Your Gifts at Work in Haiti
Presbyterian gifts are at work supporting ministries
of compassion, peace and justice around the world.
Through One Great Hour of Sharing and gifts to the
Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP), we and our
partners are working to alleviate hunger and
eliminate its causes. In reaching toward this goal,
one of the ways Presbyterian gifts are at work is
through grants that support partners working in their
home countries to bring about transformation.
In 2015, a grant from PHP is supporting the
Association Changing the Face of Ravynn Olyann
(ACHVRO), the peasant association in Ravin Olyann,
Haiti, in partnership with the Lambi Fund of Haiti.
This grant was made possible thanks to gifts to the
Hunger Program, including a generous donation from
Presbytery of the James.
Project Goal: to increase production of sugar cane,
provide training in business management and
accounting, and establish a small micro-credit fund
to expand business opportunities for women in the
community. In this small community of 4,500
people, the main source of income is farming and
trade; the main crops are sugar cane, peas, corn and
millet.
Activities
 Addition of an additional hanger (194 ft2) at the
sugar cane mill in Ravin Olyann, to protect the
sugar cane prior to milling.
 Purchase of four acres of additional land to
cultivate more of the crop (decision for this
purchase was made by the entire membership
of the association and benefits all involved.)
 An additional cooker for the syrup has been
acquired, and a search for three additional
cookers of the preferred type is underway.
 A credit fund was established for women who
sell the syrup, to allow them to expand their
small enterprises. 34 women have benefited
from loans and all have paid them back with
interest.
 Retail sale of the sugar syrup has expanded
beyond the local market. Women now sell in Port
de Paix, Gonaives, Anse Rouge, and Saint Mark.
 The association is attracting more planters to its
membership; begun with 90 members, it now
has 125. Hundreds of other community
members also utilize the mill owned by the
association to refine their products.
 The credit fund for planters was increased, and
planters were able to till more land and expand
sugar cane production. 37 men received loans to
further their production.
 Hands-on credit management training was held
for two days; 15 men and 19 women
participated.
 Thirty members received training in
organizational development. Four members will
attend regional training in the fall.
Members of the association are now better able to
respond to an increased demand for cane syrup.
Women who take the syrup to the market are
increasingly returning with goods like corn produced
by others, creating an economic multiplier effect
which benefits two communities at a time.
Lambi Fund of Haiti
ACHVRO started with the creation of the mill; in 2011
PHP supported its purchase of a boiler for processing
sugar cane into cane syrup.
Learn more about where gifts to OGHS and the
Presbyterian Hunger Program are at work:
pcusa.org/hunger/grants
Prayer Concerns
Prolonged drought began in the summer of 2013 and
continued into 2015, causing loss of the corn crop this
spring. Climate change and the lack of forest cover
across Haiti, which is 98% deforested, is having a
significant impact on the weather and soil conditions.
ACHVRO is seeking to locate the preferred type of
additional syrup cookers to aid in production.
Help alleviate hunger and learn more about the Presbyterian Hunger Program at pcusa.org/hunger.