Rasin Devlopman
About Rasin Devlopman
Rasin Devlopman was founded with the help of Roots of Development in 2017. Their mission is to strengthen the capacity of community leaders and locally elected officials on the island of La Gonave, Haiti, so that they are better equipped to manage their own development and improve quality of life on the island.
In addition to Roots of Development, Rasin is generously supported by: Ayiti Community Trust, BoulderShares, the Debley Foundation, the Vitol Foundation, Haiti Development Institute, and others.
La Gonave
La Gonâve is Haiti’s (and Hispaniola’s) largest satellite island. It is located to the west-northwest of Port-au-Prince, in the Gulf of Gonâve, and is part of Haiti’s Ouest Department. It is home to approximately 85,000 residents, which is a larger population than the majority of the territories and nations that make up the Caribbean. Despite its size, La Gonâve is largely ignored by both the Haitian central government and international NGOs. Because of its isolation from the rest of Haiti, the citizens of La Gonâve have truly embraced the ideas of “konbit,” coming together to enact collective solutions to local problems with the guidance and support of organizations like Rasin Devlopman and Roots of Development.
Rasin’s Work
Rasin Devlopman’s program on La Gonave is called Twa Woch Dife, which translates loosely to three fire stones, named after the three stones used to hold a pot over a fire when cooking. Without one of the stones, the pot won’t stand. In Rasin’s program, the three stones are: Community Leaders, Elected Officials, and Local Partners.
Volontè Pou Chanjman
Agents of Change
Rasin Devlopman identifies and trains community leaders from around the island, called the Volonte pou Chanjman (VPC), who receive dozens of hours of training each year on skills that pertain to sustainable development, leadership, and project management. The current VPC represent 8 of the 11 communal sections on the island, and 45% of them are women.
Rasin then supports the VPC as they put their skills into practice, creating Community Action Plans for their respective communal sections. VPC identify problems, collectively come up with solutions, and implement projects. The VPC also participate in Pase Mayet (Pass the Magnet) knowledge sharing workshops, transmitting the skills and information they receive from Rasin Devlopman trainings to other members of the community.
Fanm Djanm
Strong Women
Fanm Djanm (Strong Women) is a collection of projects and programs that alleviate gender inequality and address the needs of women on the island of La Gonâve. By increasing the population of women on La Gonâve who are trained, empowered, and more connected with each other and the island, Rasin aims to increase the number of women participating in and leading development initiatives of their own, and, in the long-run, dismantle the social structures that enforce gender inequality in Haiti.
In 2024, the initiatives included in this project priority are: 1) Fanm Djanm Workshops and Trainings, designed and led by women and held across the island, on the topic of entrepreneurshipn; 2) Fanm k ap Kondwi motorcycle driving courses; 3) Fanm k ap Plante projects, providing seeds and technical training for women to plant homestead vegetable gardens; 4)A pilot program of Yon Fanm, Yon Metye, enrolling women at a local vocational school to learn trade skills.
Dyalòg Kominotè
Community Dialogues
Rasin Devlopman recognizes the necessity of strong and united communities to identify and mobilize resources to deal with their most pressing challenges. It is also committed to involving as many people and diverse parts of the community into its programming as possible. As such, Rasin provides its communities with programs that educate and convene wider and more diverse swaths of the population of La Gonâve: Reyaji (community dialogue spaces) and Ankadre (vocational and civic engagement sessions for youth).
Kore Solidarite
Solidarity
Rasin also supports women leaders by reinforcing one of the most important structures that women have on the island: the mutuelle de solidarite, women-led mutual solidarity collaborative and savings groups, which already exist in every area of the island. After an extensive mapping process that identified more than 100 groups with almost 6,000 members, Rasin is partnering with 17 mutuelles to provide additional training and small grants.
Pwojè Enpak lòt aktè kominotè
Community Impact Projects
Across the island, committed citizens band together to take the development of their areas into their own hands. Rasin works with other local non-governmental organizations and community associations on the island to strengthen local networks and create systemic change. These projects are diverse in nature, addressing issues in health, education, economic development, clean water, environmental protection, infrastructure, and more.
Pwoje ranfoseman kapasite otorite lokal yo
Reinforcing the Capacity of Local Authorities
Working with elected officials is essential to Rasin’s approach to development. Though the presence of the Haitian government on La Gonave is weak, it is their goal to strengthen the capacities of those local officials present on the island as well as build up the trust and communication between officials and their constituents in order to create a more robust system of local governance.
Local elected officials receive capacity strengthening training from Rasin and the VPC jointly implement projects alongside them.
Project Spotlight
We are helping our Haitian partner, Rasin Devlopman, build a Community Leadership & Development Center. The center and the .3 acre of land it sits on will be a permanent resource for La Gonave. It will be owned by Rasin and used by communities and their leaders for years to come as a teaching, meeting, and project implementation space, a symbol of local leadership and change for the island. The project is also a key step in achieving our goal of making La Gonave a hub of successful, community-led development and an example for the world.
