Se Bon Bagay! (It's Great!)

Marilyne sells drinks and broiled meat to people in Descayettes, a district of Port-au-Prince. From her sidewalk stand, the young Haitian entrepreneur points out excitedly: "I could never have run a business if the rate of violence had stayed the same! Now, the streets are clean and violence-free. You can even hear the laugher of the children playing soccer and basketball in the areas built for that purpose."

Not long ago, Descayettes was a lawless district where members of street gangs would go to hide from police authorities. "The area had become a corridor for offenders fleeing the police," states Marilyne. In addition to the insecurity and violence that reigned in the district, alleys were in poor condition, garbage was piling up, and sewers were no longer working. Thanks to a project funded by Canada's Development and Employment Fund (FODEM), alleys are now paved, waste is managed properly, and, above all, violence is a thing of the past.

"It's like night and day!" says André Lenor, director of the project and also secretary general of Soyété neg la caye, a community organization engaged in making sure that what has been achieved through the project is kept up. The project's aim was to strengthen and rehabilitate the area, and consisted of three components: controlling violence; paving roads with concrete; and improving the sanitation system. These challenges could not have been met if the residents of Descayettes had not been enthusiastically involved.

Thousands of jobs were created through the project (for wet trades work, rock gathering, making of curbs, setting up of refuse containers, etc.). Life in the neighbourhood was gradually transformed.

Song and graffiti contests were held to arouse the interest of young people and, in doing so, control violence. Contestants were asked to create a song or graffiti promoting non-violence. Soccer and basketball tournaments were organized among the various areas so as to encourage youths to develop a feeling of camaraderie among neighbourhoods, and thus diminish tensions.

Approximately one kilometre of streets and alleys was paved. A truck and refuse containers were purchased for the proper management of waste, which is now transported to waste-disposal sites.

Citizens fully owned the project and are now reaping the rewards of their work. Gustave, a resident in his fifties who has lived in the area for a long time and who does not mince words, had this to say: "You can see that the streets are much cleaner, much sturdier, that the garbage problem we used to have has been eliminated. The neighbourhood is now much more attractive. Se bon bagay! It's great!"