Objectives

Cite Soleil is Port au Prince's poorest neighborhood where at least 300,000 people live in abject poverty. Over the past two years, there has been an enormous increase in urban violence and in 2005 there was a dramatic rise in kidnappings, shootings, robbery and rape which has led people to refer to Cite Soleil as a cross between Bagdad and Mogadishu. Every few blocks is controlled by different gang leaders; the number of gangs in this area is said to exceed 32. The residents of Cite Soleil are virtual prisoners - afraid to walk in the street for fear of being caught in the crossfire of a gun battle. There is no work and malnutrition in children is rampant with more than 60% being extremely malnourished; many won't live beyond the age of five.

 

Malnourshment not only negatively affects the children of Cite Soleil, but the adults as well; with the most at risk being pregnant women and new mothers. Hunger and malnourishment affects people's health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. Interestingly, the five major contributers to hunger include poverty, armed conflict, environmental degredation, discrimintaion and powerlessness. Sadly, Cite Soleil fits into every one of these categories making the situation extremely disastrous and critcal.

 

The circumstances in Cite Soleil are not only dramatic, but extremely complex. Cite Soleil faces two major problems, the political in-fighting amongst the gangs and the absence of any economy which has led to acute hunger and malnutrition seen here.

 

Cite Soleil will no doubt be a major challenge for the incoming government. And if something is not done to correct the problems inside Cite Soleil, this will have major negative consequences that will affect not only Cite Soleil, but the many other popular areas of the capital. If the problems are not addressed today, it will lead to a much larger humanitarian and political crisis.

 

In order to stablize Cite Soleil it needs to be done in a peaceful and cohesive way.

 

Our program consists of four main Objectives:

 

I. Emergency food distribution to children, pregnant women and young mothers. This will not only provide immediate relief to those who are starving and malnourished, but it will also help us build a sense of trust amongst the community; including the gangs that are controlling the area. This will provide us with an entry point into the area to begin a peace building dialogue within the community.

 

Specific objectives :

 

Ø Provide emergency food relief to 1,000 families or 4,000 persons for a period of 4 months for a total of 16,000 persons.

Ø Provide fortified milk to 32, 000 pregnant women, young mothers and malnourished children for a period of 4 months.

Beneficiaries :

 

This program will benefit a minimum of 48,000 residents including men women and children. We will target the people that are the most needy as identified by QIFD and our local partner ngos OFACIS and REV located in Cite Soleil.

 

 

II. QIFD would also like to develop 20 mobile « kid corners » to provide a space for kids be be able to develop socially, culturally, physically, mentally and educationally. QIFD will set up these « corners » in conjunction with our local counterparts, OFACIS and REV. We will also identify local youth groups with OFACIS and REV to help us run these corners.

Specific Objectives :

We want to set up 20 mobile « kid corners » with 50 children each for a total of 1,000 children.

1. Mobile Library - we will read books to the kids, tell stories (sp. Local stories such as Bouki as well a functional literacy training through pedagogical techniques.

2. Mobile Art Center - including instruction on traditional drum playing, songs as well as drawing and painting

3. Mobile theater - We will develop puppet shoes with the kids as well as small plays to put on for the community that have an overall theme of peace.

4. Physical - We would like to have an informal basketball and soccer league (boys and girls) with the 20 mobile « kids corners »

5. Mobile counseling Center - We will provide two Haitian counselors to work with the kids to process some of the pyschological trauma that they have gone through due to all of the violence in Cite Soleil over the past several years.

 

It is our hope that we can expand these « kids corners » after the first year to be able to provide more kids in Cite Soleil an outlet just to be a kid and also to expand their horizons so they have a chance at a brighter future.

 

Each kid's corner with meet at least twice a week with monthly music and physical competitions.

 

Expected Outcomes :

1. To provide a minimum of 1,000 kids in Cite Soleil a creative, educational and physical outlet to be able to augment their capacities and provide them a more solid foundation for their future.

 

III. In conjunction with the Kids Corners, we would also like to develop Mother's Clubs that include the mothers of the kids who participate in the Kids Corners.

Specific Objectives :

We will set up 20 Mother's Clubs in association with the (20) Kids Corners

 

I. To provide family education trainings

II. To provide health trainings including HIV/AIDS and other STDS,infant health, etc.

III. Peace and community building trainings

 

Expected outcomes :

1. Provide women with education to help protect the health of themselves and their family.

2. Provide knowledge to women in how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases.

3. Give women the tools to provide community empowerement and peace building activities and trainings to the the women of Cite Soleil for them to be able to develop a foundation where peace can develop and women can take an active role in the economic empowerment of women in Cite Soleil.

 

IV. In coordination with the Mother's Clubs, QIFD will provide micro-enterprise grants to women with innovative ideas that will help to jump start the local economy. These micro-enterprise must have a community wide impact.

Specific Objectives :

 

I. Identify and provide micro-finance grants to 100 young women that have an innovative business idea that also has a social (health, education, environment, human rights) and economic impact within their community.

II. Provide business trainings to our entrepreneurs on a monthly basis for 12 months.

III. Provide social activism trainings to both the entrpreneurs and communities where they work

 

QIFD intends on providing microfinance grants of 5,000 HTG to women that are chosen through an application and interview process. In order to find exceptional candidates for this program we will utilize our field coordinators to help us locate potential candidates. We will then ask the candidates to submit a proposal (with our help if needed) and we will conduct a field visit to the communtiy to interview the candidate.

 

Each candidate will sign a contract of engagement and benchmarks that they will have to reach with their business over a 24 month period. QIFD will provide business trainings to the grant reciptients once a month and will conduct quarterly evaluations on the evolution of their micro-enterprise venture. We will follow these individuals and their commutnies for 24 months to ensure a positive implimentation of their endeavor.

 

Expected Outcomes

 

1. Provide 100 young women with the opportunity to implement a micro-enterprise with social underpinnings that will aid in the jumpstarting of the economies their individual communities.
2. Increase the economic and social viability of Cite Soleil.
3. Augment the capacities of these communitites in social entrepreneuship and activism through the business as well as through the monthly trainings with the communities.
4. Increase the business capacities of the 100 grant recipients.

Implementation

QIFD has spent many years in the field in Haiti and we have an expansive knowledge of Cite Soleil as we have worked in this area since 2002. We have an office within Cite Soleil that we share with one of our local partners REV. As we have a physical presence in Cite Soleil on a daily basis, we have an excellent rapport with the community and are able to come and go as we please without having issues regarding our safety which is essential in the ability to successfully conduct our work. We will work closely with our local partners in the area including OFACIS -one of the biggest and most active women's organzation in Cite Soleil and REV - a well established and local organization working in Cite Soleil on education and community development issues.

 

Our goal is to begin food distibution immediately for a period of four months. QIFD will work with OFACIS within Cite Soleil to identify our recipients and provide food distrbution support.

 

Both REV and OFACIS will actively help QIFD in designing and running the kids corners and mothers clubs.

 

Selecting recipients of our micro-enterprise grants will be conducted by QIFD's staff in our Port au Prince office in conjunction with both REV and OFACIS. QIFD staff will provide business trainings to these recipients.

 

 

Expected Outcomes for the Entire Program:

 

We believe that this program will :

 

1. Reduce the malnutrition and improve the health of 48,000 most at risk resdients of Cite Soleil. This will not only reduce the mortality rate within Cite Soleil, but provide us an entry point into the area.
2. Provide the most vulnerable children of Cite Soleil an outlet to increase their social, cultural, physical, educational and creative capacities to provide a foundation for their future.
3. Provide economic building opportunities for the women of Cite Soleil.