TRADITIONAL AID 

To put it simply, the current model for aid to underdeveloped countries has simply not worked.  While billions of dollars have been spent in Subsaharan Africa, South America and the Caribbean, in most instances, the economic and political prosperity and stability of those regions have actually declined. 

This has been especially true in Haiti. While some may claim progress in certain areas, there has been such a decline in the country that others find themselves wishing for the bad old days of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier. Which, given the country’s history, is a shocking proposition.  

There are currently over ten thousand NGO’s (non governmental organizations) working in Haiti. And while their efforts and their intentions may be good, and while they may in fact be having significant impact on  small/individualized scales, the country as a whole (including the departments, cities and towns) are arguably worse  today than they were 60 years ago.  

There are many reasons for this, including;

• The donor countries have put their political interests above the interests of the people of Haiti

• Haiti’s leaders have put their personal interest above the interest of the country and its people. 

• Moneys which have been dedicated to helping Haiti have been misappropriated by both donors and recipients.

• Political instability has not allowed progress to take hold.

• Haitian have developed a mentality of dependency. 

• There’s a tremendous amount of skepticism and mistrust within the Haitian community.

• NGO’s take a piecemeal approach to aid rather than a comprehensive one.  

• and so on and so on.

Whatever the reasons, the fact remains, Haiti and subsequently Africa, deserve better.

Since traditional aid has not worked, a new path for development and prosperity must be found in order to truly affect change and engender progress in the country.

REALIZATIONS

In order for change to truly take hold and for Haiti to truly elevate itself  beyond its “third world” status, several things must be acknowledged. 

Namely:

• Change cannot come from without, it must come from within.

• Instead of NGOs coming to Haiti and doing work with the support of Haitians. Haitians must take the initiative to do the work  themselves with the support of NGOs.

• Haitians  must take the initiative to reverse the course of their circumstance.

• Change must  be focused and concentrated rather than diluted and dispersed.

• In order for change to be transformative it must be visible and tangible.

• Haitians must reverse the negative/unproductive mindset which has been ingrained in the culture. 

• Haiti’s problem is neither a lack of funding or opportunity. 

• Haitians can no longer afford to wait for funding or resources from the outside. 

• Haitians can no longer wait for their government to do its job.

• Fixing individual problems i.e., a faulty bridge, building a clinic, building a road or a church, while helpful, isn’t transformative.

• In order for Haiti to reach its full potential, the approach must be multidisciplinary and comprehensive. 

And most importantly:

• Haitians have the talent, the intelligence and the work ethic to make their communities prosper both economically and culturally. 

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LAMARDELLE REVITALIZATION PROJECT

The Lamardelle revitalization project reverses the current model of aid to Haiti.

The basic tenets of the revitalization plan are as follows:

• Identify a specific community in which to concentrate all the revitalization efforts.

• Identify the essential aspects of community development.

• Identify the specific needs of the community.

• Get the leaders of the community to agree to motivate and engage the people of the community to do the work necessary to address and fix the problems.

• Assign committees for every aspect of the plan.

• Appoint committee leaders to each committee.

• Make the revitalization plan a community based effort (aka  “Konbit”). 

• Create a reward based participation program.

• Work with experts and professionals to find the optimal solutions to the problems.

• Partner with NGOs and combine their efforts into a single comprehensive and supportive plan.

• Connect and assign the solutions to the committee leaders.

• Cater generic solutions to the specific needs, environment, resources and cultural nuances of each community.

• Recruit others to participate as the work develops. 

• Create visible change.

• Engage both the national as well as international media to cover the change.

• Promote greater participation and donations through media coverage. 

• Rinse and repeat.

Identifying a specific community.

FEJ (FONDATION ENFANT JESUS) is an organization which is working to bring education, healthcare and economic development to Lamardelle. FEJ educates over 500 children annually, provides basic healthcare to over 7000 every year, educates the community regarding HIV/AIDS, provides one on one counseling to individuals and trains the community on the importance of clean water. FEJ also runs an orphanage which houses over 70 children. They provide food, housing as well as healthcare to those children. FEJ also connects those children to their adoptive parents.

Because of the influence and impact FEJ has had in Lamardelle, as well as our connection to FEJ, Lamardelle was chosen as the community in which the project will be implemented.

As previously stated, concentrating all efforts in a single community will make the changes visible and therefore transformative.  The success of the community  will  then serve as a model for other communities to follow.