There are moments in any ambitious quest when it seems that that all the effort just might be – maybe, could it be possible – coming together.
As we begin this new year, CODEP is having that sort of moment. After decades of dealing with seeds, nurseries, trees, incentive houses, cisterns, fish ponds, meetings, decisions, budgets, arguments, emails, picks and axes, Holiday Gift Markets, thank you notes and travel plans….. it might just be happening!
The dream of HRP has always been that CODEP, its leadership, workers, and track record, were mature and proven to the point that the supporters outside of Haiti (mostly U.S. “blancs”) could back out of immediate operations. This is often one step too far for international NGO’s. It is difficult to let go, to cede control, and to truly trust that those on the ground know their business and will be good stewards of resources and the mission.
Now, here in 2025, it is time to make the call. While CODEP needs financial support and other resources, it doesn’t need the elbowing in, micromanaging, and hovering supervision of the past.
If there is an odd silver lining to these years of violence and political upheaval in Haiti, it is that travel has been seriously limited. While I have been more willing than most to hoof it back and forth between the US and Haiti, it is now regularly untenable. It’s too risky. The FAA is routinely putting restrictions and bans on flights from the US to Haiti, the current one through March 2025. In fact, in 2024 I spent only THREE months in Haiti. With conditions as they are, I can’t reliably promise that I will be there. No one can safely come in from outside Haiti. And, you know what? CODEP functions just fine without me or anyone else coming on an airplane!
Part of the reason for the confidence is that we have worked hard recently to strengthen leadership skills. CODEP is bringing on younger people with reforestation competencies and drive through the mentoring program. Various Animators have taken on new challenges such as running that program, innovating in operations with fertilizer incubators, and opening new sectors for reforestation. With cameras on phones now, it is much easier to see, know, share…. and solve problems together. And, in a profound way, since we mourned the death of Edvy Durance, there has been a sense of the need – and the room — to step up. The baton is being passed to the next generation.
I am so proud, and you should be, too. We all have a great story to tell.
Michael Anello
Executive Director
