2023-07-11 08:01:58
Yolande Saint Louis describes herself as a person who takes pleasure in helping others, offering her services to anyone who needs them. When other women ask her how things are going, she replies that she likes her community of Mapou, in south-eastern Haiti, and she doesn’t want to live anywhere else. This despite the fact that many have left the area to settle elsewhere in Haiti or abroad.
From these simple facts, it’s easy to understand why this 42-year-old single mother was one of 1,200 women who participated in a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiative — “Support the Haitian government with a view to the socioeconomic empowerment of rural women”— implemented in the communes of Thiotte and Belle-Anse (Mapou is part of the latter).
In the rural areas of Mapou, the main sources of income for the population are agriculture and livestock, but due to the lack of road infrastructure and other basic services, the community faces considerable difficulties in achieving food and nutrition security. In addition, one third of farms are run by women. However, the participation of women in the areas of decision-making and leadership remains low.
The FAO project aims to empower rural women by supporting their economic activities and helping them access resources. In particular, this has meant supporting the creation of village savings and loan associations, which help women invest in their own agricultural enterprises and entrepreneurial activities.
Yolande hosts the meetings of her village association in her own home. In her community, there are two groups of borrowers, each of 30 people. At present, each group has about USD 2,700 (416,000 HTG) in cash, and 18 people in each group have benefited from the loans. This money can be used for anything from paying children’s school fees to starting businesses or putting a plate on the table during holiday periods.
According to Yolande, “For the first time in the community we have this kind of credit group. Before, we were forced to ask for loans that we later found it difficult to repay”.
In total, the initiative has led to the creation of 16 women’s savings and credit groups, to which FAO has also provided an expert to offer support and equipment, such as calculators, savings books and safes to store money. in cash from the associations.
Yolande has taken a different path than many villagers. In addition to overseeing her farm, she runs a bakery that caters to customers from both Mapou and abroad.
He is responsible for about 20 employees who work on his land and take care of the cattle for a salary. She has the income she needs to support herself and her family.
But she, too, has encountered many difficulties due to the current crisis of violence that reigns in the country. Before, she used to travel to the capital, Port-au-Prince, to buy supplies, but now she prefers to give the money to drivers so they can buy what she needs because, according to her, “I was mugged several times when I went to buy goods ”.
A role model for many women in her community and abroad, Yolande remains very attached to her roots in Mapou and prefers to live there rather than anywhere else.
Yolande is also the coordinator of the Organization of Women Advisors (Oganizasyon Fanm Konsekan Mapou, in Creole), an association that owns a maize mill that was provided under the FAO project and serves the town. Before the mill reached the community, local people, especially women, would travel to a mill near the border with the Dominican Republic to grind the corn, but sometimes return empty-handed due to delays. , the breakdowns that occurred on the way or the crowds in the mill itself. The local corn mill has solved that problem.
It is clear that the initiative “has played an important role in reducing the inequalities that women face and that they are now in a better position to contribute to the development of their communities,” says Mr. José Luis Fernández, FAO Representative in Haiti.
Although the needs of women are still considerable, the fact that they invest in themselves is a small but significant step towards transforming their lives, those of their families and the lives of society in general.
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