Craftsmanship · Haiti 2050
Sawmill Project: Local Wood, Local Builders
In Haiti's Northwest, building a house has long meant bringing the wood from somewhere else. There was no local mill producing construction lumber — so builders paid more, waited longer, and the value of that work left the region.
From standing timber to finished planks
A portable mill now works in the Northwest, cutting local timber into construction lumber. It is portable by design: it travels to the work — a housing project here, a repair there — rather than waiting for work to arrive at a single site. One piece of equipment can serve many projects and many customers.
HDNF backed the operation with working capital and training: a truck engine overhauled so timber can be moved, logs purchased, blades installed, and inventory in place. The training covered running the mill as a business — operating it safely, keeping accounts, building a budget, and pricing work so the venture holds its own. A machine alone does not make a livelihood. A machine plus business skills can.
What gets recorded
Available operating information will be reviewed and updated as documentation is received and verified.
A test of a larger idea
This is a test of a larger idea: whether equipment at this scale, in the hands of a small entrepreneur with the right training, can change a family's livelihood in Haiti — and whether the model can be repeated, entrepreneur by entrepreneur, to put young Haitians to work.
It is one of several ideas HDNF is testing, where a modern piece of equipment and real training can make a world of difference for people willing to work. Entrepreneurs and partners who want to be part of the next one can reach us at info@hdn.org.
Questions?
Questions? Contact us at info@hdn.org