Talk to reveal successes in relieving Haitian poverty

Anne Hastings wouldn't share specific examples of the women she's helping in Haiti through Fonkoze, Haiti's alternative bank for the organized poor. To hear those, she hopes readers will attend her Oct. 22 lecture in the Albany Diocese.

But Dr. Hastings, who is director of Fonkoze in Haiti (the bank also has an Albany office to collect donations), did spend a few minutes talking with The Evangelist about Fonkoze in general.

Q: Your talk is titled, "Independence or Dependence: Fonkoze Accompanies Haitian Women in Their Struggle." Why focus on women?

Dr. Hastings: Fonkoze is the largest micro-finance institution in Haiti. Women are truly the backbone of the Haitian economy. You see most of the economy functioning with people selling [various products] in the streets and marketplaces; there's 75 or 80 percent unemployment in Haiti, so everyone has to be [selling something].

The vast majority are women, because the women take care of the children and make sure there's food on the table. Women are incredibly crucial to the success of the economy. [According to several studies], women are also likely to repay their loans than men.

Q: Before Fonkoze was created, what was the experience of women trying to succeed economically?

Dr. Hastings: In Haiti, there's Port-au-Prince and everywhere else. Port-au-Prince has a population of two million; Haiti has a population of eight million. When we got started seven or eight years ago, there were no banks in the countryside, and the women we serve could not go to a bank and get approval for a loan. Money-lenders would loan money to women at -- I'm not kidding -- 250 or 300 percent interest.

Q: What is Fonkoze doing to change that?

Dr. Hastings: Fonkoze offers all banking services. Haitians in the U.S. pay outrageous rates to send money home; Fonkoze allows them to send as much money as they want for a flat $10 fee. The illiteracy rate among our clients is 65 percent, so we have a sophisticated literacy program that combines teaching literacy with business skills and reproductive health. We don't just give women a loan and send them on their way.

Q: What do you wish Fonkoze was able to do that it can't yet?

Dr. Hastings: We've been trying for two years now to get a commercial bank license. [Originally,] all the money we used to lend to people, we borrowed from Britain and the U.S. at low rates. We built a loan fund of $1.5 million, but there are two-and-a-half million people in need of our services. [Now,] we have the equivalent of $3.5 million in savings, but because we're not a commercial bank yet, we're not allowed to loan out those [savings].

Q: You also plan to talk about your background in your lecture....

Dr. Hastings: I was a management consultant in Washington, D.C.; I helped young or poor-performing institutions perform better. I did that for 15 years and got burned out. I felt I needed to do something more meaningful with my life. I've been here seven-and-a-half years, and I have no intention of returning to the States.

Q: Why should people attend your talk?

Dr. Hastings: It's going to be fascinating to understand why someone in my position would choose to come to Haiti, and it'll [include] the stories of women in Haiti who have improved their self-esteem and the positions of their families.

(Fonkoze means "the shoulder-to-shoulder foundation." It was founded in 1995 to provide low-interest loans to small-business owners and vendors; the women form what Dr. Hastings called "solidarity groups" of about five people and guarantee each other's loans, promising to make each other's payments if one should default. Today, Fonkoze is an alliance of more than 2,900 grassroots organizations in Haiti.

(Because this year is the 200th anniversary of Haitian independence, Fonkoze's Albany office -- directed by Sister Anita von Wellsheim, RSCJ -- has organized a year of events to highlight the country and its people, culminating in a bicentennial celebration in Autumn 2004. Dr. Hasting's lecture will be given Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m., at Kenwood Convent in Albany. Other events include a site at First Night in Albany and a Haitian film festival next March. For information, call Fonkoze Albany at 427-9092 or email [email protected].)

(10/16/03) [[In-content Ad]]