t h e i f u p dat e / s p r i n g 2 0 1 2
the if
update
in
this
issue
top story
haitian pride poultry farm
project updates
Haitian Pride Candle Factory
Susie’s Bakery, Kpobiman, Ghana
if foundation welcomes:
Louissaint St-Martin
Brock Wackerle
H a itia n P r id e p o u lt ry far m b r i n g s
job creation and hope
to rural haiti
The community of Thibeau is located about 40 minutes southeast of Cap Haitien in
the commune of Milot. Every day, families living in this peaceful, rural village struggle
to find employment, making it difficult to have access to the basics in life like proper
nutrition, clean water, and education. Education, which many of us take for granted, is
not free in Haiti. If families can afford to send their children to school, many times the
children arrive for class with an empty stomach, or if they are lucky they may have had
a little bit of coffee with sugar and a small piece of bread.
the haitian pride poultry farm
logo as translated in creole
in a continued commitment to create jobs and improve livelihoods in Haiti, the
iF Foundation is launching the Haitian Pride Poultry Farm this August. Haitian Pride
Poultry will raise layers for egg production and broilers for meat. The layers will be
housed in Larevoie and the broilers in Coronel. Haitian Pride Poultry will start production with four flocks of broilers and one flock of layers enabling the farm to produce
approximately 1200 broilers and 81,480 eggs per year. The broilers will be sold live
c o n t i n u e d o n pa g e 2
t h e i f u p dat e / s p r i n g 2 0 1 2
h a i t i a n p r i d e p o u lt ry fa r m ( f r o m pa g e 1 )
at market priced by the pound, while half of the eggs produced
will be sold at the market price of .15 cents per egg. The remaining
eggs will be used to implement the first ever breakfast program
for 300 school children in Dubre, giving these students an opportunity to eat a nutritious meal before school starts twice a week.
the site of the haitian pride poultry layer house in larevoie
there are many ways you can partner
with the haitian pride poultry farm.
please contact the if foundation
development office for more information.
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Each poultry house will have top of the line equipment to include
metal roll-out nests, hanging water containers, feeders and double
bucket water filtration systems ensuring that Haitian Pride Poultry
drink only clean water, decreasing the risks of disease. In addition, daily protocols will include making bio-security a top priority,
producing the freshest, healthiest chickens and eggs in all of Haiti.
While oversight of Haitian Pride Poultry will be the responsibility
of the iF Foundation Country Directors, Edlyne Cange and Jean
Magnus Regis, daily operations will be the responsibility of four
farmerswho are receiving training and support from local poultry
experts at Haitian Broilers, a subsidiary of Jamaican Broilers. We
are extremely grateful to John Ward, a retired poultry executive,
formerly with Arbor Acres for his guidance and direction on the
development and construction of the poultry houses, recommendations on the purchase of supplies and equipment, training, proper care and handling of the flocks and to Sheila Janino,
President of AGvisory, Inc who has provided recommendations
on optimal business practices, protocol and marketing. Sheila has
worked within the global marketplace for over 20 years with a
focus on agricultural and economic development.
In a country where most of the population is dependent on the
Dominican Republic for chicken and eggs, the Haitian Pride Poultry
Farm will strive to produce the freshest chicken and eggs, hopefully decreasing the amount of imported products purchased by local
Haitians.
direct benefits of the poultry farm
1
employing haitians
One of the new managers for the Haitian Pride
Poultry Farm is Antonio (above center). In addition, Antonio is the leader of the first iF Foundation
volunteer group in Thibeau. Also pictured (above
left) is Magnus, iF Foundation Country Director
and Tiben, Staff Assistant in Haiti (above right).
2
breakfast for school children
300 children from St. Joseph’s School in Dubre
will receive a nutritious breakfast twice a week.
Breakfast will include Haitian Pride Eggs with
cassava or bread.
3
creating community pride
The Haitian Pride Poultry logo was hand painted
on each poultry house by a local artist in Thibeau.
The construction workers and many passersby
have commented that “this is Haitian Pride.”
t h e i f u p dat e / s p r i n g 2 0 1 2
2. susie’s bakery
While driving through the crowded
streets of the capital city of Accra it is
common to see street vendors. At every
stoplight, intersection and toll booth
vendors approach cars to sell items
such as paper products, dvds, produce
and baked goods. One of the women
responsible for supplying these vendors
with their product is the owner of
our most recently established project
in Ghana.
candles
t i b e n , s ta f f a s s i s ta n t i n h a i t i r e m o v i n g a n e w b atc h o f c a n d l e s
project
updates:
1
2
1. lighting wicks, illuminating futures
The candle business in Haiti has undergone
many changes over the last year. As mentioned
in the 2010 annual report, the group was hoping
to be able to improve the machine used to
produce the candles. The old machine was made
from wood and required a great deal of manual
labor. The workers spent the entire day making
one machine which produces 320 candles.
