ODPM, Matiren (Mathurin)

Mathurin is an isolated mountain community that uses the traditional konbit to organize everything from community sanitation to education to agriculture.

Mathurin is the 2nd communal section in St Raphael, and is a community far up in the mountains. This community struggled greatly with the cholera epidemic, as access to clean water was difficult and there were no toilets in the community. But an organization named ODPM decided to make it a priority to confront these issues and rid their community of cholera.

They captured a spring in the mountains for the community to have clean drinking water, and they received 50 sacks of cement from UNICEF t o construct a community toilet. However, UNICEF gave the cement at the bottom of the mountain, and the community called on volunteers to carry the cement up the mountain and construct the toilet also with the spirit of konbit. People woke at 3am in the morning, worked together, ate together, and succeeded in constructing the toilet. 

The community uses this same spirit of konbit to build roads in their isolated mountain community, and to construct the community's first school with material donated by the mayor. They use this same spirit to lend seeds and plants to farmers, and at the end of the season each farmer gives part of his harvest to the organisation (and contributes 25 gourdes a year), and the organisation uses this money to send children to school. 

This community can teach others about how to use the spirit and principles of the konbit to resolve almost any sort of community issues, from sanitation to agriculture to education.