Help some Haitians make life better

By BARBARA DITOMMASO

The armed struggles and gross human rights abuses of the 1980s in the Third World have given way to an economic war in which large corporations prowl the world, seeking the most desperate people who will accept the lowest wages. Each day, the media bring us more information about child labor and sweatshops, not only overseas, but also in the U.S.

As believers that Christ has redeemed all of creation, how can we address this disparity: The richest 300 people in the world have wealth that equals the entire assets of the poorest three billion?

While we seek to change that big picture in the long term, there are 840 million people right now who never have enough food. In the short term, what can we do that will express our belief that Jesus came for them, too? Let's look at what is succeeding in what some consider the western hemisphere's most hopeless case -- Haiti.

The peasants of Montay Godet badly needed a store in their community where they could buy essential foods like beans and corn. The only way their cooperative could get the start-up money was to borrow from a local large landowner at 120 percent interest per year. After a few months, they realized that both the store and the cooperative would go under if they tried to continue repaying the loan at that rate.

Then they heard about FONKOZE, Haiti's Alternative Bank For The Organized Poor. They became members and received a one-year loan at 18 percent interest, which enabled them to pay off the landowner and repay FONKOZE in just 10 months.

With the leadership of Father Joseph Philippe, CSSp, religious communities, peasant organizations, credit unions and groups of women street merchants (the backbone of the Haitian economy) came together to form FONKOZE to take the economic development of their country into their own hands. By providing grassroots organizations the financial, educational, technical and legal services they need to create income-producing businesses, FONKOZE brings about not only economic development, but also economic democracy, because it enables the workers to become active participants in the economy, rather than its victims.

Almost 85 percent of peasants and street vendors are illiterate; often, they are unable even to calculate whether or not they are making a profit. FONKOZE has launched a Literacy and Business Skills Training Program so that economic development among poor Haitians is accompanied by their development as human persons having dignity as children of God.

FONKOZE is also investing with its member organizations in businesses in every region of Haiti where a small influx of capital can create major growth. Because poor Haitians are hard workers who only need an opportunity, people's wretched standard of living is immediately improved at the same time that a return is made on the investment. Try to imagine the impact of this in a country where unemployment is approaching 70 percent!

An example is the vetiver oil manufacturing business that is owned and operated by an elderly peasant. He single-handedly planted most of the fragrant vetiver grass in his region. He is assisted by his son, who was active in the struggle for democracy, was shot and partially paralyzed, and who, after recuperating, returned to help his father. They were denied credit at traditional banks, but a FONKOZE loan enabled them to expand the business, thereby allowing them to export the valuable extract to U.S. and European perfume producers.

The son has since become FONKOZE's representative in the region and serves on its investment committee, where he helps to evaluate and negotiate new investment projects.

While FONKOZE works towards its five-year goal of self-sustainability, it needs donations for operating costs not yet covered by the revenue it generates. If you agree that the economic news shouldn't be good just for those who already have more than they can possibly use or enjoy, and if your means allow you to share with those who have so little, please consider making a donation in the name or memory of a loved one so that our celebration of Christmas will be consistent with the gift of God, who gives nothing less than His very self in Christ.

(Tax-deductible donations may be sent to Commission on Peace and Justice, 40 N. Main Ave., Albany NY 12203.)

(12-18-97) [[In-content Ad]]