Since 2010, SHGO has teamed with Roots of Development, a nonprofit organization serving the Haitian island of La Gonave. Roots of Development’s philosophy hinges on the notion that grassroots development efforts can work to capacitate full communities in the assessment and actionable management of their own development. With an emphasis on empowerment and local sustainability, Roots of Development works to:
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Build, empower, and capacitate the local association APDAG, of La Gonave;
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Develop and implement community water solutions;
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Reconstruct homes and community spaces in need due to widespread poverty and the Haitian Earthquake;
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Support community-wide workshops for entrepreneurship, business-development, health outreach, and more;
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Catalyze local talent, energy and training opportunities for the development of indigenous social enterprises – such as a women’s wholesale business, tool/hardware depot, communications center, and other micro-businesses for local sustainability and economic development;
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Facilitate other community development initiatives to increase self-sufficiency.
Through SHGO’s partnership with Roots of Development, SHGO supports a women’s leadership and entrepreneurship intensive course for businesswomen-in-training on La Gonave. From this workshop emerged a solid business plan for the development of products for retail sale, with profits to sustain the business and uplift local communities and families – plus surplus funds for investment into a social mission to serve orphans and vulnerable youth. As the business begins to grow, Roots of Development and SHGO continue to strategize with the local community about ways this workshop – and others in the future – can increase local capacity and foster an empowerment that propels communities to innovatively manage their own development.
OUR PHOTOS FROM HAITI
