Dame Marie (Grand Anse)
Participants:
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member
#4 Ronise Francois
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member
#9 Spencer Cesar, Guest, In charge of fermentation for CAUD
#10 Public
Cocoa Production
What is the importance of cocoa to you as a producer?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Cocoa is very important to us because it is our life. It is our bank account. Everything we need is from the cocoa we have to sell. School is about to be open; to send the kids to school. It’s with it we pay school fees. It is with it that he takes care of everything. I have responsibilities, like my mother and father. Everything I need to do is from the cocoa. Cocoa has great importance for me.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Cocoa is our life. Cocoa land and cocoa gardens are our lives. Because when you sell the cocoa …muffle…muffle….. the time to dry it and all the trouble. I just sell it and they pay me. For me, I would wish for it to go farther, to go higher, for God to help us.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: Cocoa has a great importance because it makes good chocolate. When we drink it we feel great. It’s agreeable. It makes good liquor. We feel it’s very agreeable. My husband just broke his leg and it was the cocoa I had to sell. I felt great joy in my heart. The car just broke down. My child was living in Mirebalais. When I see myself taking a big amount of cocoa to sell and send money to my child living in Mirebalis, I felt like Jesus came down. It’s honey that is pouring down, pouring down in abundance. I feel so happy. What a joy. Thank, thank you General Assembly (of the co-op). We are doing so well! God blesses us, sends prosperity to us right here. Grace will pour down and we in Dame Marie will receive it.
As women, do you like working in cocoa production?
#10 Public: Yes.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes, we like it.
Why do you like working in it?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The reason we like working in it is because after God it is our source of life. That is why we love it.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Cocoa is my life. I had a child who was helping me. He died. Now I have to go to the cocoa trees to make 5 gourdes.[24] After that, the cocoa plantation is all I have.
What do like about cocoa production?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The reason we love cocoa and take care of it is the same reason why when God loves someone He takes care of him. It is the same thing. We take care of the cocoa because it is our source of life.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: Today they ask us to come here. Regarding cocoa, it opens my heart. It opens my children’s hearts and it opens the heart of the men who gave us the land. I grew up finding my father left us this heritage. The heritage of cocoa – we live on it and raise our kids with it. Our father died and we found the means to give him a funeral and bury him, all with this gift., because we did not know that we would be inheriting this gift. .
Explain how your day goes during cocoa season?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: During cocoa season we will be picking cocoa at 7:00 am, especially if we will be selling the cocoa on the same day. We go around 7:00 am and start picking cocoa. After picking it — as a woman I can’t pick it; it is a man that would need to pick it, and I would gather it). When we are done with picking it, we gather it. We make a pile of it and start breaking it. Before 4:00 pm we would sell it. For example, we can spend two days picking because one day is not enough.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: For myself, the man picks. Man and woman are equal. The woman needs to try too. The man is picking and I am picking also. My cocoa needs to be very ripe and when I am done with picking my cocoa, the kids help me gather it, then we break our cocoa. We remove the pod and set it aside. Then our cocoa is beautiful. We remove all the dark spots so we can present it nicely to the buyers. That is beautiful, and when we get our money that is also beautiful. We say thank you, thanks be to God! What a great joy! Oh, if we did not have God who gives this to us, who would we be? Yes! We are happy, there is joy in our hearts all our lives!
Do you think there is a difference between how you spend your days during cocoa season and how your mother spent hers?
#10 Public: No.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: Those days when our mothers had that heritage, they did not benefit at all from it. Because when she finished raising the children, she started again…..she died and left this heritage to us. We got this blessing. That’s something I have never seen; we never thought we would have this.
What is the difference with back then?
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Now what is different? A lot is different. After my mother and father had it, they died and left it to us, it was being wasted. It was being picked green and wasted. The difference now is that is we wait until it is ripe before we pick it. You hire people to help with picking. You put it on the ground and remove all bad ones, and remove the skin. You come here to sell it and feel joyful coming with a bucket of cocoa. You are happy. You feel_ I don’t know _ and say “Oh my, who made this for us?” Cocoa used to be sold for 25 cents, 40 gourdes, or 35 gourdes. Sometimes after selling you could not even buy fish or soup. Now when you see all those things, you feel there is a difference.
