PICO Haiti On-Site Report
Organisation Peuple Ecumenique du Nord-Est (OPODNE)
by John Baumann and Ron Snyder
January 14-20, 2014
“Others have come, they train leaders, and expect charity. They pay people who come to meetings. When they leave,
there is nothing left. I would not participate in OPODNE if I didn’t believe that we will be different. We want to be a
model”. (Florcie Tyrell, OPODNE Board Member)
We came to Haiti with the question: Is organizing viable and sustainable in Haiti? We left with the conclusion that
organizing is a risk, but can be a powerful instrument to rebuild neighborhoods and communities in Haiti. We are
convinced that people we met have the will to take the risk and will implement the PICO model for political and
economic reconstruction that Haiti needs.
Background:
Haiti is physically beautiful. People are strong, entrepreneurial and generous. They are committed to their country
despite the history of foreign intervention, political corruption, coups, and natural disasters. The Northeast District
where we started PICO organizing sits next to the Dominican Republic border along the ocean. Fort Liberte is the district
capital. At one time, there was thriving agriculture, fishing and industry. All of this was pretty much wiped out by
corrupt governments siphoning off resources, leaving large tracks of barren land and no industry. Recently, the district
has been the focus of revitalization efforts by the U.S. and other foreign communities, primarily through investment by a
Korean apparel company, SAE Trading , in a garment producing industrial park in Caracol. Some new housing
construction to attract workers is underway using foreign funds, but how this will benefit residents remains unclear.
Residents presently move to larger cities or to the Dominican Republic to find employment.
Leadership: OPODNE board, Local Organizing Committees (LOCs, Clergy, and Staff)
The board is made up of representatives of the various LOCs who take their representation
as leaders and trainers very seriously. There is transparency about the governance and
money of OPODNE and there seems to be collaborative decision making.
Francois and Fr. Rochenel
The LOCs that we visited were made up of lay leaders. All the members were articulate
about their issues, the history and needs of their communities, their vision for their
communities and expressed a strong sense of commitment to OPODNE. There is a sense of
transparency and accountability that comes through as well. They have a solid
understanding of the PICO model of organizing and have done a broad set of visits to
identify issues. They are eager to move to action. It is apparent there will be strong
participation once issues are identified through research.
The leadership provided by some clergy is strong. Fr. Rochenel Jean Baptiste chairs the board. Bishop Max Leroy
Mesidor is publicly supportive and willing to bring PICO to the Cap Hatien Diocese when he leaves Fort Liberte Diocese.
Fr. Piquion wants organizing at Caracol and is very strong and talented.
Staff leadership is also strong. Francois Piere-Louis (PICO Haiti Director) has been thoughtful and thorough in
establishing the board and LOCs. He has multiple, strong relationships across the district and the country from his
extensive history in Haiti politics and community organizing. Joanel Mondestin, a community oriented medical doctor
and public health practitioner, has similar multiple, strong relationships across the area. Chrisne Baptiste, who provides
much of the day to day leadership, is articulate, well respected and well connected to all the LOCs. He is the day to day
glue and appears to have the makings of a good organizer.
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Issues: there is no shortage of needs and issues.
Poverty stemming from governmental structures that are ineffective
and/or corrupt impacts people in multiple forms. People have
identified basic economic development needs (agriculture, fishing,
animal husbandry, etc.), education (school fees, youth training
programs for employment, etc.), health (malnutrition, preventives
services, etc.), public infrastructure (water, electricity, housing, etc.)
as issues. While there is a long history of dependence on others,
leaders express the will to overcome this and do for themselves.
Chrisne Baptiste at Paulette Co-op
Government and NGOs are described as helping maintain a culture of dependence. Clergy describe the continual
requests they from people in need. Reports indicate that the huge sums of money going to Haiti through government
and NGOs do not reach the people. By some estimates less than 10% of foreign aid and private donations reach the
people. It is not clear how to make these structures work to address issues. In fact, organizing may be about
reconstructing these relationships.
Responding to a request from the Terrier Rouge community, the Mayor opened the opportunity to do a presentation to
the Council of Mayors in the Northeast District. This could provide a space for leaders to move into the public sphere
and to make sure that the organization is viewed as “the people’s organization” with a new way of doing business.
LOC leadership identified their communities, land and labor as significant resources. There are strong networks of
relationship that exist through staff, clergy and leadership into NGO, political and community structures. These
relationships can be bridged to access resources if they are there. A vegetable garden cooperative in Paulette
(described below), with some involvement by LOC leaders, provides a strong example of a self-help, self-governing
economic development project that is self-sustaining and increasing income among co-op members.
Co-ops in some form may be the structure to provide the experience of governance, transparency, and accountability
necessary to insure broad ownership by the community and provide a model to those in government and NGO sectors.
Research and planning are necessary next steps to find potential partners (NGOs, government, professional people),
identify resources (either government, NGOs, or loans) to provide expertise and money, and do a business plan to judge
viability and sustainability. Moving forward on an issue is a risk that must be taken for the sake of leaders and
organization, but must be done with thoughtful consideration to make sure the first issue chosen leads to at least
modest success. Research action also provides the opportunity for leadership to move into the public arena and can
prevent and perhaps overcome the transactional broker model of getting things done. If everyone owns it, success is
more likely and possible failure could be accepted.
