Haiti, 6 Months After Hurricane Matthew

Gesner Laguerre has been growing cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate, for longer than he can remember. It allowed him to put his four sons, now grown, through school. But the hurricane destroyed most of his crops. CRS is helping him clear his fields.

“Walking around and not being able to do anything is overwhelming because the things we rely on to live aren’t there. No selling, no income for the family,” he says.   

Hurricane Matthew wiped away crops and destroyed seeds for planting, creating food shortages with potential long-term effects. With no time to lose before the spring harvest, CRS has been distributing seeds and tools to help thousands of families replant.

Farmers receive vouchers to buy seeds and tools from local merchants. This helps breathe new life into the economy.

Zenada Levasseur and others received vouchers from CRS. She used hers to buy bean and corn seeds. “The vouchers are a great help. Our limited funds—with so many expenses for our family—can only take us so far, but with the vouchers we can keep our farm going,” she says.

Some 200 community members are earning money through a cash-for-work project repairing an irrigation system damaged by flooding and clogged by debris from the storm. 

To help people make ends meet from now until the June harvest, a period known as the “lean season,” CRS is providing cash to more than 30,000 families.

The $60 they receive allows them to buy what they need most—from food to school uniforms to medicine.

“I will buy food for my children because they are hungry,” says Austin Joseph. The father of 12 grows yams and manioc and raises livestock to feed his family. Most of it was lost in the storm.