#4 Ronise Francois: In the past cocoa was not valued because all you did was pick it and sell the mamit.[25] There was no money in it. Now, cocoa is more valuable than it was long ago. You just pick the cocoa and sell it and take your money. In the past you had to dry it before selling, there were no advantages in it. You did not make any money. It is now that cocoa is appreciated more than before.
When you said in the past it was not valued, when was that? Last year or two years ago?
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: : No, it wasn’t because it was not valued, but because it did not have a good price.
What I would like to know now, you said the cooperatives pay better?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes, because of the “right here right now” program. They buy it while it’s still green. Now there is a competition. Now cocoa is being sold at 100 gourdes. In the past when we used to dry, it was being sold at 65 gourdes
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: They used to pay 60 gourdes, 50 gourdes, or 40 gourdes.
Now because of ‘’right here, right now ‘’ the price went up?
#10 Public: Yes.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: We are saved.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes, it went up.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Now they are buying it at 100 gourdes and they can’t lower the price. They are also buying green, and they can’t pay a better price. To finish, in the past the reason our parents were not getting those benefits was because we didn’t have all those companies who are buying cocoa. Now because we have the companies who are buying it green, the speculators don’t wait for the farmers to dry the cocoa in order to buy it at good price. Now they have to pay same price for the green ones.
As women, what do you find as the most difficult thing about cocoa production?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: To begin, what is most difficult for me is being a woman, with no man with me. When I sell the cocoa, I have to use the money to take care of my mother, myself , and the people who are with me. Now I don’t have enough money to produce cocoa. There are big trees and weeds on the land. I can’t clean the garden on the ground but I don’t have enough money to pay someone to do the work up in the trees.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: For me, it’s on my mother’s property that I grow cocoa. My mother died and I am following in her footsteps. I am satisfied because my mother left that resource for me.
What is the most difficult thing for you?
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Well, it is cutting the weeds. Weeds can cover the tree. We would need money often to take care of that so the cocoa can be cared for and cleaned, so it can produce more fruit.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: For it to produce more. If the farm is not well cared for it won’t produce as it should.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: We have cocoa, but we cannot care for it as we should. The cocoa is dirty. There is something that is called gui[26]. Gui is another small tree that covers it.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: It makes a vine.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: When you are selling a bucket for 100 gourdes, it’s not enough for you to take care of the cocoa. The cocoa has a lot of problems; it’s dirty. Sometimes it is so unclean that a year my pass with no harvest, or you don’t get the amount you should have gotten. Our arms are short. Same as we are doing here, it would very helpful if we can get some help to care for the cocoa. The cocoa is unclean. We cannot take care of it.
What is the easiest thing in the cocoa production?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: The easiest thing for us would be for the price to increase; to get enough money to care for the cocoa
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The most difficult thing for us in the production is picking the cocoa. We don’t dry the cocoa anymore. It’s being sold green. That is easy because we get the money right away. For example, if I have problem and do not have any money, I would just take my basket, go outside, and pick up cocoa. I would sell it and get paid. I would be able to buy food and do what I needed to do.
As women, what other agricultural production are you involved in?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: We plant yams and malanga.[27]
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: I plant corn and beans
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: I plant yam. I plant other trees-good cedar trees and mahogany trees. All of them are useful.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: At my house, I plant yam, malanga, cedar and mahogany trees. We don’t plant them near the cocoa. It’s not good for the cocoa to have to trees near.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: They will choke the cocoa.
Who carries the cocoa to market to sell? Is it the women or the men?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: The women sell the cocoa. I am the one who sells my cocoa. The men carry it, but it is the women who sell it. I own the cocoa land. I am the one who carries my bucket of cocoa to sell.
#10 Public: Women carry. Men carry.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: I own the cocoa land; I am the one who has to sell my cocoa.
Can you explain how you produce cocoa?
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: It starts out in a small bag. When it is big enough we plant it. Before planting it, we clean it but we have to water it in order for it to grow.
Well, who plants, men or women?
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: Women are doing the planting but men……
#4 Ronise Francois: No, my mother planted the cocoa at my house; not my father.
Do men plant more than women?
