On the 4th of October 2016 Haiti was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew, a category 4 storm with wind speeds of 235 km/h. The consequences of the hurricane were tremendous and are still felt today: expansive damage to houses, fields and cattle, destruction of infrastructure and numerous casualties. According to the latest United Nation’s Report, more than 1.4 million people have been affected. The UN World Food Programme estimates that up to 80% of the harvest was lost.
A
Fischerboote
Haiti
2018
At the end of 2016, Hurricane Matthew destroyed scores of fishing boats. Through the purchase of new motorised boats the fishermen will be given a renewed source of income to fight against the hunger of daily life.
Project name
Fischerboote
Location
Haiti
Project partner
The international Children's Fund "nuestros pequeños hermanos" (nph) has been helping children and families in Latin America and the Caribbean since 1954. 3,200 children are currently living in 10 children's villages.
Project partner's website
Project partner's aim
To support affected communities through the purchase of new fishing boats which are produced by Haitian boat builders. The boats are shared by multiple fishermen.
Aim of the BeA Foundation
Financing two fishing boats (€2000 each) and three motors (€500 each).
Background to the situation in Haiti
After Emergency Aid - Rebuilding Livelihoods
Our target group covers families in need in the outer South-West of Haiti. These families are made up on average of 5 people. The majority of these families’ houses were destroyed during the hurricane, as well as their small-holdings and machinery. Their livestock such as goats or chickens were also lost.
The majority of the fishermen’s boats also fell victim to the hurricane, along with their fishing nets. In general their access to food and clean water is limited, many of the coastal villages don’t even have a well and are not reachable by land. The storm destroyed the boats so severely that they are irreparable. Through the loss of the fishing boats people have lost their ability to earn money and they can no longer meet their families’ nutritional needs.
With new boats we will be helping fishermen return to their way of life
By buying motorised boats we want to give them back this important basis for survival and relieve their hunger. The boats will be built by and bought from boat-builders based in Haiti. With the purchase on the ground we will be supporting others in Haiti and can also purchase the boats more cheaply.
Use of the Boats
One boat is always shared by multiple fishermen and they go out to sea in shifts to catch fish. As a result, one boat can be useful to multiple families in a community. Some fish for the daily nutritional needs of their family, others sell a portion of their catch and finance their families completely through fishing. The fishermen are very thankful if they also have motors on their boats as the areas close to the shore have already been overfished and in order to get a good catch, the fishermen need to go further out to sea.
From Emergency Aid to sustainable Developmental Aid
The project has been received very well by the general population and the fishermen are very proud of their new boats. They are making the best of it by ensuring that the families who are the most in need have access to the boats. What began as a project to avoid famine has developed in to a longer term project with multiple beneficial effects.
Pictures of the project
