Ten new businesses are in the works from the latest batch of graduates of our Biznis Pam program.  Their start-ups will be funded by loans from Servants for Haiti using your donations.  Here is a sampling of a few of them:

• A young woman of 29 with a 2-year-old daughter will be selling clothes and cosmetic products.
• A 49-year-old woman with three children will market clothing and curtains, sheets, and tablecloths.
• One enterprising woman (40, with two children) will be offering building materials for sale.  Certainly her products will be in great demand in a nation in great need of housing.
• Another of our entrepreneurs is a young pregnant woman.  She’ll be using her loan to start a business selling cosmetics.
• There is a woman of 23 who currently attends university but needs her income to defray the costs of transportation to and from school.  Her plan is to sell clothing, including offering some to her fellow students.
• One Biznis Pam graduate will be offering food products outside Port-au-Prince, in the suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets.

All these business plans have been approved and will be funded as quickly as possible.

Entrepreneurs ready to make a difference in their families and nation.

One more important note: These people will be trying to feed themselves and their families (as well as paying off their loans) with profits from their businesses.  Because many Americans send cast-off clothes and other goods to Haiti, these businesses will be hurt; it’s hard to compete with free.  Rather than send your leftovers to Haiti, give them to a domestic cause, and donate cash to SFH to help support, not wipe out, these hopeful business owners.

For more background on the problem of material donations, read this post.

The third session of our Biznis Pam program is wrapping up.  Graduation from this session was held on Friday, January 18, 2013.  Participants who have successfully and diligently completed all course work and have their business plans approved will receive their loans at the start of February.

The ten students were chosen by the founder and administrator of Biznis Pam, Monite Métélus-Louis based on need.  Monite commented on this group, her largest class so far, as possessing a “good sense of responsibility.”

That attitude bodes well for their future success.  Once they have established their businesses and repaid their loans, the money will be freed up to put more students through the program and create more jobs.

As a side benefit of this work, we are employing people to administer the Biznis Pam program.  For example, one young woman was hired to work as a secretary for this training class.  She used the money she earned to further her own education in the medical field at Quisqueya University.

Thank you for supporting Biznis Pam and the future employers of Haiti!

Class members proudly display their course completion certificates.

Biznis Pam leader and instructor Monite (seated) with three of the graduates from the latest session. The slogan on the wall behind them is Creole that reads: “Plan, create, and how to manage a small business”.

For an update on the progress of our graduates, visit this post.

Back in November, our first Biznis Pam class graduated from entrepreneurial training.  We thought you might like to know how they’re doing today.

Monite, our field director and trainer, sent us an update this past week.  Here’s the good news:

Of the five people who attended the first class, four created business plans that were approved and funded with micro-loans.  (The fifth student didn’t meet all class requirements.)  All four new businesses are in operation.  Here is Monite’s report on the status of each:

Some of Johnny's treats ready for sale.

Three of the four new businesses are growing.  One of the ladies keeps thanking us for her  loan. Another, who has been selling women’s clothing recently started selling a new clothing item for men.  Our candy seller added cookies to his list of tasty products.

All four have already made their initial loan repayments on time.  All this reflects tremendous success for which we are very thankful and gratified.  It clearly affirms the effectiveness of our new program.

Monite’s summary of the work is, “…so exciting that SFH is involved in that!”

What’s next?  Monite is ready to begin her second session, with potential students on a waiting list.  The demand for the training is very high.  The only thing holding us up is financial support for the training and a new set of loans.  Our trivia fundraiser helped, but we need you, too.

Can you commit to helping a family start a new business and thereby a new hope for the future?  It’s more involved than sponsoring a child, but it pays long term dividends to the family, neighborhood, and nation.  Contact us or donate today to learn how you can be part of building a brighter tomorrow for Haiti.

Stephanie, our nursing student

On Thursday, March 15, a small cadre of SFH representatives traveled to Haiti to survey conditions in general and our work in particular.  We are pleased to tell you that there are many good signs to report.

