The Marketplace Magazine March/April 2010

Roadside stand

Tracking our soulmates in Haiti A former employee and longtime friend of MEDA was a victim of the January disaster in Haiti. Anna Prophete joined the MEDA staff in Port-auPrince in 1984, working for then‑country manager Ron Braun. When MEDA ceased direct operations in Haiti two decades later, she was the office receptionist. Over the years Anna calmly handled all the struggles of working in one of MEDA’s hotspots — including repression, coups, embargoes and civil strife. When the earthquake hit, Anna was at work with her current employer, and perished when the building collapsed. Haiti was a major field of operations for MEDA for many years. As noted in the news story on page 23 of this issue, we began work there in the early 1980s, and launched a major microcredit program in 1986. In the 1990s we became involved with another leading microfinance institution, Fonkoze, and eventually merged our operations with theirs so that our rural clients could have access to Fonkoze’s burgeoning array of additional services. We remain a Fonkoze partner, not only in terms of investment and governance but also as a soulmate. “We have been partnering with MEDA ever since we got here,” says Fonkoze director Anne Hastings. “There’s a total overlap in our mission.” While no longer involved in day-to-day operations in Haiti, MEDA is working with

Cover photo of Floradale pastor Fred Redekop by Wally Kroeker

The Marketplace March April 2010

to rebuild and normalize Fonkoze’s operations. Some 250 of Fonkoze’s employees lost their homes and assets. As noted on page 23, Fonkoze’s sprightly rebound drew praise from national media and the U.S. Secretary of State’s office. More details will be forthcoming shortly. On a different note, MEDA staff have been in regular contact with another longtime MEDA-ite, Odette Austil. Like Anna Prophete, Odette was one of those early stalwarts who gave spine to our work. In recent years, when the country was overrun with violence and kidnappings, she relocated part of her family to the northeastern U.S. so her children could go to school in safety. She now plans to return to Haiti. “Morally, I can’t stay in the U.S. while the country needs all its children to rebuild,” she told MEDA staffer Kim Pityn, who worked with both Odette and Anna in Haiti in the early 1990s. Odette plans to put her considerable skills to work

Anna Prophete Fonkoze to help Haitians get back on their feet. “In the early stages following a disaster,” says Allan Sauder, MEDA’s president, “survivors need food, water and shelter, but almost immediately they also require ongoing access to cash, savings accounts and remittances from family overseas.” Once immediate needs are met, Haitians need to regain some sense of normalcy. In a country where few are formally employed, they need to replace the tools of their trades lost in the earthquake so they can get back to earning an income. MEDA was quick to begin raising funds for its local partner. Fonkoze’s clients, many of whom have lost inventory and equipment, will be helped to obtain new loans and access their savings to get back into business — essentially kick‑starting the economy. A new project is in the works. One component will be small one-time grants to clients who lost their homes and/or businesses to help re-establish shelter and basic needs. Existing loans will be forgiven and once shelter has been restored new loans will be issued to restart their businesses. Another component will be 2

doing what she knows best — helping the poor. She has been hired to assist with Fonkoze’s rebuilding efforts, bringing her long journey with MEDA’s mission to full circle. Read and be happy: Want to be happier? Read the newspaper (or this magazine). Want to be sadder? Watch more television. A recent study of 45,000 adults linked reading the newspaper to higher levels of happiness, while watching lots of TV correlated with lower happiness levels. (Consumer Reports on Health) Always working: The line between work and home is blurring, says Richard Donkin in his new book, The Future of Work. “We don’t stop living when we go to work and, very often today, we don’t stop working when we arrive home.” That can pose problems, he says, as studies show that working more than 55 hours a week can cause stress and mental decline, which of course threaten productivity. — WK