Bonswa! Greetings from Maryam and Lezah here in Port-au-Prince.
Yesterday we met with two of the MCC's partners: Fonkoze and Haitian Education and Leadership Program (HELP). At Founkoze we met with Linda Boucard, the Director of Communications and Public Relations, and discussed their successful micro-credit program. Fonkoze specifically lends to women in order to promote business in the countryside. They do this by providing women with eighteen months of training and support in topics that include financial responsibility, health - e.g. sanitation and family planning, and general education. They also implore that women put their children into the schooling system and must do so before graduating the program in order to qualify for loans.
The next person we met with for the day was Ms. Laura, a teacher at HELP who is involved in the development of the organization's English language and leadership program. She was born in Haiti and moved to Brooklyn, New York at the age of twelve. She moved back to Haiti after the earthquake to help Haitian youth develop English skills, something that has become increasingly important in professional development. HELP works by providing scholarships to outstanding students from all over the country who are at the top of their high school class and provides housing, books, and tuition for them to attend college in the local Port-au-Prince area. In addition to their college courses, they take classes in English, computer proficiency, and leadership. HELP provides a community that supports students and encourages them to remain in Haiti after finishing their education so they can work to give Haiti a brighter future.
We also saw the dorms the HELP students live in. There are three dorms and we were lucky enough to receive a tour of two of them with our new friends from HELP.
Signing off!
Lezah and Maryam
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