Micro-enterprise
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Many poverty-stricken families throughout the Caribbean and Latin America lack the education and means to support themselves. Food For The Poor strives to make these families and communities self-sustaining by offering micro-enterprise opportunities to those who have no income or livelihood.
Often, jobs are scarce in the destitute nations we serve. Parents search desperately for work to provide for their children, but often they remain unemployed or earn meager wages. By offering micro-enterprise opportunities, Food For The Poor helps raise the standard of living for families and communities. |
To improve the lives of families who spend long, grueling hours rummaging through the garbage dump, parishioners of St. Peter of Alcantara Catholic Church in Port Washington raised money to build a vocational center in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala through Food For The Poor. The multi-purpose center will be used to teach residents a trade that enables them to become self-sufficient. The center will offer training in sewing, embroidery, baking, tailoring, literacy and nutrition. Additionally, the center was given the equipment needed for hands-on training, including electric sewing machines, clothes irons, industrial stoves, bakery mixers, and a computer for training and record keeping.
FAST FACTS - MICRO-ENTERPRISE
We support self-sustainable projects for communities and provide educational opportunities for the development of the poverty-stricken.
To accomplish this, we have developed several micro-enterprise programs that help the poor help themselves. Some of these projects include:
- Fishing villages |
- Automobile repair shops |
Providing the poor with long-term, sustainable-development to the poor is a priority at Food For The Poor.
Another type of sustainable food project to help families in countries we serve is the establishment of fish farming ponds. In Haiti, Food For The Poor is introducing protein-rich basa fish to the country for the first time. The 3,000 fingerlings stocked in fish ponds have the potential to improve nutrition in protein-starved diets and will ultimately produce three to four million fish a year. The fish will not only feed hungry families, but will also provide a source of income.
One example of a recent fish-farming project is a large-scale tilapia farm in Nagua, Dominican Republic that will improve the financial condition and economic growth of many neighboring communities. With the support of the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), Food For The Poor established the Rio Baqui Tilapia Farm Project as a way to battle poverty and hunger in the area. Individuals work to raise the fish, feed their families, sell the fish for a profit, and teach younger generations the skill of fish-farming.
(The picture above is the product of one of our micro-enterprise fishing ponds.)
Food For The Poor also promotes fishing villages, providing the training and equipment for fishermen to practice deep-sea fishing. We have established these types of micro-enterprise projects in Jamaica and Haiti. Along the coast, poor fishermen have limited access to resources, but they do not lack potential. Having adequate training and equipment enables fishermen to be successful in their efforts and earn a good income. These fishing and marketing skills can then be passed on to future generations so they also will thrive.
Because of generous donors like you, Food For The Poor is able to provide food and income to families that otherwise would not able to feed themselves. Your gifts for self-sustaining projects are truly life-changing.
- April 2010