We met with some of our post-high school students who are thriving and excited about their prospects.  Watch this site for more reports and profiles of these young people.

The initial batch of SFH-backed businesses has begun their efforts to support themselves.  We were delighted to find, in a local grocery store, candies distributed by one of our budding entrepreneurs.  We brought back a few morsels, some of which will be available for sampling at Trivia Night.

Our “man-on-the-ground”, Monite, is already gearing up for her next class, just awaiting funding.  Proceeds from Trivia Night will go toward that need, but extra donations are needed and appreciated.

Monite (far left) and her Biznis Pam students (l to r): Odulka, Shedlyne, Wilda, and Johnny

While in Haiti, we met several other groups doing their part to help our friends move forward.  Many of the projects are long range ones aimed at helping the Haitian people help themselves.  Initiatives to revive the dormant rice industry and other agricultural enterprises show tremendous promise.  We ate some of the local produce and couldn’t get enough of it.

Other works we heard about involved reforestation and creating an export market for Haitian coffee.

Efforts like these will some day make Haiti self-sufficient.  The Haitian people want to work.  They are tired of handouts and are willing to do whatever it takes to turn their homeland around.  With your help, we can create a new sunrise in Haiti.

It doesn’t seem possible that it has already been two years since the earthquake that shook the literal and virtual foundations of Haiti.  If you lived in a tent under constant threat of violence, disease, and the elements, it would feel like an eternity.

Servants for Haiti isn’t looking at the years but the lives.  With your support, we have educated more students, helped more hopeful entrepreneurs, and housed families.  For those folks, two years ago seems a lifetime away.

Stay with us as we look forward to more changed lives and a better Haiti.

God bless you for your support.

SFH wants to wipe the tears away. You can help.

The first group of students in our Biznis Pam program have graduated and we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s the proud class and their teacher, Monite (far right).

The five students  gave uniformly positive evaluations of their learning experience.  Some of their feedback included the following comments:

• Thanks to this training I know and understand what business is.  Thanks a ton, Biznis Pam.  Because of you and your help my dream will come true.
• I love all days of the training.  Now I am ready to create and manage a business. I learned a lot of things from the interactions between us.
• Now I know more about business.  I know how to reach as many customers as possible. Thanks a lot to the teachers.
• Thanks a lot for this training.  Now I will apply these principles in my business.
• I learned a lot that will help me in my business.  Thanks a lot to the teachers who were very kind to teach me those things.
• I hope that Biznis Pam choose more people for the training next time.

With your help, we will be able to fulfill that last wish.  We plan to have more classes and increase the size over time, but it will take funding.  Visit our online donation page to make it happen.

The next step for our budding entrepreneurs will be to implement the business plans that they developed in class using funds that SFH will supply.  Return to these pages to read about their progress.

Watch this video to see our first home building team in November 2011 create a home for a Haitian family.

Creating a home in Haiti

Make a difference for one Haitian family.  If you want to be part of the next home building team, visit our trips page and find one that fits your schedule.

An SFH team and a family with a new home.

Are you wondering what these houses are that Servants for Haiti is now funding and helping to construct?  Here are the details.

SFH is working with ASAM Ministries to build “temporary” homes for homeless Haitian families.  Unfortunately, temporary may become permanent unless economic conditions in Haiti improve drastically.  (SFH is working to make that happen, too.)  Fortunately, these homes will serve a critical function as they are.

Here are some of the features of the homes we are building:

1. They have locks. As mundane as that may seem, it’s the difference between safety and vulnerability to Haitian families.  The tent cities, which is where most of the families will move from to occupy these houses, are under the constant threat of violence from local criminals.  The incidence of rape and assault, as well as non-violent crimes such as theft, are out of control in the anarchic tent villages.  A lock is just enough protection to protect most families.
2. They are strong. Unlike a makeshift tent, these structures are built to withstand the rain and high winds that are common to the island nation.
   

   Rain collection system is a lifesaver.