Meetings
OPODNE Board:
We met with members of the board both at the beginning and at the end of
our visit. Initially they provided an exchange about their vision and needs. At
the end they received and responded to feedback from our visit.
The board is composed of leaders representing each LOC. They are high
quality leaders who take their job of representing their LOC seriously. They
articulate the vision and need for the organization well. They expressed
appreciation for being part of PICO International, recognizing the resource of
staff and training as critical to development. They see what they are doing as
OPODNE Board members with Ron Snyder
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entirely different from other NGOs – not being dependent on others but doing for themselves. There is transparency in
decision making about process and resources. They have rented an office in Terrier Rouge in the center of the Northeast
District. It is a strong symbol of stability for the organization. They have accepted a donation of 5 acres of land near
Paulette from the local mayor. How this resource will be used by the organization was not articulated. Making decisions
about land, budget, staffing, issues and transition to a permanent board are next steps.
Bishop Mesidor and Priests
Bishop Mesidor expresses strong support for OPODNE. He has been assigned
to the Cap Hatien Diocese, and who will take his place at Fort Liberte is
unknown. A half hour presentation to 30 priests from the diocese was warmly
received.
A meeting with the Bishop, Fr. Rochenel and the Directors of Caritas and CRS
explored possible partnerships on projects in the Northeast. Sustainable
funding for projects is a big challenge for them.
Francois, Bp Mesidor, Jonel, Fr. Rochenel,
Fr. Medenel
Grand Bassin LOC:
Grand Bassin LOC
Grand Bassin is an agricultural village about 10 minutes from Terrier Rouge.
Like most other areas in the Northeast it is vulnerable to cycles of heavy rain
and severe drought which has brought devastation to agriculture. It serves as a
religious shrine for the Catholic Church with a cave-like grotto where people
come on some occasions. We met with 12 very articulate and committed
leaders who are teachers, catechists and farmers. They described big needs in
areas of health (malnutrition), agriculture (crops and animal productivity),
education and training for young people. Previous efforts at collective work to
raise chickens and cattle were devastated by disease and poor planning.
Possible issues might include some collective, income-producing cooperative
efforts with chickens or goats.
Capotille LOC:
We were unable to visit this LOC because of political protests that closed the main road.
Ouanaminthe:
We also did not visit because of the protest that closed the road. We were scheduled to meet Jesuits who work at the
Jesuit Relief Services Center. Ouanaminthe lies on the Dominican border, and is a hub to import goods to sell in Cap
Hatien. Nearly all goods are imported to Haiti, including a significant proportion of food. There is significant tension
between the two countries, with the Dominican Republic denying citizenship or residency to people of Haitian descent,
because of internal political issues. Haitians go to Dominican Republic for work. Dominicans produce goods that are
exported to Haiti.
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Paulette LOC:
Paulette LOC
Paulette lies closer to the sea. It is largely agricultural. On the way to the LOC
meeting we visited a vegetable farm cooperative that offered the most
hopeful indicator in the trip that a people driven organization can do
successful economic development. With a loan, the co-op has been able to
dig wells, irrigate fields, and establish a vegetable nursery and farm. They
report that income in the past year was $20,000, half used to expand the
operation and half to provide income of $2,000 for 100 co-op members. We
met with 12 LOC representatives from Catholic and Baptist churches. They
identified issues of farming (livestock eat their gardens), animals (fencing),
repairing the lake, etc.
Phaeton LOC:
Phaeton lies on the sea, with a beautiful, unused beach. We met with 10
leaders. The strong LOC chair related the tragic history of Phaeton that was a
thriving community supported by the sisal (a strong white fiber made from a
tropical plant) industry at the time of World War II, supporting healthy
livestock, horses and farming and its own airport. When the U.S. pulled out,
the Duvalier government sacked the village, destroyed the factories and now it
is one of the poorest communities in the country. Like other parts of the
country there are the very old and the very young, with most 30-50 year olds
Phaeton LOC
relocated to make a living. LOC leaders have determined to make a go of
addressing issues of salt manufacturing, fishing and farming.
Terrier Rouge LOC:
Terrier Rouge is in the center of the district. It is agricultural with a history of housing
workers for the sisal industry. The OPODNE office is in Terrier Rouge.
Terrier Rouge LOC
We met with 5 strong and articulate leaders. They are determined to break the cycle of
starting and not finishing projects and the dependence that NGOs create.
Caracol
This is another extremely poor town, sitting next to the industrial park. We visited with a
Holy Cross priest who serves the parish. The community has a brand new school built with
resources from Germany, and now has huge challenges operating it. Fr. Pierre, pastor, has
degrees in sociology and planning , and a history of making things happen. He identified
issues of economic development around salt production, fishing, and farming. He wants to
figure out how to capitalize on the industrial park, and will bring people together to form an
LOC.
Francois and Fr. Pierre
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