Mission Crossroads

SPR 2014

Mission Crossroads is a three-time-a-year magazine focused on worldwide work of the PC(USA). It offers news and feature stories about mission personnel, international partners and grassroots Presbyterians involved in God's mission in the world.

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Mission Crossroads 7 mountain village. It's a 45-member group. Te women have children and once attended school themselves, but none fnished. Tey rise at about 4 A.M., begin gathering their items for market, prepare breakfast for their family, and get their children to school. Ten they begin what is at least a two-hour walk to Jeremie. When they have enough for a larger market, they carry the items on a tap-tap, a form of public transportation in Haiti. Te microcredit business has helped them buy more seeds. Tey plant more crops, which means more to harvest, more to carry to market, and more funds for the family. "We want to get more members," one woman told me. "We want to grow even more food." Most of these women are in their '20s or '30s. Tey work harder than their mothers did, they say. When they were growing up in the 1980s and early '90s, education was becoming more important, but more so for boys. When asked what their hope was for their own children, the answer was always the same: we want something diferent for our daughters. "I want her to fnish school," one woman said. "She can become a nurse or become a tailor. Or anything that she wants to be. I want her to be able to choose." Tese mothers' dreams are universal. Te members of KPGA, OFTAG, and the other organizations within FONDAMA, by setting their own priorities and galvanizing for change, are already laying the groundwork for making these dreams a reality. FONDAMA has the capacity to further these eforts by providing more training in leadership, advocacy, and agricultural practices. Te women's protest was a great success, shedding light on the region's needs to strengthen the role of women in agriculture and society, both locally and regionally. Te next steps include advocacy training, examining existing laws that impede women's rights and opportunities, and working to change those laws and the prevailing attitudes in Haiti's government. All of those eforts will be greatly enhanced by the hard work already being carried out, especially by the women who—at the heart of it all—want a better future for themselves and future generations. Based in Port au Prince, Haiti, as a Joining Hands network companionship facilitator, Cindy Corell connects presbyteries and churches in the United States with a network of churches, grassroots groups, and nongovernmental organizations in Haiti. Cindy will next be in the USA, based in VA, in 2015. Email rachel. anderson@pcusa.org to extend an invitation to Cindy to speak to your congregation or organization. MXR_1-20.indd 7 3/25/14 11:19 AM

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