What's in a
name?
I want to tell you all about
KOFAEL. Let's start with the name. In case it bothers you (as it bothered me at
first and has seemingly bothered others who have already gone out of their way
to point it out), the acronym KOFAEL only loosely follows the Haitian
definition. We have decided not to make an acronym out of the English
translation which would have begun with "COW...". Thank goodness I was able to
squash that idea by saying that the acronym COW representing a women's
organization wouldn't go over too well with English speakers! So let's just roll
with the Creole version! Loosely following and adapting is what Haitian Creole
is all about. However, because I am an English major and prefer to at least
loosely follow rules of grammar (and because we strive for a little
professionalism), I double checked to make sure we were doing that with KOFAEL.
Low and behold it isn't just a Creole issue. Here's what I found. "Some acronyms
are formed from the first few letters of a word, instead of just the first
letter. All initial isms are acronyms, but not all acronyms are initial isms."
Great. KOFAEL passes. No more issues there. But how did we choose the name? We
had a list of potential names that went along with the purpose of the
organization. KOFAEL was one of several names on the list that the women had
suggested at Saturday meetings. These names were turned over to the ASSAIRES
(social affairs office) with our application to become an official organization.
Social affairs declared KOFAEL as the winner when the paperwork came back to us.
We are official! If you understand Haiti even a little, gaining official status
through a government office is often quite the ordeal. We are so thankful for
the special guy who worked very hard to get this done.
How did KOFAEL get
started?
KOFAEL was birthed in an effort
to help women affected by the January 12th, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Julienne
Pierre, a young Haitian university student, began praying about a way to improve
the lives of the women she knew would be most vulnerable after the earthquake
destroyed their livelihood. She knew many of the women from her church, and from
contacts at another church nearby. Her desire was to see these Haitian women
come together as the body of Christ to help meet one anothers needs. Julienne
began seeking out and visiting with women that were found to have the greatest
need. She spent several months collecting data in order to gain knowledge as to
where these women were before the earthquake and what they were doing there in
contrast with where they are and what they are doing now.
Some of the paperwork
collected on the KOFAEL women
Julienne began this process in
January of 2011 (one year after the earthquake) when it became evident that
promised progress to improve the lives of women like these was going to be
tragically slow. The women were desperate. They needed hope to keep going and
they needed it NOW. Julienne recruited Franz Osier to help. Frantz also has a
huge heart for these women and others in severe poverty situations. He has
devoted his life to serving those who are poor and oppressed. Frantz and
Julienne don't have much, but I have watched them give of everything they have
because of their love for the Lord and people. I first met Frantz at an
orphanage where he works as a pre-K teacher five 1/2 days per week. I know the
pay isn't much, but I've seen him spend it on others who have even less. Frantz
is a talented young man and speaks four languages well. He has translated for us
many times, has tutored us in our Creole lessons and now also tutors our girls
in ESL after he finishes teaching at the orphanage each day. We have so enjoyed
getting to know Frantz and have learned so much more about Haiti from him as
well. If you have come to visit us in Haiti, you have probably met Frantz. He is
part of the family now and has informed us that he might have to just move in
with us next year after his roommate gets married. We are also plotting how we
can bring Frantz back to the states with us for a few weeks so that he can share
about KOFAEL and Haiti with others...which he can do so much better than
me!
Frantz and Julienne officially
started meeting with the group of KOFAEL women collectively on June 18th, 2011
after collecting information about the women for six months. There was a school
drive held October 5th, 201l to benefit the children of the
KOFAEL women.
Some of the school
supplies given by leaders to KOFAEL children on October 5, 2011
Presidential orders did not
allow Haitian schools to commence until October in 2011.
We might call it a "drive" but
really it was Frantz and Julienne that spent their own earnings to purchase the
items for the children of KOFAEL women in order to give them a dose of hope that
they would be able to send their children to school. Many are often inclined to
just take care of themselves (and for some that is truly all they can do) in
this survivalist society. What an encouragement to see two young people like
Julienne and Frantz spending their free time and limited personal resources to
care for many others.
Smile of hope after
receiving items for her children to use at school
Frantz and Julienne asked me if
I would come to the first November meeting to speak to the women of KOFAEL.
Frantz used this as one of my Creole lesson assignments as my first public
speaking engagement in Creole. I began to ask many questions about the KOFAEL
women's organization and soon began to love these women too.