The process consisted of removing the candles
from the previous day which had been left to
cool and set over night, cleaning and oiling the
moving parts of the machine, heating the wax,
re-wicking the machine, pouring the wax and
then allowing that set to dry overnight. This
was just the labor put into the actual creation of
the candles, not to mention the packaging and
marketing of the product. The old machine was
labor intensive which did not leave time for the
marketing and sales of the candles.
Thankfully, in January a new candle machine
was delivered to Coronel, Haiti, greatly improving
the production possibility of the group. This
Chinese manufactured machine is made of
stainless steel and has water channels running
throughout so that the cooling process occurs
rapidly. The process was simplified from the
multi-step process above to only melting the
wax, filling the machine, cooling the candles in
a matter of minutes and then extracting
the candles. The machine no longer requires
constant oiling or restringing the wicks into
the machine. It is a systematic process that
greatly reduces time and labor.
This new machine produces 240 candles at a
time and if running efficiently the workers can
produce 10 machines per day. This means that
the production increased from 320 candles per
day to 2,400 per day. Since the machine
c o n t i n u e d o n pa g e 4
Susie has been in the bakery business
her whole life. However, before partnering with the iF Foundation her bakery
was run out of an extremely confined
space and her small staff struggled to
keep up with the demand. Now Susie
has a larger facility located in a business
district in Kpobiman. Although Kpobiman
is located in the Greater Accra Region,
just outside the capital, it resembles that
of a rural community that lacks schools,
clean water and sanitation.
Since the expansion of her business,
Susie has employed more staff in order
to keep up with demand. Her 10 employees start working at 5 a.m. and often
don’t get home until after 10 p.m. Susie
and her staff hand mix the dough for
bread, allow it to rise and bake it in time
for their 20 regular street vendors to pick
up their purchases by late morning. Over
300 loaves of bread are baked and sold
each day. Besides bread Susie’s Bakery
also makes fried plantain chips, sweet
baked goods and savory meat pies. Durc o n t i n u e d o n pa g e 4
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v i s i t w w w. i f - f o u n dat i o n . o r g
a n d f o l lo w u s o n fa c e b o o k !
t h e i f u p dat e / s p r i n g 2 0 1 2
i l l u m i n at i n g f u t u r e s ( c o n t i n u e d )
s u s i e ’s b a k e ry ( c o n t i n u e d )
no longer requires a large staff to run the daily operating, there is now a team of two who have been properly
trained to use the machine. The two men producing the
candles, Fredelin and Ronald, have been involved with
the iF Foundation over the past year and have proved
dedicated to the efforts of the foundation and determined
to help improve the communities that they live in.
ing the holiday season she often receives nearly 100 special orders per day. Once
Susie repays her loan she is hoping to set aside money to open a second location
so that she can have more space for equipment such as new ovens and mixers.
The drastic increase in production has placed other
obstacles on the production team. The workers are
now faced with the challenge of increasing the market
potential so that they can sell the candles as fast as they
are being produced. Just like with the Poultry Farm, we
have branded the candles as Haitian Pride Candles. We
are hoping to build brand recognition and loyalty through
offering Haitian made products to local communities.
They are looking into markets such as church festivities
who often use candles. For this marketing outlet they
have also started to experiment with colored candles
which will be produced using the colors associated
with the church or town. This color does not add much
production cost but will allow for a slightly larger profit
margin. The other main use of candle light is for students
living in rural areas such as Thibeau and Coronel to study
by. Since there is no electricity in these rural communities the students are forced to rely on the small amount of
light produced by the candles.
f o u r o f t h e s t r e e t v e n d o r s w h o s e l l s u s i e ’s b r e a d
Susie works to empower the employees on a daily basis and hope that an
additional space will not only give her the opportunity to create more jobs in the
community but will also give her current employees opportunities to manage the
new facility. One of her employees has been in the business for over 30 years and
through his job at Susie’s he has been able to provide his daughter with a college
education. Susie is a role model for the young women in her community and with
the success of her bakery she is able to provide job opportunity for her friends
and neighbors. She is an excellent example of what a woman living in poverty can
accomplish if she is provided with the proper resources.
