Through local citizens and partnership efforts, Development and Peace is making a difference

ITECA provides technical training and educational workshops for peasant farmers who make up 75 to 80 per cent of Haiti's population. A long-term partner of Development and Peace, ITECA helps local farmers improve their agricultural production and preserve the environment.

Development and Peace supports ITECA in its regular activities and has also financed specific projects, such as the creation of a mango co-operative in the Gros Morne region. "This region grows the most mangoes, but the producers were receiving very little profit from their harvests," says ITECA executive director Chenet Jean-Baptiste. "We formed a mango co-operative with 1,000 members and helped them improve their crops."

The co-operative also planted 10,000 mango trees, helping reforestation efforts and introduced more commercial varieties of mangoes. "Within two years we were able to double the price that the farmers receive for their mangoes on the market. This makes a huge difference in people's lives," says Mr. Jean-Baptiste.

Célina Tessier, 75, stands proudly on a small plot of red earth. She is one of 100 people from Ti Boucan participating in a permanent housing reconstruction program, sponsored by Development and Peace and led by ITECA, that will eventually benefit 1,700 families.

Célina would likely have been one of the forgotten were it not for this program. She does not live in a camp, and although Ti Boucan was at the earthquake's epicentre, it is isolated, on a dirt road that alternates between rocky inclines and a streaming river bed. But as part of a team of 10 people from her community who will help one another in the building process, she has already begun to assemble a growing mound of stones for construction.

"My house used to be over there," she says, pointing across the road, "but that land holds too many bad memories for me." For Célina, this bare patch of earth, soon to be her home, is a vision of hope.

Development and Peace is a Canadian international development organization working to address the root causes of poverty and injustice in the Global South. Founded in 1967 by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the organization's aim is to reach out to the most poor and vulnerable regardless of race, gender or religion. Beyond raising awareness of social justice issues among Canadians, Development and Peace works in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, partnering with local organizations to bring change in their respective countries. It is the Canadian member of the Caritas Internationalis confederation of the Catholic Church and receives program funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).