3. The have cement floors. In the tents, families were forced to sleep in mud during and after rainstorms.  Plus, the water that came streaming through those tents is often contaminated with waste materials.
4. A rainwater collection system is built into the roof. In a nation where potable water is not available to most families, clean drinking water can save a child or an entire family from waterborne diseases such as cholera.  As of this writing, Haiti is experiencing the worst cholera epidemic in modern history.  Even before the epidemic, water-borne diseases accounted for more than half the deaths in Haiti.
5. These homes belong to the families. Home ownership is a dream for most Haitians.  Thus, providing a home, albeit temporary, is a major boost to a family’s sense of well-being and security.
6. Construction employs Haitian workers. Except for the tiny percentage of Americans who travel to assist in the building effort (including those who travel under the auspices of SFH), labor is provided by local workers.  Everyone wins.

If you want to watch a home being built, visit this page for a short video.

Saturday, October 15, 2011, marks one of the most exciting events in the history of Servants for Haiti.

The first of twelve classes for a group of aspiring Haitian entrepreneurs will be held with the sponsorship and support of SFH.  Haitian businesswoman and friend of SFH, Monite Métélus-Louis, will teach five men and women the principles of starting and running a small business.  When they successfully complete the training, SFH will provide loans so they can implement the business plans that they develop during the class.

Servants for Haiti will underwrite each student’s tuition, which covers the course and all materials.  In order to ensure the student is committed to the program, each one is required to pay a nominal registration fee.  Even after they complete the class and receive their loans, the students will not be left completely on their own.  Monite will follow each class member’s progress for three months to help increase their chances of success.

When this group “graduates” from the course in six weeks, a new session with a fresh set of future employers will follow them.  And the cycle continues…

Monite has named her training program “Biznis Pam“, a well-known and profound Creole expression loosely translated as “My Business”.  The motto for her initiative is:

If you plan three months: plant rice, if you plan ten years: plant trees, but if you plan for life: invest in your education.

Soon, after they have made that long term investment, her students will take their learning into the real world.  We fully expect them to report back on the success of those businesses. When they do, we will pass that news on to you.

This is exactly where Servants for Haiti wants and needs to be: enabling Haitians toward a new beginning, creating jobs and hope.  We – and you, with your support – are playing a small but significant role in the rebuilding of a stronger Haiti.  If you want to stand with us in this effort, please consider donating toward this program on our online donation page .

Monite Métélus-Louis

Get to know Monite here.

Return to these pages for more information on our business development plans.  We’re certain that you’ll catch our excitement about what God is doing in Haiti.

But what kind of help?

Permit me to explain the strange title of this post.

Whenever we send a team to Haiti, we are inundated with requests to carry gifts and other items down with us to give to the children and their families.  This is usually the result of great generosity on the part of the giver.  It’s hard to believe that bringing down personal care items, clothing, and food could have anything but a positive effect.

But there is a dark side to such giving.  For every item we bring, that’s one thing that will not need to be purchased in Haiti from a Haitian businessperson with Haitian employees.  In the case of a single pair of shoes or a single package of diapers, it might not seems like much of a deprivation.  But there are thousands of people taking thousands of items.  That makes quite a dent in an already floundering economy.

Taken to its extreme, this kind of activity can completely destroy an entire industry.  That has been the case with rice.  Haiti used to have

No Haitian rice available.

a thriving rice industry.  Subsidized rice from other countries, including the US, has made it cheaper to buy foreign rice than native rice.  As a result, there is no rice industry in Haiti anymore.

Servants for Haiti is more aware of this issue than ever.  We are now in the business of helping Haitians start businesses.  If those businesses are DOA because of free imported goods, our efforts are for naught.

What to do?  Send money.  If you want to give diapers to an orphanage or food for a family, give a team member the money to buy the goods in Haiti.  We hope to make that process easier over time.  For now, however, simply be aware that every shirt you send down is a shirt that won’t be bought from a local vendor.

This is a real problem with real victims.

Local markets can't compete with free stuff.