strongly encourage you to purchase travel insurance in the event of unforeseen circumstances). Applications and a 50% deposit are due by Feb. 1, 2010. Be sure to get your application in early as space is limited.

Please eMail Lambi Fund today to request a travel application!

"Our group had a wonderful trip and came away with an avid appreciation for Lambi Fund's work and the communities with which it is partnering. One organization in particular (an animal husbandry project) really made an impression -- we were blown away by the members' enthusiasm, energy, hospitality, optimism, and potential." (Comments from previous delegation traveler)

Design a Tee for Lambi - VOTING

It’s November and it’s time to rock the vote to help determine Lambi Fund’s “Design a Tee for Lambi” t-shirt contest winner!

Lambi Fund received an abundance of exciting and beautiful submissions from all around the world. Narrowing down the top 5 submissions proved to be a harder task than anticipated! After much discussion the Top 5 Lambi Fund designs have been chosen!

Click here to vote for your favorite design now! Be sure to tell your friends, family, students and co-workers to cast their vote too- ALL voting closes on November 13, 2009 at 11:59 Mountain Standard time. Don’t delay!

The 1st place t-shirt will be featured on men's and women's organic t-shirts in the Lambi Fund Store for only $25. Pre-order yours today!

See you at the voting booths,

Karen Ashmore

Executive Director, The Lambi Fund of Haiti

The Lambi Fund Celebrates 15 Years in Haiti

This year Lambi Fund celebrates its 15th anniversary of working with grassroots organizations in rural Haiti. As with any major milestone, this event offers a unique opportunity for reflection. Haiti country director Josette Perard sat down and talked about Lambi Fund's humble beginnings and struggles.
Lambi Fund began in 1994 amidst political turmoil and a coup d'état. At the time, Josette Perard and Ferry Pierre-Charles, Lambi Fund's current field director in Haiti, were the only staff members. They had no office and were working underground given the tenuous political situation.
"It was really quite hard trying to meet with organizations because we would put them in danger if they met us in Port-au- Prince," Perard said. "We were under a lot of pressure because the military junta was arresting many peasant leaders and members of community groups.
"Ferry and I were like mad men and women looking for a place to meet in town."
As it turned out, Perard and Pierre-Charles would meet with members of organizations anywhere they could—in churches, conference rooms, and cafés.
More often than not, Perard and Pierre-Charles preferred to go out and meet with organizations in their villages so as not to endanger their lives.
In spite of danger and fear of arrest, some peasant organizations remained active. Lambi Fund's first collaboration was with an organization in the department of Nippes in Southern Haiti. Because their needs were so dire, these projects "were about survival, not sustainability."
Lambi Fund financed four projects in Nippes: a community bakery, a local food store, a women's credit fund, and a tool bank.
Women at the community bakery would bake bread and sell it in neighboring communities, while the local food store was opened to supply products that met basic needs, which at the time was completely lacking in the community.

