In Haiti, the Lord's way prepared

"Prepare the way of the Lord." This beloved Advent refrain reminds us that we each can bring Christ into the lives of others and our own. I invite you to begin the holy season of Advent by considering Haiti. Haiti? Perhaps the image that comes immediately to mind is "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere."

But that is only because you haven't yet met Rev. Joseph Philippe, a man who believes in miracles. When this member of the Spiritan Fathers (formerly called the Holy Ghost Fathers) looks at his fellow Haitians, he sees tremendous potential that only needs a little assist to succeed.

"Join us," he urges, "not be-cause we are weak, but because we are strong."

His dream of 14 years ago has become Fonkoze (pronounced fahn-ko-ZAY), an acronym for the Creole words for The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation.

Modeled on the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, whose founder won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, Fonkoze provides banking services to impoverished people who would be turned away by ordinary banks. But why would a poor person even need a bank?

In Haiti, most economic activity is carried on by women street vendors. Rising before dawn, a typical rural vendor walks on steep mountain paths to the nearest town to buy goods such as clothing, soap or food items. She then carries these back on her head, or if she is lucky, on a donkey, and tries to sell them at a tiny profit.

Father Joseph saw that with a small loan and a few more skills, these 'little merchants' and their families could lead dignified lives free of hunger and disease.

A group of at least five vendors forms a solidarity group, and as a group, they are given a loan of as little as $75. The money is divided among them. First they must open a savings account with a small deposit. This starts a habit of saving which also relieves them of the gnawing dread of always being at the end of their rope and have nothing to fall back on.

With the loan comes responsibility: to learn to read and write, using a game created by Father Joseph that simulates market situations, and to learn business skills. Members hold each other accountable for repayments. As soon as the loan is repaid, the group qualifies for a larger loan, with which the group members can purchase yet more stock, with no limit to the number of times they can qualify.

Fonkoze's promise is as follows: If you continue with Fonkoze for five years, you and your children will have a meal every day. You will know how to read and write. Your children will be in school. Your home will have a cement floor, a tin roof, and a latrine. You will have assets that accumulate day by day. You will have the confidence to face your future.

This is not only economic development, but human development. It is also building the economic foundation for democracy in Haiti. Previous failed attempts relied only on elections, and that was not enough.

Another Advent refrain is "Come, Lord Jesus!" Jesus has already come; it is our openness to His presence that we are asking to have increased. In the coming weeks, you will read more about the miracle of Fonkoze, in which Christ lives in the least of our brothers and sisters and ministers to them through people such as us.

(Barbara DiTommaso, director of the diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice, has been to Haiti four times. This is the first of four "alternative Christmas" Advent columns. Read more about Fonkoze at www.fonkoze.org.)

(11/27/08)