Winter 2024
Our Dedicated Community Development Team
Gemi Baptiste is our Community Coordinator and he is assisted by agronomist Wilton Charles. Gemi is trained as an electrician and an agriculture technician and he’s been working with us since 2013. If anyone understands our philosophy of service to the Haitian people, it’s Gemi. When he tells me (Dr. Wolf) how he answers questions posed by people in the communities regarding our work and our methodology, he sounds like he’s repeating my own words! His responses show me he’s truly internalized the philosophies into his own. For example, in our recent bean seed program, here are some of the responses to questions asked:
- No matter how things are set up, we can never satisfy everyone in the area.
- If a person can’t help themselves, they can’t be a beneficiary.
- In everything we do, there has to be participation by the person or the community because we won’t do everything for a person.
- If a person gets our aid and doesn’t do anything with it or sells it, he will never benefit from our help again.
- If the community or leaders don’t do their work well or show corruption, they need to know that the institution (clinic) will leave the community.
We want our Community Development programs to empower people to help themselves. We come
alongside them and help them but we don’t do everything for them. It’s obvious that our staff have learned
these lessons themselves!
So What Do Gemi and Wilton Do?
They work with the Community Promoters in our Water and Sanitation Program in doing hygiene teaching, building latrines and capping water sources. They also work with the promoters in distribution and use of materials in relief programs such as our recent Earthquake Relief Program. Each community in which we work sets up committees to choose recipients of our programs. Then, the promoters and Gemi and Wilton make sure that the materials are distributed as planned and that the beneficiaries are using the materials to actually do the work (building latrines, repairing latrines, repairing houses, etc.). As such, there are two levels of supervision with reports that come back to the clinic.
Gemi and Wilton oversee the supervisors in the 8 communities where we have our Goat Program and work
with the veterinary technician on mobile clinics and annual vaccination campaigns. They do the training and supervision of our Agriculture Program (giving black bean seeds for planting) in communities up in the mountains. They have spreadsheets to enter into the computer and weekly reports on their activities. They help with maintenance of the electrical system at the clinic and the water pump and filter system.
