Restoring Livelihoods

Pierre Otege checks through a pile of jackets made for Haiti’s largest cellular phone provider. “We now get bigger contracts and are able to better serve our members when they need to use our sewing machines,” he says. Otege is the coordinator of ORAHDES, a co-op in Cité Soleil that unites tailors, shoemakers and bag makers to take advantage of modern production tools and techniques, as well as the ability to coordinate work on large projects, like the jackets.

ORAHDES does not have employees. Instead, when an order comes in, associate members are called in based on their specialty, which typically include school uniforms or T-shirts. Members are also able to come and use the facility and the machines to prepare their own orders.

Seneque François, a 52 year old bag maker comes to the coop on a regular basis to make his trademark leather briefcases which he then sells on the city’s busy markets. “If I was working alone, without this place and these machines, I wouldn’t be able to be as efficient,” he says. “We are a group, and from the group we each gain strength to become better craftsmen.”

ORAHDES is an economic success story, an example of how Haitians are restoring livelihoods in the most difficult areas and building civil society by working together. It is one of 700 projects implemented by PADF as part of its Community-Driven Development (CDD) program.

Operating with funding from the World Bank and the Haitian government, the PADF-operated CDD program organizes residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders into councils to determine their own economic priorities. Each group reviews proposals from residents, makes a selection, and monitors the implementation. PADF provides training, funding, and other support.

Because of the community’s participation, the government sees CDD as an effective model to rebuild the country. “The beneficiaries are in charge of their projects,” says Michael LeCorps, the director of the Haitian government’s Bureau of Monetization. PADF is “not only providing the funds and following the execution of the projects, but they also train the people on how to manage, how to do accounting; and also they have technical support.”

The councils are doing more than just restoring livelihoods. Today, they are making decisions about how to build back better.