Our efforts today, were focused on the administrative aspects of integrating new members into Fondespwa. Renee has spent yesterday afternoon and all of today inputting the profiles of the women into our data base. In addition, with Martine, our Loan Officer, they filled out the required information onto the member's passbooks and created the contracts. Each woman will be receiving a passbook, where her repayments and savings deposits will be signed by her Group Leader and Fondespwa's Loan Officer. This book, she must bring to all the biweekly meetings. In addition, we write up a contract that they must sign before they receive their loan which details all of our and their responsibilities. The third item we give the entrepreneurs is a laminated ID with their photo, their group name and their legal name. They love having those ID's. It gives them an identity, of belonging to a group, which is vitally important to Haitians as they are not isolationists. They love community, enjoy being together. They would prefer 10 people sleeping in a room versus being alone. Each woman is in a group of 5-7 and must choose a group name. They are pretty inspiring. God Almighty, Heads Together, Decided Women, Women Standing Up, Looking for the Life, Christ is Able, Women of Light, Women Facing Life, Patience, Flower of Hope, Warring Women (look out!), Let's Move Forward, Brilliant Women, Women Not Sitting, Committed Women, Victorious Women, and Energetic Women are just a sample of the names they have chosen among themselves. Names reflecting dignity and hope. That in essence is what Fondespwa is all about.

Today was a fun day, as we received the legal documents of the women, so we could create an account for them in our data base and establish their passbooks and ID cards. We had the women arrive, in their groups of 5-7 at various times throughout the day. Their identification, which we scanned, came in a host of different forms. Some were laminated, some torn into 4 square pieces, others had plastic ironed on their weathered paper. Some did not have any formal ID so they used voting cards or hospital treatment forms. Once we received their ID, we then took them into the surrounding neighborhood for their photo which we will add to the web site. As always, these women, when it was their turn to have their picture taken, would straighten their dresses, brush back their hair and take off their hats and hair coverings. Some of them didn't like how I placed them against a wall, tree or building and would only allow me to take their picture in a place of their choosing. They wanted to be seen in the very best "light". These women are no different than any of us. We all want to look good, be respected and thought well of. We want to present our best to others. Again, Haitian women are only materially poor. They still have dreams, hopes and desires. An enterprising entrepreneur who is now a member of Fondespwa made a bundle of money from us. At one of the interview sessions during the week, she brought a good sized tub of baked cakes, as she was coming from the market. I decided to offer them to the women, while they were waiting and I paid for all of them. Then on Sunday, she brought a tub twice the size of before filled to the brim with cakes and in no time she sold out to the 220 women, which I again paid for. Then today, she came right when we started, even though she was not required to be there for another 3 hours with another large plastic tub of cakes for the women as they sat and waited for us to process their documents. She just kept selling the cakes to the women which again I paid for until everyone was processed and then she left. She made a killing. She saw a window of opportunity and grabbed it. Once finished, we returned their documents, reminded them when their biweekly meeting would be and off they went, knowing that in a few days they would be getting their loans.

We concluded our interviews by seeing the last group of women which totalled about 45. As with all of them, they have their stories of added hardship due to divorce, husband abandonment, debilitating illness, death of their children, their savings and business lost when their houses burned down and on it goes. The fact they already live an arduous life does not make them immune, in the least, that they face the same disappointments, setbacks, frustrations and travesties that we in the "developed' countries do. They may be materially poor but are rich in will power, courage and faith. In the afternoon, we met with all the entrepreneurs whom we had selected and were interested in Fondespwa. On this occasion many came on time. We began with some energetic singing, prayer and then attendance taking. The contract was read through again for the fourth or fifth time and then questions were invited. There were a good number. I thought the women were angry on a number of occasions with points on the contract, but Renee, Founder of Mission of Hope, stated they were just speaking among themselves in their usual animated fashion. I still can't tell the difference. Even in one of the interviews, I believed this woman was livid with me and when she was finally done I looked at my translator waiting to hear that what we were proposing was unethical and extremely detrimental to the women of Haiti. Frankly, I was expecting my first voodoo curse. What she said, however, was Fondespwa is exactly what they need and was thanking me profusely for establishing this in Grand Goave. I still think she was angry but my interpreter simply did not want to insult me. The women, then broke into their self selected groups of 5 to 7. From there, we told them tomorrow bring their ID so we could begin to process their passbooks. It was a 3 hour session, that was hot and humid, but everyone was pleased with the end result. So, after almost 4 weeks of meetings, multiple interviews, group and individual sessions, a host of questions and answers, Fondespwa has added 155 new members.

