Saintanièse is part of a group of 100 CLM families supported by HTF that started on the path to a better life in September. Here's an update on her progress. Throughout the coming weeks we'll share more updates from HTF-sponsored CLM families, so keep coming back to see the story of hope and new life unfold!
Saintanièse has made good progress since she started in the program. She chose goats and small commerce as the activities she would receive, and she got training in both. We gave her three small goats, but unfortunately one of them died shortly after delivery. But between the money she raised by selling the meat and her savings since she started they program, she is almost ready to replace it.
And that’s not all she’s accomplished with her savings. She puts a part of her weekly food stipend into a savings club, called a “sòl.” Each week, one of the sòl members receives the whole pot. Such clubs have become an important tool as we teach CLM members to plan and to invest. Saintanièse took her sòl money and bought a small pig. Pigs are risky. They frequently die. But they also gain and produce value more quickly than other livestock. So her purchase could return significant reward.
She has also started small commerce, in a sense. She buys small quantities of green coffee beans, and then roasts and grinds the coffee, selling within her small neighborhood. It’s an activity she was able to establish with a minimal investment from money she had saved.
But she is anxious to start a larger business with the merchandise her case manager will buy for her. She plans to buy vegetables in Port au Prince and bring them for sale to the Central Plateau. We haven’t yet transferred her small commerce to her. We wanted to let the first months of school pass so that she wouldn’t be tempted to use the capital to pay for school. But Saintanièse is ready: “Depi m jwenn, m ap brase,” she explains. “As soon as the money’s in my hands, I’ll put it to work.”
