June 26th, 2025 marked the halfway point of the Quixote Center sponsored pilot project initiated by our partners with DCCH in the villages of Gouin and Saint Helene located in the commune of Les Cayes in the Sud Department of Haiti. While most of the attention about Haiti has been focused on the gang-controlled capital, Port-au-Prince, and the Artibonite region, in other parts of the country and in most rural areas, life goes on. Indeed, in the south where the project is located, schools, markets, agricultural production and public services are operating. This relatively peaceful context enables DCCH to continue implementing the agricultural and livestock programs as well as setting up community credit unions, known in Haiti as MUSOs (Mutuelle de Solidarite). 
MUSOs, which are owned and administered by their members, fill the void left by the lack of access to financial services, especially in rural areas. These democratic structures are led by the assembly of members which sets affordable interest rates that are impossible to find in the formal financial sector or with the larger microfinance programs. Gouin and St Helene initiated two MUSOs in the first quarter. In each of these MUSOs, members must deposit $4 USD (525 Gourdes) per week, and they can take out small loans on a rotational basis.
Since February 20th, the Gouin MUSO has already distributed close to $400 USD in loans among its the 26 members, 50% of whom are women. In the St Helene MUSO, where 60% of the 20 members are women, they gave out $230 USD in credit since March 28th. The microcredit recipients invest in their small business and farms by purchasing more seeds; they also use the money to bring their products to the market and to send their kids to school. A third MUSO in the community of Costa will launch soon; they are currently going through the preliminary training process. 
With the return of the rainy season, the agricultural program is also yielding promising results. In Gouin, the project participants set up a tree nursery with a capacity of 75000 seedlings to encourage families to help reforest their community. They have also faced some challenges as the weather swung from too dry to too wet, transforming the soil from dust to mud. Excess rain has caused some damage to some seedlings, but they are quickly building bamboo and straw roofing to mitigate this situation.
The DCCH technicians also followed up with the farmers who had planted corn and yams at the end of the first quarter and were happy to see healthy growing plants, although the total yield will be determined during the harvest season. They have also distributed more seeds as a loan to participating farmers in the communities of Tibale and Costa to create an autonomous system within these communities where the seeds are returned and redistributed.
In the third quarter of the project, participating families will be receiving some livestock, so they worked hard to prepare the necessary infrastructure. A common source of conflict in rural communities arises from free-roaming animals who destroy crops and seedlings, not only on their owner’s land but also on their neighbors’. This is why they built enclosures to enclose the livestock while raising awareness of the negative consequences of having animals on the loose. The project technicians invited participants and non-participants to join these trainings on how to enclose livestock, as they see this intervention as an opportunity to help improve the farmers’ productivity while also strengthening the social cohesion in the community. 
Project participants in Gouin and Saint Helene have been actively involved in the implementation of every program. Our DCCH partner has done a great job creating the right framework so that community members take ownership and responsibility over this initiative, acting as co-creators rather than beneficiaries.
We thank all our donors who have contributed to this pilot project. Based on the success so far, we hope to expand it to reach more communities next year.
If you wish to read the full 2nd quarter project report click HERE.
Comments
Sarah Grey (not verified)
I am interested in receiving more information on establishing your MUSO.
Quixote Center (not verified)
Hi Sarah, please email kim@quixote.org. We would be glad to discuss the work with you!
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