I was thinking it might be interesting for others to know how we are interviewing 220 women entrepreneurs. We have divided the list of women so that 60 are being seen each day. Thirty in the morning and 30 in the afternoon. There are 4 of us who are meeting with them. In the morning session, which begins at 8 at the Mission of Hope school, the women are met by a Greeter, at the gate to the school, who shows them where to congregate until they are interviewed. The interviewers and the Greeter each have a master list of the women. When I am done with my interview, I take her to the Greeter, who escorts her to Lex Edme who is Haiitan and Founder of MOH who then does a second interview of that woman. The Greeter then gives me the next woman on the list and I take her with my interpreter to a stone walled classroom. The two other interviewers do the same thing in their respective classroom. While we are meeting with the women, those not yet interviewed congregate in shaded areas around the school or yesterday when it was raining they all piled into a large box truck. Once the 30 have been seen, the interviewers meet together and we discuss our sessions to see what we can do to improve our time with the women. By then it is noon, we have lunch and then begin again at 1. We will do this until noon on Thursday.

A good number of women were waiting for us, as we began our 8:00 session and this continued till 3:30. To date, it appears we will have 123 women that we believe are qualified and are interested in Fondespwa. Most of these women can neither read or write but are very market savvy. Every Wednesday and Saturday and often on Tuesdays they are at the market selling their wares. The competition is intense, so product and price differentiation is key. But they know how to do it and frankly fight hard to win every sale. They are tenacious. In my meetings with them, they are often low key and differential but once we begin speaking about their business and how they conduct it, they become animated and strongly opInionated. They are certainly passionate. This afternoon, my usual interview "room" was barred shut over the lunch hour, as a metal door was cemented in with our three chairs. "Adult" chairs by the way are at premium at a children's school, so we used little kids chairs for the next few hours. You just make due and frankly it was funny. There are a number of aspects of meeting with these courageous women that stands out but one that is so simple, impacts me. During the interview, I ask for their identification. Never once has a woman taken out her purse and showed it to me. Their ID card or weathered paper birth certificate is folded, wrapped in plastic and then wrapped further with a cloth. Watching them carefully unravel it for some reason, always shakes me a little.

they really don't have a break from this arduous lifestyle. I read, work, watch TV , go to movies, eat at restaurants, travel around and go to a gym. Their days are so routine. Get up early, work all day, with little to show for it, go home to a hot cardboard sized house, care for their children. With nothing to entertain them, they go to bed and start all over again with no change in schedule while the pressure of having enough for the day or week always looms over their shoulders. Always looming. They are impressive women any way you cut it. As with all of us, we just want to get to the plate and the chance to hit the ball. That is what Fondespwa is trying to do. Get the Haitian women to the plate and then they have to swing the bat. They will connect. No doubt about it.

We just completed our first day of interviewing the first slate of women who are desirous of joining Fondespwa. Four of us, met individually with 58 women to get their background information and especially to understand why they need and how they will handle micro-loans. These women, as are all the women I have met in Haiti, are very, very impressive. They all want to expand their businesses to help their children and are willing to take risks plus work the long hours to accomplish those goals. As we have been telling them, Fondespwa provides the ladder to move up out of poverty but they are the ones that are doing the work/climbing. Frankly, they are very much up the challenge. These women's businesses consist of selling vegetables, fruit, clothes, mops etc, and owning a restaurant. They are the epitome of the classic entrepreneur who finds a need, fills it with a differentiated product in the cut throat world of a tangible market place. These entrepreneurs are savvy, industrious and survivors at the highest level. They just need the ladder!

