* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Viola
Viola Saint Fleur is 32 years old. She had a small road-side business and was on the road when the earthquake started. She fell down when the shaking began, and a building crumbled on top of her. She faded in and out of consciousness for several hours, and was taken to the hospital by community volunteers, where she finally woke up.
The doctors at the hospital informed Viola that her leg was severely damaged and they had no choice but to amputate it. She was extremely shocked and upset.
Viola did not receive any support from her partner, who left her after her amputation. While he sends money to help with their 9-year-old daughter’s school fees, he’s not providing any other support.
Unable to walk, Viola was not able to work at her road-side business, and had no way to generate income to care for herself and her daughter. Each day is a struggle for Viola and her child.
Then, a neighbor told Viola about BRAC’s Limb and Brace Center. After her first visit, she thought, “They will give me the ability to walk. … I was happy.”
Two weeks later, Viola had a brand new prosthetic leg, designed out of durable material that is easy to clean and maintain. She practiced walking on her new leg, which felt heavy at first, and gradually grew accustomed to it.
Soon after, Viola was back to work. “I do the same business as before,” she says. “I have no problem.”
Now, instead of worrying about how to provide for her family, Viola spends her free time playing with her daughter. She hopes that her daughter will grow up to be a doctor, so she can help people, too.
Nicola
As a grandmother, Nicola not only works to provide for herself, but also to help support her children and grandchildren.
Even before the earthquake, Nicola had trouble doing this.
She tried to cultivate rice and maize, but found it to be too difficult. Even for young people, cultivating rice and maize is a backbreaking endeavor, and Nicola had little information about good quality seeds, fertilizer, or planting methods that would help her get the most out of her crops.
Four months ago, one of BRAC’s staff approached her and asked her to become part of our pilot nursery program. She agreed, and was given seeds and materials to start a tree nursery.
BRAC gave her seeds for papaya, mango, avocado and timber trees, and taught her how to plant and care for the seeds so that they grow into seedlings (small trees) which she could sell on the market. A BRAC staff person visits her weekly to see how the trees are doing and to give her tips.
Three months after starting the program, Nicola had seedlings large enough to make her first sale: four papaya trees at HTG 30 apiece. Not only is Nicola’s micro-franchise generating income for her and her family, but it’s helping to reforest her country.
Dieulita
This is the story of a member of Fonkoze’s Chemen Lavi Miyo program, for which BRAC provides technical assistance.
Eight months ago when Dieulita Fleuri became a member of Fonkoze’s Chemen Lavi Miyo project in the Central Plateau, her life was consumed with just one task each day: finding food for her five children. Eking out a daily existence consumed Dieulita, yet rarely did her children eat on consecutive days.
“Most days, I would boil leaves and hope the next day would be better” she says. Things became so difficult that she sent her two oldest daughters, 16 and 18 years old, to live with a cousin in Port-au-Prince. Her sons, 12 and 14 years old, ran away to live with their dad in the Artibonite 15 miles away. She has a three-year-old with the man she has been living with for the past six years.
Today, Dieulita is making big plans. Dieulita has confidence in her future. “For the first time in my life, I look forward to waking up and starting my day.” She plans to send for her boys, now that she believes she will be able to put food on the table for them regularly. She hopes one day her daughters will return and work with her.
Although she has just begun, Dieulita is building a successful business. Since becoming a CLM member, she has been training to become a micro-entrepreneur. With the help of the program, she started selling food products such as rice, oil, beans and sugar.
“There was too much competition,” she says. So with the help of her case manager, she switched to selling chickens and ducks.
This business has flourished. “On a good day, I can buy 10 to 20 chickens and ducks and resale them that same day at a good profit in the market place.” She goes to work at the open market three times a week, and spends the rest of the week tending to her goats and her small farm plot at home.
Before starting CLM, Dieulita had virtually no assets, and certainly no assets that would produce income. She was given three goats through the program, but now, just eight months later, she has six goats. She also has many chickens and a small garden of corn and beans.
Bengi
On January 12th, the house that Bengi lived in with her three sisters, mother and step-father collapsed because of the earthquake. For four months, Bengi’s family lived with her grandmother and some other family members – a total of nine people living in a house the size of two sofas.
In April, Bengi’s older sister was finally able to procure a tent, where her family huddled together and prayed that the heavy rains and hurricanes wouldn’t wash away their temporary home.
Fondwa, where Bengi lived, was one of the areas severely affected by the earthquake. Many people had their homes damaged or destroyed completely. Dangerous landslides washed houses and livelihoods away.
In July, BRAC began a housing project in Fondwa. We worked with local community members and provided training on how to build houses that are earthquake and hurricane resistant.
We got to work hiring and training local staff and procuring local materials, thus providing an important boost to the local economy and teaching community members much-needed skills in carpentry and construction.
Now, Bengi and her family have a brand new house. As she sits out on the porch doing her homework, she has confidence that it will stand through any hurricane or earthquake.
