Kathie Culhane-Pera’s Report
Visit to Floresta-Haiti in Fonds-Verrettes, May 3-May 4, 2010
Global Mission in Haiti
St Clement’s Episcopal Church
May 23, 2010

Floresta- Haiti or Floresta-Ayiti
(Guy says that they are keeping their name in Haiti, as Plant with Purpose in English means nothing to Haitian people.)

Floresta-Ayiti works in 3 departments (like states), 7 districts (like counties), 75 villages/ communities with 3500 members. They have 43 staff, including 3 agronomists, and 21 assistant agronomists. They have a good working relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture, but he feels that the Ministry of Environment does more meaningless paperwork than takes effective actions. His assessment is that their NGO is different than other NGOs: They teach people to do the work themselves; their staff is from the local area; and they include spiritual connections. They measure activities, growth, and member satisfaction.

Their main activities of soil conservation, agroforestry, animal husbandry, micro-loans, and spiritual support have been supplemented since the earthquake by Cash for Work programs and direct food and seed support. Each “member” received 25 kg rice, 4 l cooking oil, and 30 lbs of bean seed.

Each community has a committee, whom the members choose by a democratic process: Leader (president), secretary, treasurer, and two other members. The leaders may or may not have other leadership functions, such as a minister or teacher. Currently there is only one female leader. They run the monthly meetings, the micro-loan bank, and the Bible study. For micro-loans, each village decides how much a share is worth, and then members buy as many shares as they desire, and borrow from the pooled money. Floresta has put in additional funds, as the pooled money is often not enough to distribute for loans.

Fonds-Verrettes (FV)

Fonds-Verrettes is a region in Haiti, not “just a watershed” area. Floresta-Ayiti and Floreta-Dominican Republic started working there is Sept 2006, before the devastating 2008 hurricanes, and increased their partnership after that. Indeed, there are different watersheds in different directions, encompassed in FV region, where they are working.  One “watershed” area goes down (NW direction) to the city of FV, part of which was decimated with flooding in 2004.  Another goes down (NE and SE direction) to the Dominican Republic. There are other NGOs in the area promoting soil conservation, clean water, and education. 

Currently they have 475 members in 10 villages in FV, with an increase of 15 people in the last 3 months after the earthquake. The villages (with French and Haitian names):

Bonhomme                          Bonom
Beanos                                   Beyanos
Kadisso                                  Kadiso
Bas Terre Froide               Ba Te Fwad
Haut Terre Froide            Wo Te Fwad
Bas Barassa                         Ba Barasa
Haut Barassa                      Wo Barasa
Gros Mat                              Gwoma
Saint Lois D’Haiti             Sen Lwi Dayiti
Plaisir                                    Plezi

They have 5 + 2 part-time staff in FV:

Assistant Manager                                              Eli Chery
Assistant Manager from another area       Claude Smith Antoine
Technician                                                             Ketty Alexandre
Technician                                                             Fritz Serge Jean
Cook                                                                         Madame Paulette Pierre
Guardian                                                                 Martial Marcelus
2 Part-time technical support staff             Dieusel Darius, Jean Wilner Saintil
Mechanic (he was there during my visit)  Jean Yves Laurent

My Meeting with Members
On Monday May 3^rd at 4:00 PM, 46 Floresta members from FV gathered in a church next to the office to talk with me. They started with a song, led by a 30+-year old woman. Guy introduced me, encouraged them to share their experiences with me, and asked them to answer my questions. I re-introduced myself and St Clement’s, explaining that we had sent money to Floresta-Haiti, that we wanted to partner with them as they did their work in FV, and that we wanted to know them, as brothers and sisters in Christ. At the end, I asked them how we could get to know each other better. I offered that I would take their stories and their pictures back to St Clements, and I would send them pictures in return.

One by one, people stood, introduced themselves (name and village) and formally expressed themselves -- men and women, young and old.

Gerard Jules (an older man, minister, with deformed right hand) - Barasa Berno Mathieu (middle aged man with lots of gusto, who spoke many times)
–Wo Te Fwad
Jean Wilner Saintil (middle aged man who spoke many times) - Bonom President
Madam Yvrose Paul (middle aged woman) – Ba Te Fwad
Madam Silta Ewold – Barasa
Madam Sache Rosane Chery 
Madam Marie Denise Verdieu
Man – Ba Te Fwad
Bozie Miel
Gella Teasori
Aldismey Brunel – Barasa Secretary
Midels Chery
Che Santilo – Ba Te Fwa
Darius Dieusel – Ba Te Fwa Secretary

They said:

M’aime Floresta: I love Floresta.