After 2 prior introductory meetings, over the course of 2 weeks with the women of Grand Goave led by our loan officer Martine I know had the opportunity to meet with them on Sunday morning. To date about 150 women had been at those sessions. The meeting was scheduled for 11 AM and only about 20 women were present and I thought the others had lost interest. However, over the course of the next hour 200 women showed up. For 2 hours, we discussed our contract and their responsibilities. There was a lot of excitement with our program. Monday we will begin to interview each woman. Besides myself there will be 3 others who will handle the interviews as we each will meet with 20 entrepreneurs per day. We will do this for the next 4 days. In the afternoon, we then journeyed 45 minutes away to St. Etienne were we attended their fourth biweekly meeting since receiving their loans. Jeff an entrepreneur in Port au Prince taught them about thinking long term for their business and that planning was essential to having a viable business. We met after to speak with the 8 Group Leaders to get their feedback of the progress of Fondespwa. It was good to get their assessment. As a business, we need to listen to our members and we learned a great deal. Definitely beneficial. There will be lots happening over the course of the next 2 weeks. We are going to learn a great deal.

After a 2 hour delay in Miami, due to plane mechanical problems, I landed in Port au Prince and was greeted by my host Lex Edme, Founder of Mission of Hope in Grand Goave and Eddy Destine, Founder of Foundation Samaritan Action in Port au Prince. Eddy's foundation provides basically free medical services to his community. The purpose of meeting with him is he is considering starting a micro finance operation and wanted Fondespwa to possibly work with him. We also met with his accountant, who has a strong background in researching the microfinance industry and he believes that Fondespwa's model of the co-guaranteeing of the loans was a methodology that would enable Fondespwa to exist for the long term. He stressed that the traditional banks simply were not set up to meet the financial needs of the materially poor. We then rode through Cite Soleil, a densely populated shanty town of 300,000 in Port au Prince. Cite Soleil is considered the most dangerous area in the Western Hemisphere. The filth and acrid smell of sewage in tandem with the vast sea of flimsy and rusted corrugated aluminum homes linked together made this obviously a depressing sight. Two years ago we would not have dared speed through that area as we did today for fear of Caucasians being kidnapped. Still it is a violent, crime ridden area. The most extreme of the materially poor reside here. Tomorrow, we will be meeting with a new group of women in Grand Gaove who have expressed interest in joining Fondespwa. After 2 meetings, there appear to be over 100 women who have stated they are considering joining with us. In the afternoon, we will be going to St. Etienne to join with the 47 women of this mountain community, at their biweekly meeting. It will be an informative time to see how they are progressing with their recent loans. The best news of the day is when Lex mentioned there has been an increase in tithing at the two churches in St. Etienne and Grand Goave where we have established the Fondespwa groups. This is so beneficial to the churches themselves and a sign that these women entrepreneurs are investing their loans wisely and thanking God by giving back to HIm. Excellent!!

<p> There are two reasons I will be going to Haiti this Saturday Oct. 24. Over the course of the last 2 weeks in Grand Goave, we have been holding information meetings for women who are interested in joining Fondespwa. These women would be receiving our first level loan of $75. At the initial session, 83 women who attended the 1 1/2 hour meeting said they were interested. At our second session, a week later, 150 women entrepreneurs said they were interested. To be certain we provide loans to those that truly need them I will need to interview them. Second, our initial group of entrepreneurs will be concluding their first four month loan term and will then be moving to the second level receiving $125. It will be good to help transition them to the next rung up the ladder out of poverty. Fondespwa provides the ladder but THEY do the work. I will keep you posted on the progress of this trip.</p>