In July of this year I attended the US DOS Orientation for 2008/2009 Fulbright scholars held in Washington DC. The closing speaker, Alex Counts, delivered an excellent speech about the
Grameen Foundation, of which he is the founder and president. His speech inspired me to become more involved in promoting their work (please click on the link to visit their web page, there you can learn more about the foundation.)
As you all know, on 26 August 2008 hurricane
Gustav hit Haiti with force, leaving thousands of people affected. Just as the Haitian National Red Cross Society (HNRCS) was responding to this emergency, tropical storm
Hanna surprised the country on 1 September, after it unexpectedly changed its course heading towards the northern coast of Haiti. This exacerbated the effects of Gustav and left more people affected. In addition to this, hurricane
Ike and tropical storm
Josephine will likely affect Haiti in the coming days. Based on this situation, the National Society requested international support through an Emergency Appeal. A chilling call came from Anne Hastings, president of
Fonkoze, the Grameen partner in Haiti. Its people were already eating mud to fight starvation triggered by the global food crisis. As Anne says now, “I’m really concerned about how we will recover.” Please
click here to make a gift today so Haitians can rebuild their lives.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and suffers from a history of political instability, poor health care, and high levels of illiteracy and unemployment. In addition, high inflation and a growing national debt continue to be serious problems. Approximately 15 percent of the estimated demand for microfinance is currently being met by the Grameen Foundation, which also provides training and technical assistance to Fonkoze as they work to implement
Village Phone Direct, a program which helps to bring much needed telecommunications access to rural areas of Haiti.
As you all know, on 26 August 2008 hurricane Gustav hit Haiti with force, leaving thousands of people affected. Just as the Haitian National Red Cross Society (HNRCS) was responding to this emergency, tropical storm Hanna surprised the country on 1 September, after it unexpectedly changed its course heading towards the northern coast of Haiti. This exacerbated the effects of Gustav and left more people affected. In addition to this, hurricane Ike and tropical storm Josephine will likely affect Haiti in the coming days. Based on this situation, the National Society requested international support through an Emergency Appeal. A chilling call came from Anne Hastings, president of Fonkoze, the Grameen partner in Haiti. Its people were already eating mud to fight starvation triggered by the global food crisis. As Anne says now, “I’m really concerned about how we will recover.” Please click here to make a gift today so Haitians can rebuild their lives.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and suffers from a history of political instability, poor health care, and high levels of illiteracy and unemployment. In addition, high inflation and a growing national debt continue to be serious problems. Approximately 15 percent of the estimated demand for microfinance is currently being met by the Grameen Foundation, which also provides training and technical assistance to Fonkoze as they work to implement Village Phone Direct, a program which helps to bring much needed telecommunications access to rural areas of Haiti.
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