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History of FONDWA
1-Introduction
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1.1- Fondwa is a small community village in the western province of Haiti between Leogane and Jacmel. It is the 10th Communal Section of Leogane and at 30 minutes from Jacmel and from Leogane. Fondwa is at 80 kms from Port-au-Prince, a 2 hour-drive. It has 900ms heights, 28Km2 and 8,000 people. Fondwa is a mountainous region and more than 80% of the population are peasants. More than 50% of the population are less than 20 years old. There are 6 other different rural communities which benefit from the works of APF, about 50,000 all together. |
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Before 1988, there was no basic infrastructure in the area: the people had no access to roads, drinkable water, health care, education, telephone, electricity, financial services or technical assistance for agricultural activities. Although the people of Fondwa paid taxes, they receive no services from the government. In response to the isolation and lack of assistance, the people of Fondwa and their neighbors took action and created a project of integrated rural development. In April 1988 the peasants with the help of many other friends organized themselves and founded the Peasant Association of Fondwa (APF). |
2-APF Beginnings and the Story of Fondwa
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Our first meeting was held on Sunday, April 24, 1988, in the courtyard of St. Antoine
( St.Anthony) the Catholic Church of Fondwa with about 50 people ( Haitians and non-Haitians) who reflected together on the various problems that affected Fondwa and the other rural communities in Haiti. We were reflecting on the liberation process of the peasants and the quality of training that they should have to help them solving their own problems with their own resources. Right after that meeting, we set up a Committee of nine people who were responsible to organize the follow-up of what needs to be done to develop the area for and with the people. |
We have helped them to name the problems in the area to organize themselves, to set their priorities and to identify the ones that they can solve themselves with their own means without asking help from outside. Among the problems they have identified were the desertion of the young people who left the village because of lack of:
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opportunities good road which would enable them to communicate with the rest of the country educational opportunities in the area healthcare facilities and drinkable water technical assistance to the farmers in the community financial support to the small entrepreneurs and small businesses social services from the government even though they are big tax payers |
Finally they set their priorities and identified building a rough road as the main thing that they can do for themselves without asking help in the beginning from the outside.
For the first time, two years after hard work as a group, we sollicitated some financial help from friends and organizations. We were very fortunate at that time to get a small fund from Fondation Richard Brisson (with the help of Mrs Michèle Pierre-Louis, the actual director of FOKAL) which enabled us to complete the work on the road and to purchase a piece of land. This is actually where we have built the Community Center of Fondwa and where we have the Clinic of Fondwa, the Radio Station ( Radyo Zetwal), the office of the Credit Union of Fondwa (KÒF), the living place for the volunteers, the residence of the sisters Of St. Anthoy of Fondwa and the Guesthouse Center where we welcome guests from all over the world. The starting of this construction work was funded by the “ Association des Leoganais a Montreal” and Ceipal in France. It did take us about twelve years to do the whole construction work. The last part was financed by a loan from Fonkoze ( Fondasyon Kole Zepòl) in 1999. |
