Patrick’s Busy Summer Balancing Family, Business, and Community

Plaintains that Patrick planted for his mom.

We ended our last post about Patrick by promising big news about his growing family! He and his wife Rose Laure welcomed their son Patricio into the world four months ago. Patrick’s oldest son, three-year-old Pat, loves being an older brother baby Patricio and helps keep him entertained. Even with a busy home life, Patrick continues to balance multiple projects to support his family and community.

Our last post about Patrick also shared the origins of the seed bank that he helped found. We’re not in the least bit surprised that it continues to flourish and is now wholly self-sustaining, with Patrick and his team financing their purchases with what they make in sales. This significant step is all the more impressive considering Patrick’s other commitments!

Over the winter, Patrick helped found the Association of Farmers and Families of Nippes (Petit Trou is located in the state of Nippes). Bringing together local leaders to work for the betterment of families and farmers in the Petit Trou region, one of their first initiatives is to collaborate with the staff from the Agriculture Bank to put together a combination of products that will sell well at the local market. Small, 8-ounce servings of clean drinking water in plastic bags are one of the first products they are offering. Faucets supplying potable water are not readily available in public spaces like markets and schools in Petit Trou, making these little servings of water a vital commodity in the area—especially with such high temperatures.  (While these small bags unfortunately produce a lot of waste, our agriculture team has creatively reused them as pots for plants.)

Patrick’s knack for entrepreneurship also shines through in the blend of successful small businesses he runs to create a stable income for the family; he sells telephone minutes, drinks, and toiletries. And in case raising two young ones, owning multiple businesses, serving on the Association of Farmers and Families, and running the seed bank aren’t enough to stay busy, he also continues his role as project manager for the Girls’ Empowerment Clubs. One of his most recent projects under this role is to plan activities for the annual summer camp for clubs in the region (boys in the community also participate)! The summer camp was founded by Darline Nicolas, another leader we feature on Year in the Life. Schneider and Jameson (also featured in this blog) are helping to add an agricultural component to the camp.

Needless to say, it has been quite a busy summer for Patrick so far! Join us in celebrating the many contributions he has made to his family and community. Stay tuned for more stories about his family and businesses soon!