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Providing food for a lifetime
"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.”

Seaworthy boats and storage facilities are two components of Food For The Poor fishing villages.

Fishing Villages
Starving Haitian fishermen are surrounded by bountiful waters, yet cannot fish them properly. With rickety rowboats, they are forced to scour shallow waters and deplete the nearby reefs of tiny fish, which aren’t plentiful enough to even feed their families.

To remedy this situation and help break this cycle of poverty, Food For The Poor has developed fishing villages: a long-term, sustainable solution to improve the economic situation for these fishermen. We provide them with seaworthy boats, reliable engines, fishing tackle and safety equipment. This enables the fishermen to work in deeper, more bountiful waters with larger and more marketable fish. We also provide them with coolers and freezers to store their catch and storage sheds to keep their gear safe and protected.

Dependent on rickety boats without motors, poor fishermen can’t reach bountiful offshore waters.

In return for this assistance, the fishermen must agree to contribute a minimum of five percent of their catch to help feed the elderly and others in their communities who are less fortunate. Those working on the boats are required to pass along their skills and knowledge to younger members of the community. Food For The Poor’s fishing villages benefit not only the fishermen, but also their families and communities. Local clergy are involved to ensure that those in need who cannot fish receive help and assistance.

Tilapia farms are a sustainable food source. Each 5,000-square-foot pond accommodates nearly 7,000 fish.

Tilapia farms generally consist of at least three ponds that are rotated between stages of reproduction, nurturing fingerlings (young tilapia), and harvesting mature tilapia for distribution. The entire process, from start to finish, takes from four to six months. Once the fish have grown — from one-half to one pound — they will be ready for market.

The average size of the ponds being developed by Food For The Poor is 5,000 square feet, which can accommodate nearly 7,000 fish. A portion of the catch will be used to feed the needy in the town where the farm is located. The remaining fish will be sold in the surrounding communities at affordable prices to ensure that it is easily accessible to the residents. Still, enough income will be generated to pay the operating expenses of the farm and reinvest back into the production process.

Fruit Tree Nurseries
Another way to feed starving Haitians is by planting fruit trees. Your support offers saplings that will eventually make up whole nurseries. As new homes are built in the communities, the fruit trees will be transplanted and cultivated next to homes. The trees will produce mangoes, avocados and breadfruit.

These communities will not only receive saplings, but also the necessary agricultural equipment and education concerning the cultivation of the fruit trees.

Rampant deforestation has jeopardized Haiti’s future.

In addition to establishing a sustainable food source, planting fruit trees in Haiti will help combat deforestation. Charcoal production in Haiti is one of the only viable cash crops and has led to massive deforestation. Although Haitians know they are destroying their land, they have no choice but to continue chopping trees in order to feed their families. But the fruit these trees produce will provide a practical alternative that will also help remedy the ecological problems that deforestation has caused.

Budget
28-ft. Fishing Boat.......................................................$5,750
40-HP Outboard Engine..............................................$3,000
Entire Fishing Project..............................................$50,000
(four 28-ft. boats, four 40-HP engines, fishing tackle,
coolers, two storage sheds and safety equipment)
Tilapia Pond................... .............................................$6,500
Fruit Tree Nursery...................................................$50,000

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