Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 -- KAMAK Cooperative, Martino & Berrette

The School at Berrette

Seedlings

On the way to Berrette we stopped in Martino to see the seedlings the cooperative was growing, close to the river so as to facilitate watering.  Clement Clermilhomme, member of the KAMAK Board is responsible for the seed beds and he met us there.  Plants included were leeks, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants.

Meeting with KAMAK members

At Berette  we were joined by a group from the Texas parish of St. Philip the Apostle, which also assists Cavaillon.  We met with some of the community members and thanked them for their work and cooperation.  There was no school that day because of the Carnival holidays.  We noticed that the chapelle’s roof needed replacing as had been related by Father Lampy in his request to build a new church.  Fr. Lampy has made 1, 1/2 Carreaux (3 acres per carreau) available and the cooperative has rented an additional carreau at Berrette for corn and other crops.  This is in addition to the 1/4 carreau for seedlings at Martino and 1/2 carreau at Roche Delmas.  Land is being purchased or rented as needed.

Irrigation Project

There is an existing earthen irrigation system that brings water from higher elevations above Berrette and is maintained by the communities through which it passes.  Many parts of the system need masonry walls and other repairs. The rainy season had not yet started so there was no water yet for the Berrette land used by KAMAK.   The International Migration Organization and CARITAS are providing financial resources for parts of the system.  KAMAK has mobilized the community to participate in this very important project.  Labor rather than funding will be donated by KAMAK members in that the costs are very large and the work will be ongoing for several years. 

GOATS

In the fields above Berrette we saw a group of female goats and their kids that were purchased with St. Charles funding last year.  Included in that purchase was the beautiful improved-breed ram who showed his thanks for the harem we had supplied, by butting Chris and Bob, who got too close.  KAMAK also received 80 females from Heifer International, that were distributed to 20 families.  Each family was given four females with the understanding that the first six offspring would in turn be given back, 2 to  KAMAK, and four to another family.  In this manner, the goat program should be self-sustaining.  The $2,744 raised at our Alternative Gift Fair had just been received by KAMAK and it will expand this program.

Lunch at Boileau

Mike Frost, Alix Cethoute and Marie Maitre from the Texas parish of St. Philip were at Boileau for the week. We first visited the seed beds where Fr. Kinsey’s master-gardener was tending his beautiful vegetable plants.  Mike told us that the plants would be in the field that had been purchased by St. Philip for the rectory and the agricultural program that they have supported for several years.  The garden crops will be shared by the rectory and the school.  Mike and Marie expressed interest in involving the students in the garden project.

Meeting with COFECA

We met with a partner organization of KAMAK called COFECA, the women’s organization of Cavaillon, which had also received goats (20) from Heifer International.  COFECA has 144 members, of which 44 are in the 2nd Section of Cavaillon where Martino is located. They are very active and come from all five Cavaillon districts.  Their activities include a micro-credit program, rice cooperative, coffee cooperative, and processing of local products into peanut butter, jams, etc.  We met the individual sub-groups later in the week at Carrefour Citron and Berard Grande Place.  COFECA has applied to the LAMBI Fund for a micro credit grant of about $19,000 US. Each woman would receive $1,000 Haitian ($135 US)

Meeting with former Prime Minister, Ronny Smart

We were invited for a drink at Ronny Smart’s house in Martino.  He was Prime Minister under President Preval in the 1990s, is an agronomist, and worked 25 years in Latin America before being called back to Haiti by Preval.  It is Mr. Smart who got the Kellogg Foundation involved in the Nan Kanpech cassaverie that we visited later in the week.  Mr. Smart said that he is especially supportive of KAMAK because this cooperative has successfully recruited men as well as women.  He has found that too many such organizations attract only women.  Mr. Smart also encouraged KAMAK to get the irrigation system repaired, because irrigated crops profit not only from the water but also from the fact that they would require less fertilizer.

Students at Berrette