Haiti Christian Business Conference In May, over 300 people joined for two days at the “Conference of Hope for a Sustainable Economy” in a Haitian city still climbing out of hurricane disaster from nine months ago. In Gonaives, a city on the interior gulf of Haiti, in-country leaders collaborated with their partners from Brookfield, Wisconsin, to provide new hope for businesspeople around the country toward sustainable economic development through job creation, youth empowerment, entrepreneurial training, and the tool of local, regional and international mentoring. Daniel Jean-Louis, Partnership Manager of Haiti, saw the immediate results. “The conference met its objectives by bringing hope to the businesspeople there and also brought new enthusiasm to them, training them and showing them that people care.  It was a great success because we laid the groundwork to create a viable network of Christian businesspeople in that region.” “Within a network like that, people can now leverage each other,” he says, “and complement each other by purchasing and supplying each other, which is good for business.  They can also receive mentoring locally and regionally with ongoing encouragement.” Gonaives was severely affected by repeated hurricanes over the past years which destroyed businesses, infrastructure, farms, and took thousands of lives.  For many, this time together provided not only a vision of sustainable economy, but also one of enduring hope. “It was important to have the conference there,” says Jean-Louis, “because it showed the people that we care and that there is a shared hope to revive the economy.  The challenges in Haiti are so high that only when Christians come together can they overcome.”    “For the city of Gonaives, this conference is like a new era,” says Pastor Jean.  Back to www.partnersworldwide.org