What We Do
The Our Border Project's Booth at the Binational Fair, 2004
How we create opportunities
We are working to reduce poverty and strengthen Haitian-Dominican relations by creating opportunities for the people who live in the Haitian-Dominican borderlands to improve their lives and to work with their neighbors. We primarily work through the farmers’ associations on both sides of the border. We create opportunities by seeking ways of linking these groups with larger organizations and donors–both nationally and internationally. We create opportunities for farmers from either side of the border to work together. We create opportunities for national leaders to visit the border and to talk with our farmers. We can’t make change happen by ourselves, but we are excellent at creating “opportunities for change”.
Dominican border representative presenting the border priorities to President Fernandez, 2005
Linking small farmers to their markets, their governments, and donors:
Our main work focuses on linking farmers to funding–buyers for their crops, government agencies to provide services, and national and international donors.The old saying, “It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil” only holds if the right people hear the squeaking. One of the historical problems that the borderland residents faced was that they are so isolated that no one heard their needs and they did not know their markets.
Strengthening producer groups so that they can better serve their members:
A second focus is on strengthening the groups themselves. We help the organizations to better focus on their mission, improve their management, and strengthen their financial systems so that they can take advantage of the opportuntities as they arise.
Working with the Haitian and Dominican governments to prioritize development in their borderlands:
To ensure that the changes in the border region are permanent, we help both the Haitian and Dominican governments to prioritize development in their borderlands. We do thisthrough direct meetings, press events, and national-level workshops.
Bringing Haitians and Dominicans together to help them to solve cross-border problems:
Binational meeting of Beekeepers in Dajabon
We create opportunities for Haitians and Dominicans to meet to discuss their common problems. The greatest challenge is to get everybody to develop a common understanding of the problems. If we can get past the finger-pointing and to get both sides talking, then we are more than halfway to a solution. We work as much as possible with the borderland Mayors and Parliamentarians as well as the government representatives of both countries. By pushing for regular meetings and open dialog, we help people move from conflict to cooperation.
