Mission Manna’s team in Montrouis has perfected the art of building rabbit (lapin) hutches. These are distributed along with the rabbit pairs, greatly increasing the odds of success with the program.

Mission Manna board member Jeff Imes snapped this photo in Haiti yesterday. A young girl wearing a pair of TOMS shoes. If you’re not familiar with TOMS, the basics of their One for One Movement is as follows.

“With every pair purchased, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.”

Sounds good, right? You buy a pair of shoes and a child in a developing country gets a new pair of shoes. What’s not to like about that?

Well, part of the reason the little girl in Haiti needs a free pair of shoes is that her parents don’t have jobs. They can’t afford to buy shoes. A portion of this larger equation is that her parents don’t have jobs because her shoes were not manufactured in Haiti. They were manufactured in another country and then donated in Haiti.

There are two issues here. First is the more obvious point that if these shoes were manufactured in Haiti (TOMS manufactures primarily in China but also in Argentina and Ethiopia), jobs would be created in Haiti and as a result, free shoes would be less of a priority.

The other issue is that free shoes interfere not only with the manufacturing sector in Haiti but also the retail segment of the economy. If shoes are free, why would anyone buy (or sell) shoes? Granted, plenty of these shoes make it into the marketplace but that’s another topic entirely. The point is that free shoes virtually eliminate retail sales of shoes and create a false economy.

What should you do? Consider Haiti. It’s as simple as that — Consider Haiti. Be mindful in your choices and as best you can, ensure that when you do a good thing (buying shoes from TOMS), you’re not also causing harm (crippling the economy in Haiti). Your choices in this regard (and many others) really do have measurable effects in developing countries.

Consider Haiti.

Following are various updates from Mission Manna Board of Directors member, Jeff Imes, who is leading a group in Haiti this week.

Via a gas powered water pump, we share water from our well. Water runs for 1 hr. in AM & 1 hr. in PM.

Wow. Compound amazing. Gave away 30 wabbits to 15 families. Gary growing beans, corn, pumpkin, black eye peas, okra, avocado, orange, mango, coconut, banana, plantains, sugar cane. Raising rabbits, ducks for eggs.

Sustainable nutrition. Today we distributed 30 rabbits (1 female/1 male) + cages to 15 families.

Mission Manna compound turned into green gardens to support sustainable nutrition program. Just add water.

'Customized' Land Cruisers ready for action.

Wow. Compound amazing. Gave away 30 wabbits to 15 families. Gary growing beans, corn, pumpkin, black eye peas, okra, avocado, orange, mango, coconut, banana, plantains, sugar cane. Raising rabbits, ducks for eggs.

Mission Manna’s distribution of breeding pairs of rabbits into the Montrouis community continues to be a great success.

Garry Maurice is the point man for this project and in addition to the distribution, he provides the materials and expertise to build a durable hutch for the rabbits. Garry also educates recipients in raising the rabbits and advises on best practices for consumption and sale in the market.

In this way, Mission Manna is providing a sustainable resource for malnourished families in Montrouis.

This program continues to grow exponentially and is quickly providing families in Montrouis with a source of nutrition and income. We hope to expand the program to Fond Baptiste in the coming months.

In addition to rabbits & goats, we’re now growing bananas, plantains, corn, black eyed peas, black beans, tomatoes, greens, pumpkins, watermelons, coconuts , mangoes, avocados, cherries, oranges and moringa in Haiti.