#10 Public: Yes.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: My mother planted them. She dug the holes and we carried them. We used small black bags filled with dirt and added other things to them. When they grew, we cut the bottom of the bags and placed them in holes in the ground.
How long does it take for the cocoa to start producing?
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: I cannot count because my mother planted them. I cannot say how long, but the old cocoa trees are dying.
#4 Ronise Francois: Depends on the land.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Depends on the elevation.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: Depends on how you care for the land. If you clean it from time to time, the cocoa will produce. It will grow faster.
After that, what do you do? Do you cut them? When do you know the cocoa is ready to harvest?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: No, we don’t cut cocoa trees. We know it is ready for harvest when the fruit is yellow and it is ripe. That is when you pick the cocoa.
#10 Public: The cocoa is blue when it is not ripe.
#4 Ronise Francois: When the cocoa is green, the fruit is blue, but as soon as it changes color to yellow that is when the cocoa can be picked.
What kind of problems do you have with cocoa? What type of sickness? Do animals eat the cocoa leaves or the cocoa fruit?
#10 Public: Yes
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: Rats eat them before they are ripe. As soon as they are ripe woodpeckers start eating them. When rats eat them, you see them white on the ground and that is how they eat them.
Are rats the biggest problem? What other sicknesses?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Only gui
#10 Public: Gui is another type of tree which climbs on it. It sucks it and kills the tree.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: It is the man’s job. We women cannot do it. If the cocoa tree has gui, a man with machete has to climb it and cut the cocoa branches with gui. It’s like a vine.
#4 Ronise Francois: It is a small tree which has a lot of leaves
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: It makes vines that tie the cocoa tree.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: It squeezes it.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Another big problem is rats. As soon as the cocoa is ripe they will eat it.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: For instance, the amount of cocoa I should have harvested green to sell, I did not get it because rats ate the cocoa. If rats eat the cocoa I cannot sell it “right here, right now”.
If the gui stays on it for a long time, it will squeeze the cocoa tree. That is like being sick and you don’t see a doctor or don’t take care of yourself. The sickness will squeeze life out of you and then you will die. At that time all the leaves die and it will not produce anymore.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Also if it has too many other trees near, it won’t produce. For example, if you have mango trees close by and I cannot climb the mango to free the cocoa branches from the mango it will die because it will not get enough sun.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: When my father was alive the amount of cocoa we used to harvest decreased. There are too many other trees on top of it.
Can someone explain the difference between women in the cooperatives and women who are not in the cooperatives?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: A woman who is in the cooperatives and a woman who is not are very different. Because if I have cocoa and if I sell it “right here, right now”, in December I will get a dividend, or second payment (ristourn[28]). For those who are not in the cooperative, they sell their cocoa to speculators. They do not get a bonus and selling to speculators is different from selling at cooperatives. Being a member has benefits. For example, you can receive donations. They value women. I had a lot of benefits in the cooperatives. If you are not a member you will not get these benefits. There are seminars you cannot attend if you are not a member. There are diffirences between those in the cooperatives and women who are not.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: The difference is in December we might be broke, but when we get the bonus (ristourn) things are better. We go to the market. If we needed a glass or sheets we are are able to buy them. That is useful.
Is the ristourn the only advantage of being in the cooperative?
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: When you get that money in December, God willing, if our husband give us 50 gourdes when we get to the market and we owe someone money we can’t pay that person. Now I can take a bucket of cocoa and sell it to the pay the person. That person cannot disrespect me anymore.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: I know in December things are hard sometimes and you do not harvest much or anything at all . January comes upon us and we don’t have money, but when we get the ristourn it is a huge help. We use the money to buy clothes for our children and gifts also. Yes, they sometimes conduct seminars.
Do you get loans from the cooperative?
#4 Ronise Francois: No, we don’t take out loans. In the past before I became a member, they used to loan people money. Probably people did not pay them back. It’s like I borrowed the money and took it for myself. Eventually they stopped giving out loans.
Is drying the cocoa a big task for you?
#10 Public: Yes , it is a big task for us.
#4 Ronise Francois: We sweat during those times.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: It can be ruined anytime during that process.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Sometimes you can dry the cocoa if you go out.
Do you prefer selling it green instead of dried?
#10 Public: Yes, we prefer selling it green.
