OPADEL, La Montagne

OPADEL is a dynamic community organisation which involves itself in everything from tree nursery production to running a nursery school, all to try to give its youth a sense of purpose in staying in the community.

OPADEL is the Active Peasant Organisation for the Development of La Montagne. It was founded the 10^th of February 2004 by a group of community members, both educated and uneducated. They created this group because they saw that there was nothing in the community for the young people. All the young people with any education were leaving the community.

OPADEL is divided into 5 different committees, which encompass farmers, youth, women, and
children. Each group meets one day a week and each has their individual objectives and activities but OPADEL still operates as a whole. OPADEL has a community tree nursery which produces 10,000 plants a year, and they use their own organic compost to grow the saplings.  They have a community garden where they train young people in agriculture, and actively use konbit to maintain the community’s gardens.

OPADEL is also involved in education:  they run a community preschool, and they partnered with an organisation named YEL to establish a computer center. They also send young people to Port au Prince to go to university, but on the condition that they return to the community after their studies to give their services to the community.

La Montagne has a wealth of knowledge to teach other communities, from tree nursery management to preschool management. They are a community which is advanced enough to be running a computer center, but still holding onto the traditions of konbit. These kinds of principles (and the principles that keep their young people coming back to the community even after college) are something to be learned of.