Project Results — Fishing Villages

Fields that were once empty are now filled with papaya and guava trees, and ponds brimming with tilapia. For twenty people in Honduras who formed a cooperative, these self-help projects from Food For The Poor are a lifeline out of poverty. The group was given seedlings and the necessary materials, and then trained to harvest and market the fruit and fish. The cooperative has become so successful that it now exports papaya to El Salvador.

“All the people from the cooperative were very poor. Since this project started, their lives have gotten better. The whole community has improved,” said Evelio
Caracmo, leader of the cooperative.

Food For The Poor development projects not only improve the health and welfare of the poor; they also provide self-sustainable sources of income to entire communities. In Haiti and Jamaica, destitute fishermen once had rickety rowboats. The fish they caught were small and barely enough to feed their families. Now these fishermen are hauling in tremendous catches, thanks to the establishment of new Food For The Poor fishing villages.

Fishermen in these areas were outfitted with everything needed to catch deep-sea fish. Each fishing village received four fiberglass boats with outboard engines, 100-quart coolers, safety equipment, a locked shed to store equipment, global positioning system (GPS) fish finders and kerosene freezers to store the catch for
later sale at the local markets. Coastlines are mapped to locate the best fishing areas, and fishermen learn how to use the GPS and market their catches. The fishermen contribute a minimum of 5 percent of their catch to feed the community’s poorest residents, and they train young men and women in fishing to pass along their skills to the next generation. The fishing villages are monitored by Food For The Poor staff in each country.

From harvesting fruit to harvesting fish, those who receive these projects are given the dignity of earning a living. Through your gifts to Food For The Poor, you share Christ’s love and give a lifeline of hope to destitute people for generations to come.