#4 Ronise Francois: It can rain sometimes and the cocoa gets ruined.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: We do not have enough space to dry it.
#4 Ronise Francois: We are not present.
Do people who are not members in the cooperatives sell their cocoa there?
#10 Public: Yes, they sell.
#4 Ronise Francois: They sell, but it is not the same thing. We are members.
As members, do they pay you more than non-members?
#10 Public: No, same amount.
#4 Ronise Francois: They don’t give the ristourn.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: If you are not a member you do not get a ristourn, but they get the same price up front.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member:: Now, many people are signing up to be members. Those who were not members are signing up.
How did you become a member?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: How did we became members? As for myself, one day I came to weigh cocoa here, but I was not a member. Someone said, “Wait , you are weighing the cocoa, but you are not getting a ristourn”? I went down where people were signing up and paid 40 gourdes for the membership card. I did not have money to pay for the inscription fee. I did it on credit. After I sold the cocoa I paid the fee. I stayed involved until I became a member.
Does everyone get the same amount for a ristourn?
#10 Public: No.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: It depends on the amount you brought in.
#4 Ronise Francois: The more cocoa you bring, the more money you will make.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: If you bring more, the bonus increases. If you don’t bring much it won’t go up.
How many women here whose husband is living with them?
(Hands raised : #3 Marie Mimose Metellus, #5 Rosena Simon, #7 Mme Excelhomme Samedi)
Is your husband a member in the cooperative?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: The women mostly do the selling. He is not a member. My mother is taking care of me. That means my husband is not involved in the cooperative.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: My husband is involved but I do all the selling. He picks the cocoa and I sell it.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: Marie Mimose is involved because I am in charge. As a woman, my husband helps me. He brings cocoa to the cooperative under my name. We are together. Union makes strength.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: One person would do most of the selling. For instance the husband can be a member and the wife is not, but she still does the selling. She sells under his name.
If both of us are members, which one of us would attend the meetings?
#10 Public: Mostly the women.
What is preventing the other women from becoming members in the cooperatives?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: The reason they are not members is because they believe that we are being ripped off. They think the cooperatives are getting rich off of us.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: They said we are poor.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Others would like to become members, but they don’t have cocoa. You need to have cocoa to be a member.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: You have to sell cocoa in order for you to get the ristourn. If you are a member but do not have cocoa, you will not get the bonus.
Can a zombi[29] sell at the cooperatives?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: Yes, the zombi sells and becomes a member also.
#4 Ronise Francois: A zombi does not have cocoa land; he goes and buys it and sells it to us.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: That means we have more advantages than them.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The more we stick together the stronger we will be.
Who else do the zombies sell to?
#4 Ronise Francois: They sell here but in December they do not get a ristourn.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: They sell to the speculators.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The reason the zombies are not selling more at the cooperatives is beacuse in the past the zombies were buying the cocoa dried and sold to the cooperatives. Now the cooperatives are buying green cocoa, and that is difficult for the zombies. They have to buy the cocoa green from the farmers in the countryside and carry it on their head to the cooperatives.
When I bring 4 or 5 mamit of cocoa to the cooperative, that amount is too heavy for me to carry on my head. Now if the zombi could have brought in 15 to 20 mamit of cocoa to the cooperatives, that is too much to carry on his head. That is why the zombies are selling more on the speculators’ scales instead of selling to the cooperatives.
#9 Spencer Cesar, Guest, In charge of fermentation for CAUD: There is a difference between a zombi and a speculator. A zombi is pillaging; he buys the cocoa at a very unfavorable price. The speculator is different; he stays home with his scale. He pays his taxes. A zombi takes the cocoa from the farmers all over. These people are ravagers. They take the cocoa at a low price, and also the mamit they use is a mamit and a half of a normal mamit. When they buy a pound of cocoa from the farmers, it is equal to a pound and a half. They buy with one type of mamit and sell with a different type. They invest money and they expect money.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: If he buys a pound of cocoa, he’s expecting it to be a pound and a half.
Are zombies men or women?
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Out of 10 zombis, 4 or 5 are women. On Wednesday when they come from the countryside, you mostly see women.
Who are the more common speculators?
