My immediate impression on arriving in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in June 2011 was that conditions remain desperate 18 months after the January 2010 earthquake. Bare subsistence living is the plight of nearly everyone; the great majority of people in Port-au-Prince lost loved ones during the collapse of buildings that occurred immediately after the quake began – this sadness lingers, along with the tent cities, barely-passable roads, and rubble.
I was also struck by the strategic importance of promoting businesses in Haiti. As in every country and people-group, there are entrepreneurs in Haiti who have the vision and determination to start new businesses. ‘Teaching a man to fish’ is not what’s called for, much less giving a man a fish – helping a man run a fishing business is.
Dr. David Befus, serving as a consultant for the BPN, has worked with a group of Haitian Christians who have all the required qualities of an entrepreneur. Many participated in a business plan contest announced in March 2011. Dr. Befus provided training in all aspects of managing a small business; loan officers assisted contestants in the preparation of their plans. On June 25, the
winners were announced at a special meeting and training session in Port-au-Prince.
Those who submitted the most viable business plans are (below, in the front row, right to left):
- Pierre Roosvelt – First Prize – Fish (Tilapia) Farm
- Gabnel Kesnel – Second Prize – Chocolate Production
- Che’ry Renise – Third Prize – Ice Cream Production and Sales
Mr. Roosvelt has been trained by Valentin Abe, a TIME 100 Honoree for building farms to produce “the fish that could feed Haiti”. The chocolate company Mr. Kesnel worked for was ruined in the quake, so he is now starting his own business, using cacao beans which grow abundantly in Haiti. Mrs. Renise has made and sold ice cream previously, but now she has taken training on new packaging for ice cream products from Partners Worldwide, another BAM project working in Haiti. This will allow her to produce a more attractive product with better margins. These three businesses alone have the potential of creating 12-15 new jobs.
Essential to a successful business development program is the local infrastructure that can provide training and mentoring for the entrepreneurs, as well as accountability for the funding. Behind the winners are the three directors of the program: (left to right) Dr. David Befus, former president of Latin America Mission and advisor to BPN for programs in Latin America and the Caribbean; Ms. Guerlyne Sanon, the loan officer who works with each of these entrepreneurs; and Mr. Jean W. Plymouth, the program director, who now trains and supervises 9 loan officers.
Each of the winners is a believer in Christ and belongs to a local church. Gabnel Kesnel’s pastor invited us to their church the day after the awards ceremony, where Gabnel was honored for his prize. This also gave the pastor an opport-unity to affirm the Biblical importance of work and taking financial responsibility for one’s family. Jean Plymouth and his team have been invited to give seminars in the church on starting and growing a business. This is the need of the hour in Haiti for the indigenous church and for the country.
Business people at Riverwest Church in Lake Oswego, OR, provided the funds for these three awards. They can continue to be involved in the project by sending business people to train both the loan officers and the entrepreneurs. Additional business plan contests would be welcomed, with more funding at similar levels. Conferences can also be arranged for the benefit of established businesses, as the BPN has done in other countries. There are, of course, many opportunities to augment business development with other forms of mission, including medical work, reconstruction, counseling, child sponsorship, and church planting. For-profit opportunities also exist for foreign direct investment which will also produce Kingdom benefits.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO SEND SPONSORSHIP SUPPORT for the girl pictured here. She is the daughter of Gabnel Kesnel, a winner in the business plan contest. He will be providing for his daughter from the earnings in his own business. An answer to his prayers!
