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.
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