The credit fund was created for women to sell goods at the market. These small loans allowed women to buy and sell products, using the income to send their children to school, and manage their households. Given the political unrest at the time, many men were in hiding and women became heads of households, managing all the needs of their families.
Lastly, a 'rent-to-own' tool bank was developed, using four tool banks where villagers could come and rent farm tools at a nominal fee, with the fees going toward the eventual purchase of the tools.
These tools enabled peasants to efficiently cultivate their crops. This was crucial, as many peasants at the time were leaving the community because they didn't have the proper means to cultivate their land.
Once the coup d'état was over and Aristide returned to office, Lambi Fund was then able to safely establish an office in Port-au-Prince. Peasants' knowledge about Lambi Fund quickly spread by word of mouth. As a result, peasant organizations were traveling from all over Haiti to partner with Lambi Fund. Around this same time, Perard, Pierre-Charles and the advisory board met to discuss the future and goals of the Lambi Fund of Haiti.
They began to realize that the hardships that communities endured were not caused just by the coup d'état, but by fundamental, ingrained political and economic forces.
After recognizing the problem's systemic nature Lambi Fund members realized they needed to help craft systemic solutions. A sustainable development model was subsequently implemented, and remains to this day.
As Perard explains, "our method, our philosophy, and our approach to working with communities has remained the same because experience tells us that our bottom-up, sustainability-focused approach provides the best solution to overcoming systemic roadblocks to development."
While Lambi Fund staff first concluded that these early projects were not inherently sustainable because they merely addressed immediate local needs, an independent evaluation of Lambi Fund's work conducted in 2004 proved otherwise.
Three out of the four projects are still functioning today.
The bakery is still open and producing, yet locals are using different approaches. Members no longer make the bread. They rent the space and equipment out to other women in the community to bake bread for themselves.
The community store is still open, yet it has shifted from providing goods merely for subsistence to becoming more of a corner store (selling soaps, toothpaste, and common household goods).
The women's micro-credit fund has grown, and its funds continue to circulate throughout the community.
Given the very nature of the rent-to-own format of the tool bank, the project by design no longer exists. It would be a poor state of affairs if farmers were still 'renting-to-own' after 15 years!
It is from these humble beginnings that the Lambi Fund of Haiti has gone on to partner with local grassroots organizations to fund over 175 projects that have impacted over one million lives in rural Haiti.
"When I started listening to people's stories of crushing exploitation, I knew I had to do something. And when I started relating to them, I saw that these were courageous people who wanted to change their lives. They just didn't yet have the tools and the support to change their lives," Perard said.
This exciting model of placing the tools of change in the hands of locals has been a core element of Lambi Fund's work.
Click here to read even more Lambi Fund articles.

Design a Tee for Lambi

While some groups are cutting back, Lambi Fund is redoubling its efforts to support sustainable development in Haiti. We are working with grassroots partners in rural Haiti to implement many new projects such as grain mills, irrigation pumps, reforestation, fishing, and microcredit funds. How exciting that the continued support of so many Lambi Fund advocates like you has given us the opportunity to fund more projects than previously anticipated!

Now it's time to harness your creativity and do good for Haiti! The Lambi Fund of Haiti is proud to announce our very first t-shirt contest, "Tee for Lambi!" We need you to help us create a memorable t-shirt design encapsulating the Lambi Fund spirit. The winning design will be featured for sale in our new Lambi Fund Store, receive some great prizes, and enjoy all the notoriety and good fortune of becoming "Lambi Famous" (you will be featured in our newsletter and online). Click here for more information and all of the rules & regulations.

Well quit reading already! Tell your friends, family, children, students, and enemies, and get designing! Can't wait to see what our talented Lambi Fund supporters produce!

Have a happy week and remember, Lambi Fund wouldn't be as spirited and effective without your support.

Peace,

Karen Ashmore

Executive Director

Lambi Fund's Deputy Director Receives Community Service Award

What a great day for Lambi Fund! On Saturday August 8, 2009, our very talented and committed Deputy Director Leonie Hermantin received the 2009 Community Service Award from the Haitian Diaspora Unity Congress.

She was honored for her outreach work in advocating for sustainable agriculture and reforestation in Haiti’s rural communities.

Past recipients of this prestigious award include Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald and Wyclef Jean of the Yéle Foundation.

This year’s monumental four day event in Miami included speakers and issues of concern to Haiti and Haitian Diaspora, with keynote speakers including Bill Clinton, UN’s Special Envoy to Haiti, and Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, the Prime Minister of Haiti.

Ms. Hermantin also participated in several engaging workshops about peasant-led reforestation and sustainable agriculture programs in Haiti.

A Note from Josette

Bonjou,

What a summer! The Lambi Fund of Haiti has been busy as ever working throughout Haiti's countryside visiting partner organizations and providing on-site training.

Our newest projects are in the Northwest. The Lambi Fund team is working with a group of fisher folk to upgrade their fishing equipment with new nets and a boat. They are excited that they will be able to fish more productively and improve their livelihoods.

Lambi Fund staff also led an effective training session with a large women’s group in the Northwest. They learned about water purification, sanitation and rainwater cistern management. Now, this community is looking forward to clean, potable water on a reliable basis.