#10 Public: No, men are speculators
If the price is unfavorable why do people sell to them?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: From what I see with the zombies, people mostly sell them cocoa towo. If I put 20 pods of green cocoa along with 30 pods of ripe cocoa and set it out to dry for a day or two, I can sell it to a zombie. If I have a small amount I can also sell it to them. Zombies buy cocoa from farmers in the countryside, not farmers in town.
Do zombies pay in cash?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Both a zombi and a speculator pay you right away. Everyone does. Only if you are a member in a cooperative and the money went out at the time you are selling you might not get pay right away. They will give you a receipt for the next day to come and get your money. Anywhere you sell cocoa, they pay you right away.
What is the biggest change the cooperative has made in your life?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: There is a big change because you have ‘right here, right now’. If you owe someone money, that person cannot disrespect you. The moment he asks for the money, you tell him you will pay him later. I would pick some cocoa, come here and sell it, and pay the person.
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: We communicate. We sit down together and have meetings for changes. When we owe someone, that does not give you much of a problem anymore. You just go and pick cocoa and sell it here to pay that person. That is a big change.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: If it rained for maybe 8 days, the cocoa would be ruined.
#4 Ronise Francois: When you owed someone you could not pay them, but now you can.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Now, if they send your kids home from school for money, you would just go to someone and ask for a loan until the next day. You pay the school and the next day sell cocoa to pay the person back. In the past, it took time to dry it; especially in May when it rains all the time.
If you owe someone money can you repay them with a cocoa tree?
#10 Public: No. You probably won’t give the person a cocoa tree but instead might say “Here is this cocoa as a payment.” I can probably rent the cocoa land for the amount of money I owe that person to pay them back. Some people would rent a cocoa tree to pay someone they owe money, but we here we don’t do that. We rent the land. You can rent an acre or half of an acre. You don’t just rent 2 or 3 cocoa trees.
Do men and women get the same advantages in the cooperative?
#10 Public: Yes.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The men might have more advantages than the women because there are things men can do and we women cannot. The man can take his machete, climb the cocoa tree, clean it and cut out the branches. I cannot do that. I would need to pay someone to do that. There is a difference between men and women because I cannot climb tall trees.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: Men do the tree nursery and tilling the dirt, while we women use a sieve to sift the dirt. The men do a lot of hard work. They dig up the dirt with a pick and after sifting the dirt, they put them in small bags.
Do you talk during meetings?
#4 Ronise Francois: Yes. The same way we are doing now. If the president asks questions in the general assembly, we answer. We also participate in debates.
Do you think because you are a woman that prevents you from talking during meetings?
#4 Ronise Francois: No. We don’t have any problems. We are the same; we have to ask questions.
Do you think because you are a woman that prevents you from becoming a leader in the cooperative?
#10 Public: There is no problem. We are the same.
Are there any women administrators in the cooperative?
#4 Ronise Francois: No. They are men, not women. I am the deputy secretary in the cooperative. I did not do anything to get the position. They simply thought about me and invited me to a meeting. When I came they gave me a small test and I was given the position.
Is there anything you do as women in the cooperative that men do not do?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: There is nothing women do but men don’t do. Even though men do the picking in cocoa production, the women gather the cocoa.
#4 Ronise Francois: It is only the cleaning of the cocoa that women cannot do because they cannot climb the trees.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: The men cut the cocoa branches and we women remove the leaves under the trees.
How do the men spend their day during cocoa harvest?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: The same way. Women spend their day gathering the cocoa. The men spend the day picking cocoa.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: They cut vines on the cocoa.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: Gathering and selling cocoa, there are men who sell cocoa just like women do.
Who in the household makes all the decisions for the family and other family-related things?
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: We are right behind our husbands. The house is our responsibility. If the men are not involved, things might not work well. Men first and women second.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: I don’t have a husband. I am in charge of everything.
#4 Ronise Francois: Me too. I make all decisions. I don’t have a husband.
How do you consume cocoa? What can you make with it to eat or drink?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: We make chocolate. We make chocolate liquor. We put it in alcohol and make cookies with it. You can make many things with cocoa. Tranpe kakawo[30] is very good. You remove the cocoa from the pod, add alcohol, sugar, and cinnamon, and then boil it.
Can you make any remedies out of cocoa?
