top of page

The Haiti Task Force

supports peasant self determination. Since 1994, FUMCOG has been twinned in faith and friendship with the Association of the Peasants of Fondwa (APF).

NAP TRAVAY MEN NAN MEN NAN

We are working hand in hand

The Association of the Peasants of Fondwa (APF)

The primary mission of The Association of the Peasants of Fondwa, or APF, is to empower, to serve and to transform the living conditions of the poor in rural Haiti. Founded in 1988 by Father Joseph Philippe, APF focused on the development of their own remote community of Fondwa. Fondwa is a small community village in the western province of Haiti, 80 kilometers from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. This mountainous region has a population of 8,000 people. Fondwa now boasts a primary and secondary school, the only accredited rural university (UNIF), an orphanage, a community radio station, programs in renewable energy, water purification, reforestation and agriculture.

​

Today, APF supports local grassroots empowerment combined with a focus of increasing fundamental rural skills through higher education - with local college graduated returning to their home communities - and the creation of economic opportunity through the small business incubators. There are six other rural communities, and about 50,000 individuals total which benefit from the work of APF. Furthermore, Father Joseph has founded three other sister organizations which approach this same mission of empowering and transforming the living conditions of the poor in rural Haiti. They are Fondasyon Kole Zepol, FONKOZE or the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation; The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anthony of Fondwa (CSSAF), and The University of Fondwa (UNIF).

FONDWA 2018

FUMCOG sent a delegation of 16 people to foster the longtime partnership with APF in Fondwa. During this six-day journey in the mountainous region of Fondwa, we discovered a beautiful land and a people passionate about identifying and cultivating local resources of rural Haiti. As Father Joseph explained, "Whenever I look for something and I don't find it, I create it." Our team visited the many creations of APF: Fonkoze, a bank for the peasants of Haiti; the University of Fondwa, the only accredited university in rural Haiti; Health and Veterinarian Clinics. With these critical programs established, APF now seeks to extend its vision into other rural communities of Haiti with the vision of Local Development Committees. Father Joseph and the APF leadership continue to expand the mission "to empower the local grassroots organizations to create wealth in their communities."

bottom of page