Update on First Grant to FINCA/Haiti
October 30, 2007

Description of Village Bank (“Famn Vayant”) in Masse, Haiti
Established by Funding from HMI to FINCA/Haiti

(NOTE: This description was supplied by FINCA/HAITI with editing and the names of the clients changed by HMI.)

FINCA Haiti was founded in 1989 and has clients who are members of 356 village banking groups where 100 percent of the clients are women with an average loan of $188. These women have outstanding loans totaling $352,282, and savings totaling $211,561 as of October 31, 2006.

Headquartered in Les Cayes, FINCA Haiti has branches in Aquin, Petite Goave, Ounaminthe and Chardonniere, and serves the southern, northern and western portions of Haiti.

FINCA/Haiti's average client is a married woman with 3-7 children who sells food stuffs, cookware, charcoal, used clothing, or soft drinks in a local market near her home. Even $1 per day of added income has an enormous impact on their families' quality of life.

The Village Banking group Famn Vayant (“Valiant Women” in Creole) meets in a church in the village of Masse, on the southwestern coast of Haiti. It began with 20 members, but its numbers swelled to 32 in the second cycle of loans.

When Lilas heard about Famn Vayant, she decided right away to join, knowing it would boost her business selling beans, rice, and sugar from her home. Lilas travels to the market in nearby Les Cayes by motorcycle, balancing large sacks of food on the back. Her loans from FINCA helped her to purchase the goods she sells at a much better price than she could before.

Gigi, a mother of four, has sold flour, sugar, bread, and oil from a roadside table for 10 years. With FINCA capital, she was able to purchase her inventory at wholesale, increase her profit margin, and set aside savings. Her husband farms corn, potatoes, and rice for the family's consumption, so Gigi has been able to reinvest much of her earnings in her business.

Claire is in her second loan cycle, managing a $140 loan. She bakes and sells bread wholesale from her house. In a country where the majority attempt to survive on less than $1 a day, Claire sets aside $6 per week in savings. She looks forward to even larger loans from FINCA to help her continue expanding her business and her income.

Individual Amitiye Famn Village Bank Client Information

“Kinkay” means “miscellany” in English – cookies, candies, chewing gum, matches, bouillon cubes, popcorn, peanuts, tiny packs of sugar and coffee, and other “first Need” items. Sales can be made from a small stand in front of the home, carried in large trays on women's heads, mobile stands that move from the kindergarten in the morning to the high school in the afternoon, to a neighbor's house in the later afternoon, to the front of the house in the evening.
 

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The $2,144 total represents one loan disbursement to this village bank of 26 women; therefore, the total does not equal $5,000. The full amount of Haitian Microfinance, Inc.'s donation will continue to support the Amitiye village bank in future loan cycles.
 

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An Amitiye Fanm Village Banking story in the words of Marie....

My name is Marie, and I am a member of Amitiye Famn, Village Bank #5-88. I live in Ouanaminthe and am 30-years-old.

I decided to join this village bank and take a loan from FINCA last month to help me sell kinkay. After learning about the FINCA program, I was motivated and decided to become a member of the group. I attended four meetings where we learned about the FINCA Village Bank (VB) methodology, the rules and regulations and the credit opportunities. We elected a three-member Council for our VB and elaborated our internal by-laws with the help of our loan officer. Like all of the others, I contributed 400 Haitian Gourdes (approximately US $10) into my savings. I will receive a loan of 4,000 HG (approximately US $100) that I will use to purchase more hardware in a larger quantity that will allow me to sell my hardware a bit cheaper and make a larger profit. The extra that I will earn will allow me to buy more things for my family and in my community.

After receiving the small loan from FINCA/Haiti, my business is improving – in spite of the difficult economic situation here in Haiti. Now my living conditions are beginning to change for the better because this increase in revenue can take care of my family's needs.

I would like to thank FINCA/Haiti and the people who are sponsoring our group for thinking of us and helping us “disenfranchised” market women.

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