The production of these candles is extremely important
for the youth so that they can continue to gain valuable
education and contribute to improving the country of
Haiti. Stay connected over the next few months to learn
about ways that you can directly contribute to the success of the candle business and help to light the night for
studying students!
Launch of the Haitian Pride
Poultry Farm
The iF Foundation Compound
in Haiti breaks ground
Insight Trip to Haiti:
August 6th - 17th
Your partnership with the iF Foundation
can play a key role in creating job opportunity for families living in rural Haiti
and Ghana. The iF Foundation develops
partnerships to meet the goals of each
corporate donor while also meeting our
mission of creating sustainable economic
opportunities for the disadvantaged in
the developing countries of the world. We
would like to extend our reach in Haiti
and Ghana—improving the lives of more
families through economic development.
We rely on you, our corporate partners
to achieve this goal. 100% of every dollar goes directly to support economic
development projects, so your company
action
august
call to
if foundation
calendar of events
investment in the iF Foundation impacts
families who would otherwise not have
the chance to build a brighter future.
Corporate partnerships are diverse; ranging from an outright gift to underwrite
a project, a matching gift campaign, an
employee driven campaign and even
in-kind donations. For more information on how your company can become
involved please contact Eileen Spencer at
718.554.2962 or espencer@if-foundation.
org. On behalf of our community partners
in the developing world, thank you for
your generous support and commitment
to improving the lives of others.
t h e i f u p dat e / s p r i n g 2 0 1 2
we are growing!
louissaint st-martin (tiben) joins the if foundation staff in haiti
Born and raised in Milot, Tiben recently joined the iF Foundation
staff in Haiti as the Assistant to the iF Foundation Country
Directors, Edlyne Cange and Jean Magnus Regis.
Tiben is fluent in French and Creole and is currently studying
English. Tiben has a certificate in economic science from Faculte
de Droits des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion du Cap
Haitian and a certificate in computer software from Centre
Informatique de Formation et de Recherche. Tiben began as
a volunteer with the iF Foundation in 2010 demonstrating his
passion and desire to improve the economic conditions in
northern Haiti. We are blessed to have Tiben as part of the
iF Foundation family.
board members
brock wackerle : grant development specialist intern
We are excited to welcome Brock Wackerle to the New York
team as a Grant Development Specialist Intern. Brock is
a rising Junior at Cazenovia College studying Equine Business
Management. In 2008, Brock dedicated a month of his time
traveling throughout Haiti building schools in Jeremie,
Cap Haitien and Port au Prince. He will be spending two
months this summer working on researching, identifying
and applying for grants that meet the iF Foundations needs.
His help is coming at a crucial time as the iF Foundation
reaches the 10th anniversary and the projects are soaring
to new heights.
“Spending a month in Haiti in 2008
building schools was one of the most
eye opening experiences I’ve had and has prompted me
to believe there is more I can give being as blessed as I am.”
Thomas Iovino
President & Founder
Judy Iovino
Lauren Iovino
Michael Iovino
Dale Okonow
staff
The Rev. Canon James E. Byrum
Managing Director of the iF Foundation
718.554.2961
[email protected]
Eileen Spencer
Director of Development
718.554.2962
[email protected]
Megan Relyea
Associate Director of Development
718.554.2963
[email protected]
Edlyne Cange
Country Director, Haiti
[email protected]
Jean Magnus Regis
Country Director, Haiti
[email protected]
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mission & vision
We need you to help us expand our reach in Haiti and
Ghana. By engaging your circle of friends in our work
you can help us expand our on-line community creating
a greater awareness of our mission. Connect with us on
Facebook, follow us on Twitter, Tweet about our work
and read our blogs. Sharing and connecting information
with your friends and family is the surest way you can
show support to our partners in the developing world.
The iF Foundation works to create sustainable economic
opportunities for the disadvantaged in the developing
countries of the world, enabling and empowering the
people living in these communities to create their own
pathway out of poverty.
We envision a world in which all people have the
opportunity to evolve from operating out of day to day
necessity and survival into operating with a focus on
sustainability, growth and planning for the future.
Louissaint St-Martin ( Tiben)
Staff Assistant, Haiti
Isaiah Amissah Addison
Country Director, Ghana
[email protected]
26-15 ulmer street
college po in t n y 113 54
www.if-foundation.org