Profile of CLM Caseworker Cherinel Delcius

Cherinel is from Gros Morne, but he did not grow up there. As a young child, he was sent to live with an aunt in the neighboring city of Gonaïves to attend school. His father, who worked in rural parts of the Gros Morne area, learned that there would be a competition for university scholarships and asked whether his son could enter the competition. Soon, Cherinel was sitting in an exam room with dozens of students from Gros Morne. He outscored all of them and earned a full scholarship for a five year program studying agronomy at the University of Fondwa (UNIF).

UNIF was founded by the same group that founded Fonkoze years earlier. The two institutions work together closely.

After his third year at UNIF, Cherinel interned with the Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM) team in Mirebalais. He was hooked. “I liked the way CLM accompanies people. When a friend from college saw that CLM was hiring after I graduated, I applied,” he said. Cherinel would have been happy to take a job anywhere in Haiti with CLM, but he was glad that it brought him home to Gros Morne.

Cherinel likes the program because of the way it functions: “People become like family, and that really helps.” He points to two other elements as well. “Helping people manage health issues is really important. If we didn’t help with that, they would not be able to develop their businesses.”

The other element Cherinel appreciates is the stipend. “It helps them leave their business alone. Keeps them from spending everything just to eat.” The stipend is very small, less than $4 per week, but Cherinel explains that it’s enough to make a difference. “The families were already doing something to live. But when they start having some means, they are tempted to try to live just a little better. The stipend is not much, but it adds to what they have so they are more likely to leave their business alone to let it grow.”

The stipend coupled with the accompaniment of a CLM team member creates relationships that last beyond the program. “We see people every week. They get to use what we give them. And even after graduation, they call you to talk about their plans,” Cherinel said.

He especially enjoyed spending 18 months working with Ludie. “When we came across her, she had a lot of problems. But she always worked hard and always listened to advice. Even when we were just starting, we talked about how the program could help her with her home. I told her she’d have to assemble the stones for its walls herself. She and her boys had to carry them to her yard themselves, leaving them in a pile long before she was even ready to use them.”

Cherinel still sees Ludie often, even after she graduated from the CLM program. She lives close to where he plays soccer on Sunday afternoons. He’s hoping to convince her to add new businesses on top of the one she’s built selling liquid soap to so she may earn additional income for her family.