Jennifer Lang, Program Manager, September 7th 2011
Hope for Haiti is proud to announce a new program as part of our Community Development Initiatives. Two of Hope for Haiti’s long-term partnership communities, Ravine Sable and Tête Source of the South’s rural Aquin Department, will benefit from a new push towards sustainability in holistic development.
Building upon Hope for Haiti’s established partnerships in Education and Public Health, the Sustainable Communities program kicked off with a formal needs assessment. A community meeting led by the school directors at each site used a democratic process to identify qualitative needs, including increased access to healthcare, flood prevention, and better roads. The next step to address the identified needs is a quantitative assessment, through a household survey on the Progress Out of Poverty Index (PPI).
Developed by Grameen Foundation in partnership with the Consultative Group for the Alleviation of Poverty (CGAP) and adopted internationally, the PPI survey measures both individual households’ current poverty level and the progression of poverty over time in a community. The PPI uses objective standards – such as the material of the house’s roof, any ownership of livestock, and the number of children enrolled in school. Hope for Haiti’s implementation of the PPI will allow us to measure our partner communities’ poverty levels today in relation to the rest of Haiti and to the world. Plus, the results can be used in future years to gauge Hope for Haiti’s overall impact.
 Hope for Haiti Program Manager, Jessica Jean-Francois, facilitates the community need assessment* |
 Ravine Sable Community Needs Assessment with School Director Rode Petit-Frere & Hope for Haiti* |
 Tete Source Community identifies their greatest needs together* |
Our PPI survey implementation will begin on September 12th. Twenty survey enumerators will travel to over 450 households to administer the PPI. Using a curriculum developed in partnership with Fonkoze, Haiti’s largest microfinance institution, and the internationally renowned Grameen Foundation, twenty leaders from the pilot communities were trained on how to conduct the PPI in a uniform and consistent manner. Techniques range from de-mystifying the interview by using conversational strategies instead of direct questions to visibly verifying responses by walking around the home.
Facilitated by Fonkoze Social Impact Monitor Figaro Peterson and Hope for Haiti Program Manager Jessica Jean-Francois, questions from participants focused on guaranteeing the honesty and validity of the survey. As Mr. Peterson summarized, “The survey results will be used to help not just the school but also the community overall. The PPI survey will tell us about the people of Ravine Sable and Tête Source today and tomorrow.”
 Surveyors are trained and ready to collect information that will help Hope for Haiti accurately access the needs of Ravine Sable and Tet Source community members |
 PPI Survey Enumerator, Jean-Willy Petit-Bois |
 Survey Enumerator, Louinel Lassoudry, takes notes on a hypothetical situation in order to assess his comprehension of the PPI implementation |
Hope for Haiti would like to thank GoDaddy.com for making this survey possible and for helping to empower both communities with the training and tools to greater invest in themselves and in their families.
*Photo Credit: Ryan Olsen