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: If a child has a cold you can take some cocoa buds which are pink, boil it, and give it to the child. You cannot do that with any type of cocoa, only with kakawo karaf.[31]
What different types of cocoa do you have?
#10 Public: There are three different types. You have the criollo[32]…There are more than three. You have criollo, forastero[33], trinitario[34],and kakawo nasyonal[35]. The old cocoa is different from today’s cocoa.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: They are not the same? They are the same type. The old one is criollo then you have trinitario. You have indigenous cocoa which is a type of criollo. Trinitario gives forastero. You also have karaf which is a graft.
#9 Spencer Cesar, Guest, In charge of fermentation for CAUD: You asked a very important question when you asked what changes the cooperatives brought in our lives. Before cooperatives, we never had meetings like this, nor did we have organizations like CRS or other international organization meetings with us. The fermentation process brought great changes, especially for me. I met several great people and I have a job working in the fermentation process.
Do you have the same wish for your daughters as you have for your sons?
#10 Public: Yes
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: Yes, I send both of them to school. I don’t have a man with me. I am the only one working hard to support them. I want them to become someone in the future so they can help me because I do not have much.
What would you like her to become?
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: I don’t know – whatever they want.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: Nurse
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Nurse or doctor – whatever they want.
Would you be happy if they ended up working in the cocoa production?
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: Yes and no.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: I don’t know. I don’t have a problem if they work in the production, but I want them to go to college.
Would you prefer your child to have five acres of cocoa or to be a doctor?
#10 Public: Doctor
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Doctor. We taught our children about cocoa production. If he is a doctor he still will benefit monetarily from cocoa production. While working at the hospital, some of his patients would be cocoa producers.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member:: Cocoa helps me send my child to college to become an engineer.
#6 Mirtha Dorlus, 75, None, Cooperative Member: My children are in school. I want them to go far. I prefer a doctor because he will give me health care.
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: He will get the money from the cocoa if he is a doctor.
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: He will get the money from the cocoa and he will also give me health care.
#7 Mme Exelhomme Samdi, 57, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: Cocoa helps me with giving my children an education.
Can you borrow money on the cocoa before harvest time?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes you can. If I know that you are a honest person like this fellow over there, I would go to his house and say “I have a problem. Can you please loan me some money?” He is going to loan me the money. Now, I know I will not be in need. When it is ready I sell it and pay him back. Nobody has to know. But now if I sell the cocoa and I just give the money away, when I am in need again he won’t give me a loan. Then everyone here will know that I borrowed money and didn’t pay it back.
Can you sell cocoa like mango, meaning selling the whole harvest at once?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes, if we are selling the land….Ahhh ! No, we don’t sell the whole harvest at once. We can rent the land for 2,3, or 5 years.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: We don’t do that.
Do the women play a role in the community? What kind of role?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes, women participate in the community. I am a woman. I participate. I work. I help. I have cocoa. It is me who takes care of it. I pay people to clean it for me. If that person did not have a 100 gourdes that day, I hire him and pay him. I help in the community.
Are there many women as leaders in the community?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: Yes. A woman is the mayor of the community, Madam Angelot. Women are school principals and we have a judge who is a woman.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: There are many female police.
Are there any organizations for women only?
#10 Public: Both women and men. It’s a mix of both.
#2 Samedi Corancy, 75, 2e AF, Cooperative Member: They are all mixed.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: I know this group of only women, but I don’t participate in it. It’s called Group Fanm Kanpe. At the rich house they are taught how to make flowers. There are rich men also.
Is there money that as woman you decide how to spend?
#8 Brunette Saint Surain, 55, None, Cooperative Member: I spend my own money on the engineer, for school. I rent some land to send the kids to school.
#3 Marie Mimose Metelus, 56, 4e AF, Cooperative Member: My husband and I make all the decisions.
Who makes the decision on small and big spending for the household?
#1 Clezena Fontain, 48, 5e AF, Cooperative Member: I don’t have a husband. I make the decisions regarding spending. After God, it is me in the house.
#5 Elvecia Alexis, 60, None, Cooperative Member: My husband ‘s leg is broken. What he used to do in the past, he is not able to do anymore. He takes other people to help him when we need to accomplish something. He supports me because he wants me to keep working. Together we make all the decisions.
