Peppers in a Basket

Meet Isana

Isana, her husband, their four children, and three other children were living in eastern Haiti, near the Dominican Republic. Times were tough. Her husband was a hard worker, yet employment opportunities were hard to come by.

So when Ricot, Lifeline's regional director, offered her husband a job in agriculture in western Haiti, they were grateful. They eagerly moved the family there, and he began his new job cultivating peppers, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and more, as part of Ricot's agriculture initiative.

Rich fertilized soil results in abundant harvests!

It didn't take long, though, for them to realize that one salary would not meet the needs of their large family. Some days they had no money for food. She remembers how emotionally hard it was to not be able to provide food for the children. 

Isana clung to the belief that God would help them through this tough time. 

An opportunity becomes a turning point

Over time, Ricot got to know Isana. He noticed her friendly, warm personality and her love for people. He also knew the family's financial struggles. So he decided to give her a basket of peppers from the field and suggested that she try to sell them in the local open air market. 

Isana was a regular client of the market, yet she had never sold anything there herself. As a child, though, she would go with her mother to sell items in the market. That experience had stayed with her.

So she took the peppers from Ricot, headed off to the market… and to her delight, she sold them all! That one experience sparked in her the realization that perhaps God was leading her to take a next step: building a market business.

She began borrowing small amounts of money from a local bank in order to add new produce and products to her offerings. As profits came in, she would pay off the loan, and then repeat the cycle. Over time, her business grew. 

"Sometimes I made mistakes," she admits. "No one taught me how to price things, how to compete with similar vendors without aggravating them, and how to anticipate product demand. Sometimes I lost money when produce went to waste, which was hard. But from each experience, I learned something!"

Because Ricot believed in her and entrusted her with something small, Isana is now a successful entrepreneur.

Isana’s family now

Isana is now a familiar face in the market and is one of the larger vendors. She works seven days a week, usually arriving at 7:00am after her children are ready for school.

She now sells produce, rice, flour, sugar, cornmeal, wheat, vegetable oil, spices, and charcoal. At day's end, she puts unsold products into a small storage unit nearby so they can be brought back out the next day.

“We used to live in lack,” Isana said. “Now we have two salaries, and we eat every day. We can pay for all of our children’s school needs: their tuition, uniforms, shoes, books and supplies. I am so pleased that I can help meet my family’s needs!”

Isana’s plans for her future

Isana hopes to continue building her business so that she can provide for her family in greater ways. Young and new vendors in the market look up to her as their mentor. She enjoys advising them so that they too can find the success that she has. Helping others is in her nature.

“God has shown me His goodness,” she said. “When things are bad for any reason, I know that God will provide in the end."

Isana's story happened because of a simple basket of peppers and an opportunity from someone who cared.


Isana's story happened because of generous people like you. You can help impact generations by making a donation today.