Floresta es m’manman, m’papa: Floresta is my mother and my father. 

Floresta does not give me things, but has taught me to do for myself.

Floresta has taught me how to compost, how to increase the yield of my soil.

Floresta has taught me how to plant with natural fertilizers, graft trees, and raise goats.

Floresta has taught us to conserve our soil and decrease our erosion.

Floresta has taught us how to pool our money, and loan it to each other.

Floresta has permitted us to be a big family of 10 villages, united in preserving the land, Floresta helps us partner together.

One man quoted a Haitian proverb: Men anpil chay pa lou. Many hands, the load is not heavy.

Guy quoted another Haitian proverb that supports our partnership:
Yen sel dwet pa manje kalalou.                   One digit alone cannot eat ochre.
Yen sel nou feb ansanm nou fo.                  We alone are weak, together we are strong.

My observation of FV activities

Agro-foresty: When I arrived, there were a large number of trees in front of the office. Guy said that the drought had hampered their tree nurseries, so they had purchased seedlings, and they were waiting for rains to plant them. The trees were of various types: avocado, lime, oak, cedar, pine, frenn (kreyol name), and bamboo. That night, they moved the seedlings to a different place to water them. The next morning I woke up to men and women picking up the seedlings. I followed them, as they went to a nearby field and planted the trees. There semed to be two staff: one man who explained how to plant the trees, and another man who walked around with a clipboard as they planted. Generally, men swung the axes to make the holes and women planted the trees. In between the new trees were banana trees, corn, and bean plants. Apparently, farmers also plant cabbage, potatoes, rutabagas, beets, onions, carrots, pigeon beans, and peas. I did not see any field rice.

Soil conservation: On many fields, but not all,  I saw barriers of rocks and ruts built perpendicular to slopes to decrease soil erosion. When we drove out of Ba Te Fwad, I saw others that other NGOs had built.

Soil quality: I saw compost piles. One man described how his compost pile helps him grow better crops, saves him money on fertilizer, and raises money when he sells the compost. The soil in the fields I walked in seemed of varying quality: one was chock full of rocks with little soil; others had more soil and fewer rocks. Most of the corn was very short, but a few fields had 2-3 feet tall plants.

Clean drinking water: I saw cisterns that catch and funnel rain water from roofs, which FLoeresta had built, but which other NGOs have also built.

Animals: I saw chickens, some pigs, lots of goats, several mules, and one horse. One problem the people described was keeping other people’s animals out of their fields.

Churches: There are many (total number?) churches in these 10 villages. I saw several: Catholic/ Protestant/ Church of God. Most were small, and had their own schools. I walked into one service; people were singing, led by the minister. I didn’t see any books. We drove past the closest Episcopal church, Saint Sacrament in Fonds Parsien, which is on the paved highway before the dirt road that goes up to FV; 1.5 - 2 hours away for Floresta-Haiti office.

I asked people about Bible Study. Two men replied:

1. Berno: In his village, they meet for one hour twice a month to share a verse. Each person talks about the meaning of that verse in their lives.

2. Darius Dieusel from Ba Te Fwad said they meet on the 3^rd Sunday of every month for business and then on the 4^th Sunday of every month for Bible Study. They all come from different denominations. In the past, a lecturer would explain the passage and they would ask questions. Now they read the verse together and ask two people to comment on a word that has meaning for them, and talk about the verse in relation to their lives. There is no discussion, and no comment. “It is God’s story.”

I asked Guy his opinion: how could we connect with the people? He didn’t seem to have any concrete ideas, but generally applauded the idea. I asked: should we connect with the churches? He explained that last year he met with the ministers from all of the churches in FV and they discussed how they could formally partner together. They said they would want to get permission from their church leaders. Generally, I think that for us to chose one church and work with that church would undermine the unity that is occurring between people of different churches and in different villages, under Floresta.

Conclusion:
Floresta is doing great work in Fonds-Verrettes and I believe they are a good partner for St. Clement’s, based on our 5 criteria and our increasing commitment to Environmental Stewardship. The farmers in Fonds-Verrettes are embracing Environmental Stewardship. They are doing God’s work. They cannot do it alone. And we cannot do it for them. Rather, together, we can do great things.

We should continue to send money, and continue to work on how to increase connection and relationship. A trip for other members of St Clement’s would be helpful to build relationships.