Grain Mill at Gros Marin
We met at the church and turned north towards the mountains
above Gros Marin. Close to the market we
were met by the operators of the grain mill which had been funded by PRODEP
using World Bank monies. PRODEP is the
program that brought Peguy to Cavaillon as its Coordinator about five years
ago. The community organizational
methods of PRODEP convinced us to hire Peguy to develop an agricultural
cooperative (KAMAK). A second round of
funding for PRODEP is in the works, and Peguy will again be involved, assuring
coordination with KAMAK.
The operators of the grain (corn and millet) mill showed us the
building and equipment. Having been at
the old mill on parish property in Cavaillon and having noticed the poor
condition of the motor of that old mill, we asked the Gros Marin folks if they
could help the Cavaillon staff find a replacement motor. They promised to help.
New School at Citron
We climbed the mountain to a community that KAMAK had energized
and assisted in applying for funding for
a new school. Students had been housed
in a Protestant church whose pastor asked them to leave because they were
damaging the building. The US
non-profit, BUILD ON donated materials and technical assistance in exchange for
labor and meals supplied by the local community.
It was a holiday because of Carnival, but the children were
there in uniform with their parents and teachers to greet us and explain their
hopes and aspirations. After meeting
with students and parents, we discussed their plans with the teachers and
parent representatives. They need
funding for the teachers and school supplies.
KAMAK is helping them apply for public funding.
Upon leaving the school we examined the coffee plants growing
nearby and heard that KAMAK was helping the growers with the formation of a
coffee cooperative that would be part of a regional coffee organization. Women from COFECA whom we had met the day before were leaders
in the coffee coop.
Pliché
After visiting the parish church and priest at Pliché we visited
a workshop where a women’s group prepares jellies, juice, candies, etc. These women had also met with us in the
COFECA meeting Monday. They need cooking
thermometers and other small instruments used in making their products. With a workshop in the lowlands of Cavaillon
the women said that their work would be facilitated because it is difficult to
bring cooking gas and sugar up the mountain; whereas taking fruit down the mountain
would be much easier.
Lunch at Gros Marin
Fr. Dutel said that the clinic was only open a couple days a
week. Upon his arrival as pastor of the
parish, there was nothing in the clinic, not even chairs and tables. He purchases medications for resale to the
community, but he has limited resources.
Fr. Lampy had told us that the public hospital was now open in Cavaillon
with two Haitian doctors and assistance from the UN. This was especially helpful during the
cholera epidemic. It has taken some pressure
off the Gros Marin and Boileau clinics.
Nan Kanpech cassaverie project
A group of the community residents welcomed us and provided a
demonstration of cassava-making. A
couple of men pulled two cassava tubers from the adjoining field, peeled and shredded
them on a rasp. After building a fire
and placing three rocks around it, they put a grill on top of the rocks. A woman squeezed the cassava in a cloth to
extract its juice. She sprinkled some
cassava on the grill to determine the temperature, and then sprinkled a first
layer into a thin circular frame of palm leaves. Once slightly hardened by the cooking, she
filled the frame with cassava and waited until the whole pancake was cooked
enough to turn it over. Our hostess
flipped the pancake over, and in a couple of minutes we had a cassava
pancake! Myriame, the KAMAK president,
had brought more cassava and “mamba” or locally-made peanut butter. She spread the mamba on the cassava and we
all ate a truly Haitian snack. (One we
may want to have for our Haitian students.)
The leader of this community group that belongs to KAMAK is a
young agronomist and cassava grower. See
the adjoining project description that KAMAK and this local group submitted to
the Kellogg Foundation and St. Charles for funding. The group wanted to know if we would support
them. We answered that we would if the
Kellogg Foundation agreed to do so. Bob
McNichols promised to make a significant donation for this project and we will
ask the St. Charles Haiti Committee to also contribute.
Rice Mill
Following the Cavaillon River south of town we came to the
community of Berard where women belonging to COFECA and KAMAK operate a rice
cooperative that was originally funded by PRODEP. Rice husks are first removed in the process
and discarded while the second outer layer is kept for animal food. In the local markets imported rice is 22 Gds
per marmite while local rice is 25 Gds.
We expressed St. Charles Haiti Committee members desire to use local
rice rather than imported rice in our nutrition programs.
The women want to add a building to the existing one for storage
and a workshop. The energy of this
community has put it on the list of communities that BUILD ON is considering
for a new school.
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