Micro-Lending

Micro-Lending:  Loosely based on the program of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, loans averaging $50 will be made to local cooperative groups who demonstrate the ability to conceptualize and initiate projects that will improve their quality of life and that of the community.  With chronic unemployment at about 75% in Haiti, we believe that well-placed micro-loans can begin to reverse the trend.

Progress:  Board member Betty Barats will lead this project.  It is she and a group of women from Western Washington who have provided seed money for the project.  Our first loan of $150 was made to Alin Dorvil who owns an internet café, “In God We Trust”, in Cap Haitien.  $80 of that loan was repaid November 5, 2010., the balance was paid the first week of December.  The payment of interest upon the loan will take the form of Cholera outreach education by Mr. Dorvil in January 2011.  Rosedanie will oversee.  Future loans will be made based more on the cooperative model used by Grameen.