Every Tuesday evening, we host a community Bible study here at the CAMP, and every Tuesday we fill a giant stock pot full of home-made popcorn for our guests to enjoy and snack on during our time together. We like to try out different flavors of popcorn and take note of which ones the group loved, liked, or shouldn’t ever be made again. “Too much acid” the boys tell us when we make Salt & Vinegar, or “I really like this one” they will say while licking the Cheddar Cheese powder off their fingers. From Spicy to Dill Pickle and most things in between, we’ve tried an array of flavors, always prepared fresh on the stovetop with local popcorn seed and an array of special oils, seasonings, and techniques Matthew picked up as a trade secret working in the Movie Theatre industry for 7 years.
On one particular Tuesday night we tried Ketchup popcorn…we know it sounds a little gross! But, you have to understand, Haitians love ketchup and here we put it on everything! Pâtés, boiled plantains, fried plantains, hot dogs, eggs, chicken, fries, and never will you find a plate of spaghetti not covered in ketchup! It was an instant hit and immediately after gulping down a few handfuls of the popcorn, members of the Bible study group began to murmur with wide-eyed anticipation, “we could sell this” they exclaimed! We all chuckled in the moment and for the most part put the idea of selling ketchup flavored popcorn far behind us, occasionally surprising the group with this highly anticipated treat in the weeks that followed.
Then, in June The CAMP hosted its first community BINGO night, and we filled a 30 gallon plastic container of the ketchup popcorn to give out for free during an intermission. All 30 gallons of this red, salty, with a lil kick of spicy popcorn was devoured in minutes. The CAMP’s right-hand man Roossevelt said, “Look at them, they are going crazy for this stuff!” We knew we had a hit on our hands and began to reconsider the possibility of selling it, but how? It was the beginning of summer and we knew of several young men and women who frequent the community center and were eagerly trying to work and make some extra cash without much luck. A CAMP favorite and our friend Ti-Ton took the lead and we were able to brain storm a bunch of different ideas of how this would work, what supplies we would need, and who we would sell to.
At the end of June “Kernels Kabik” was born, a 100% non-profit business as part of The CAMP Haiti, Inc. Kabik is the name of the zone where the CAMP is located in and it’s pronounced “Ka-Beek.” Over the past several weeks this small ketchup popcorn business has provided part-time jobs to several teens and young adults in our community and beyond. The red popcorn they are selling is called “Sòs Tomat” or “Tomato Sauce” and is made in fresh small batches on selling days and carried in containers to the street, soccer matches, birthday parties, festivals, and swimming holes, or wherever they think it will sell best as the choice is theirs. It’s scooped out for customers on the spot and placed in paper bags, coming in 3 different sizes and ranging in price from $.25-$.75. All the proceeds go directly back to the sales team and they are having a blast selling, so much so that our first month of supplies was finished-off in just 2 weeks! These young men and women are learning business skills including marketing, communication, money transaction, customer service, and the value of hard work. In the future we hope to provide more jobs, add new flavors, and possibly expand Kernels Kabik into some of our local small merchandise stands and grocery stores.
Creating jobs has been on our hearts and in our prayers since we first envisioned The CAMP. For the people of Haiti, finding a job doesn’t come down to want, it comes down to absolute need. Everyone is eager to work, but jobs are hard to come by, even with qualifications and education. We can tell you we never thought it would be possible to create jobs by selling something as simple as popcorn, especially ketchup popcorn and that it would work. But, time and again God continues to shows us the impossible made possible. Please pray with us for knowledge, discernment, and protection not only for our Kernels Kabik crew but all of the Haitians who are struggling to find work or have been displaced form their line of work because of gang violence, and economic instabilities. Thank you.
To support Kernels Kabik and all of the other CAMP ministries please visit https://donorbox.org/camphaiti.
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