A New Model for Strengthening Rural Communities

Two questions. Two short answers.  But concentrated in this Haitian mother’s responses to these survey questions is a story of tremendous suffering. 

“Three who aren’t with me,” means her poverty and despair compelled her to send three of her children far away to possibly live as restavèks—children enslaved in domestic servitude—hoping those children would at least survive and maybe even have a better future than she could give them. Her second response indicates that she doesn’t have the money to send any of her children to school.

In Haiti, where the per capita income for most rural people is well under one dollar (U.S.) per day, the answers this mother gave in response to our survey questions are not unusual. And it’s not just school tuition that’s out of reach for many; decent housing, basic healthcare, and sufficient nutrition are inaccessible, too.

These two questions come from a nine-page survey Beyond Borders is using to collect data about families and households in some of the rural communities where we are working. The survey tracks details not only about current members of each household but also about children and others no longer in the household because they’ve died, moved out, or been sent away into servitude. The survey tracks how everyone is related, their educational experiences, how well they eat, how much land and what kind of animals they might have, their daily activities, and much more.

Most rural communities are excluded from the basic infrastructure of roads, electricity, water and sanitation systems. Few rural households even have an identifiable street address, so survey teams receive training in the use of handheld GPS devices that they use to document the exact location of each household.

To date we have surveyed over 1,300 households in three different rural communities in Haiti. Our sister organization in Haiti, the Limyè Lavi Foundation, selected these three communities from among the dozens of Haitian communities in which we work to pilot what they call Inisyativ Kominote Modèl (IKM) or the Model Community Initiative. 

Information from the IKM surveys is being stored and analyzed in a database and will be used to help these communities better understand their needs, establish goals and priorities, and commit to activities that will help them progress toward these goals. This initial survey process also allows us to establish a baseline against which we can evaluate progress in each household and community. 

Beyond Borders is partnering with local organizations in each community to help develop strategies and offer tools and resources to tackle the local challenges.  For example, we’re training farmers in sustainable agricultural techniques that will help them grow more food while improving the environment.  We’re investing in economic initiatives that will not only generate income for community members but also provide revenue that will allow local schools to offer free education to children whose parents can not afford tuition. We are investing in teacher training to improve the education local schools provide. We’re offering adults a variety of educational opportunities as well—our work in literacy training is just a beginning.  Parents will receive training in parenting skills and learn about the risks facing children sent into servitude.  We’ll be offering instruction in family planning and training in reproductive health to reduce the transmission of HIV. We have started training social workers who will build community support around the poorest families and help them find and recover children they’ve sent away into servitude.

Data collected from the nine-page survey is uploaded to a database using a new Web application that, for example, allows program staff and social workers to identify and support vulnerable families and children at risk for being sent into servitude. This page identifies 90 children in one rural community who deserve special attention because they are living apart from their parents.