Seeing these projects become a reality is a true pleasure, as is watching enthusiastic families working to transform their communities.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, as we will be busy working with locals to reforest the land and prepare for the upcoming hurricane season!

All my best,

Josette Perard

Haiti Director

P.S. Follow us on and for all the latest Lambi Fund Updates and visit www.lambifund.org for even more information on sustainable development in Haiti.

Haiti Reforestation Act

THE HAITI REFORESTATION ACT OF 2009- PROMOTES SUSTAINABLE APPROACHES TO REFORESTATION AND AFFORESTATION

US Senator Richard Durban (D) from Illinois recently introduced a bill in the US Senate addressing the issue of reforestation in Haiti. Bill S 1183, the Haiti Reforestation Act of 2009, if enacted into law will authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to the Government of Haiti to end within 5 years the deforestation in Haiti and restore within 30 years the extent of tropical forest cover in existence in Haiti in 1992. In the process of drafting the Haitian Reforestation Act of 2009, Senator Durban's staff met with Lambi Fund of Haiti board member Jay Schoenberger to discuss our reforestation efforts. It must be noted that Lambi Fund's approach to reforestation is reflected in the portion of the bill which governs NGO involvement.

While Bill S 1183's primary focus is to work with the Haitian government, it also provides support for NGOs engaged in reforestation and afforestation activities. We are very pleased that the bill describes eligible agencies as those whose activities, similar to the Lambi Fund’s, support grassroots sustainable economic and environmental activities. As stated the bill will give preference to organizations which:

· Focus on sustainable income generating growth
· Provide seed money to start reforestation or afforestation collaborative
· Partner with local communities
· Focus on efforts that build local capacity to sustain growth after the completion of grant program
· Secure the involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples to protect forests in existence and carry out reforestation and afforestation activities

The Lambi Fund of Haiti is extremely interested in your opinion about Bill S 1183
www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s1183/show

Notes from an Intern

By: Anya Cherneff

As an outreach coordinator for The Lambi Fund of Haiti, I was offered the amazing opportunity to travel with the fall delegation in late November to Haiti to visit some of the peasant organizations whose projects are supported by The Lambi Fund. We visited four organizations located in the southern region of Haiti: ODTPG- Rice Mill Project, ADZK- Pig Husbandry and Reforestation Projects, SASH- Bee Keeping Project, and TKL- Ox Plow Project.

All the community organizations that we visited had been affected by the recent, devastating hurricanes and all were struggling to continue their programs, in spite of the destruction they sustained from the flooding. Despite the recent set back, all the members of the organizations we talked to were overwhelmingly hopeful and positive about what the future would bring with the continuing growth of their organizations and their programs. Everyone we met was so grateful for the small contribution Lambi Fund had made (buying Apiary boxes, two ox plows, two oxen, a rice mill, etc..) With the starting platform Lambi Fund had provided for them, they were all able to successfully implement programs that expanded from simply plowing fields or raising pigs, to using the funds raised form their efforts to start micro-credit funds for organization members, mostly women, to start small businesses and participate in the marketplace economy.

Personally, I had previously regarded myself of a somewhat worldly traveler and was confident I understood concepts such as poverty and degradation and the extent to which they can permeate different societies, but it wasn't until I came to Haiti that I understood the extent that this could really happen. The Haitian people are trying to create a democratic society out of less than nothing and have been constantly beaten down by different ruling dictatorships, military regimes, foreign governments and false democratic leaders. They are on their own, with no support form the government and yet they have never lost their determination to pull themselves out of destitute poverty by coming together as communities and pooling their resources to create lasting change throughout the country. This is what I saw in the eyes of the people I met on my trip to Haiti. The indistinguishable drive to be successful, send their children to school, re-forest their bare lands and create lasting, sustainable change.

I am forever grateful to have gone on this trip and will always remember the people I met there. It has renewed my passion to work in the fields of sustainable development and human rights to see people with much less resources available to them than most, making the most of what they have and never giving up.