Community-Led Development on La Gonave, Haiti

Despite facing a wide range of challenges, La Gonave has tremendous potential to become a hub of strong community-led organizations and development. In fact, it needs to! Building on previously successful capacity-building workshops, Roots of Development has launched a multi-year, community development program designed to strengthen local leadership and improve quality of life on the island – with the hope that La Gonave becomes a model for the rest of the country.

Using a four-stage program, 18 established young individual leaders will be taught the fundamentals of community-driven development (CDD) and trained to become agents of change for the island. There will be 3 representatives selected from each of the 6 communal sections of Anse à Galets, with each representing a different community-based organization (CBO). In a bottom-up model for transformation, they will then teach their organizations and communities, creating an intertwined network of active citizens with strong understanding of CDD.

Just before launching the project, Roots conducted a series of evaluations to better understand certain social dynamics on the island. This included a comprehensive mapping of community-based organizations active on La Gonave and an investigation into the gender and conflict dynamics within communities there. This understanding will ensure that Roots is aware of and sensitive to the important social and political dynamics of the island.

The first phase, which began early in August 2019, included the selection of the community leaders and their initial training. Leaders were selected based on some of the following criteria: strong engagement and leadership in their CBO, recognized and respected across the commune, commitment to the inclusion of women and other marginalized groups, etc. It should also be noted that these individuals are not compensated for their work and understand that their positions as community leaders are entirely voluntary. This is evidence that this project is not only entirely dependent on their motivation, but also their trust and belief in Roots' approach to development. 

Additional components of this section will include the preliminary trainings of local authorities, as their participation and ability to facilitate the transformation will be of the upmost importance for this project to become self-sustainable.

The second and third phases will focus on the growth and expansion of their understanding of community-driven development within Anse à Galets. During phase two, the leaders will share the knowledge and skills they have gained with their host organizations. During Phase 3, with the principles of CDD adopted by the organizations, they will become trained partners of Roots and agents of change on La Gonâve. Roots will also identify the communities/leaders who have already initiated development projects of their own, providing them with accompaniment and financial support for completion. At this stage, the capacity of local government officials will also be reinforced.

The fourth phase will entail the replication of the previous three phases in La Gonave's other commune of Pointe à Raquette, which will bring the project to island-scale. While the initial stages will have been led by Roots, Phase 4 will be led by the leaders of Anse à Galets. In a collaborative, joint partnership with one another, the peer exchange from phase two will now be inter-communal.

Throughout the project, assessments of the impact of these workshops will be conducted by both internal and external evaluation teams. They will measure how the participants understand and internalize the skills and concepts, as well as how they incorporate them into the work of the community groups they represent. Additionally, they will analyze how successfully they have shared what they learned, how many times they shared and finally the results.

It is crucial that we continue providing local leaders and community-based organizations with these opportunities to strengthen their organizational management capacity. A project is only as strong as the community managing it. For development efforts and investments to truly be sustainable, they need to be owned and led by the community, but that community must have the opportunity to reinforce its strengths and strengthen its weaknesses.

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Background:

For years, Roots of Development has been providing local leaders on La Gonave with workshops, trainings, and project support. This program, ‘Twa Roch Dife’ was designed to concentrate, strengthen, and scale these efforts. Thanks to the donors below, funds raised at the end of 2018 helped launch this program, but we continue to need your support. Please make a contribution today to help us continue funding the program and setting an example of development that is truly community-driven. 

100% of the funds raised on this platform will go directly to this project.