Me, Julienne, and my
friend Audrey who came to my first meeting with me serving refreshments
Frantz, Julienne and I
began to discuss more concrete goals and direction for the future of KOFAEL and
the paperwork process that remained to become an official organization in order
to better serve the women. We sought wisdom from business professionals who have
worked successfully in Haiti for decades and began to write a business plan for
KOFAEL. We formed a board and got busy to complete the paperwork process for the
organization. We included the women in decision making during meetings
discussing potential options with them and listening to their critiques which
told us which roads they had been down before and what they were for and
against...basically what was going to fly and what wasn't. We didn't have much
to start with but decided we needed to just start. So we started with
prayer.
KOFAEL meetings always
start with prayer request, praise, and worship.
The women gather for meetings
2 Saturdays per month.
They are required to be present at meetings to remain
in the organization.
Next we started with the
direction we felt the Lord was leading...with small business loans. The women of
KOFAEL are hard workers. Each had her own small business before the earthquake
that would provide for her family and pay for her children to go to school. Even
though they were poor compared to other standards, they lived with dignity and
contentment with the work of their hands. These women really just want to be
able to achieve that dignity and contentment once again doing what they already
know how to do well. For most of these women it looks like this.
This KOFAEL woman's trade
is to sell bananas
She also sells things for
a living.
In case you are wondering
how in the world someone could provide for their family and pay to send their
children to private school (there are no public schools in Haiti) by selling
bananas and odds and ends on the Haitian street market, you are not alone. I
have asked this question many, many times. I know it is difficult to comprehend,
but the answer I always get is..."They really can!" I probably wouldn't believe
it if we didn't personally know street vendors who have been selling things like
sodas on the street for years and who never seem discontented, and couldn't
believe we didn't own a television when they have two in their modest but
function able homes.
We did throw around the idea of teaching the women a new
trade (like making jewelry...but found some of the women actually do already
make their own jewelry and sell that too), but that idea was met with much
opposition as the women already felt strongly that they were skilled in their
trades and didn't want to start a new thing, just wanted to be able to do the
thing they did before the earthquake. They only want to be able to continue to
work and grow their business in order to improve the quality of life for their
families...most of which are living in deplorable conditions among the thousands
still in tent cities.
So how can we help them?
The last thing my white American
self wants to do is try to sweep in and "help" these brave, strong women who I
respect so deeply. The last thing I want them to think is that I am going to
bestow American blessings upon them to improve upon their lives I couldn't
imagine living. They asked after the first meeting if the blan (foreigner) would
be back? I've come back and the women may be starting to trust me a little.
Other than helping Frantz out with some of the paperwork costs when he comes up
short with a deadline approaching, I have contributed very little other than
time, counsel, and prayer. I've told the women that I will share their stories
and that others around the world are now praying for them too. I've also
encouraged them to trust the leadership of Frantz and Julienne because I've seen
how hard Frantz and Julienne strive to help them and because I know how much
they truly care and intercede on their behalf. I know some of them have asked
when the blan is going to do something (because they are desperate) but we have
asked them to be patient as we seek the Lord for the best way. We believe the
best way to proceed is through small business loans.
These are among the 18
selected for our first round of small business loans. Here they are filling out
the paperwork and signing the contract agreements for receiving and paying back
the loan.
Why small business
loans?
When we first began to discuss that small business loans
would probably be the best fit for this ministry, it was hard for me. It was
hard mainly because Eric and I spent many years on the Dave Ramsey plan climbing
our way out of financial debt and the word "loan" doesn't sit well with us now.
So it is hard to imagine how giving a loan to women already in slavery to
poverty could possibly help them. The last thing we want to do is enslave them
further. The next last thing we would want to do is to create dependency. So we
started small with a very small 0% interest loan just to see how this would go.
Frantz took out a loan himself that would provide 18 of the KOFAEL women with a
small business loan equivalent to about $65 U.S. While this amount is more than
these women make in a month, it is only a fraction of the $250 it would cost for
purchases needed to fully re-start their small businesses. But $65 for 18 women
was all we had, and we had to start somewhere.
Julienne helping some of
the women fill out the paperwork for their first small business loan.
Frantz (standing) and
explaining for the 15th time exactly how the loans will work.
The man seated
is one of our helpers at meetings.
How will the loans
work?
The women will have 5 months to
pay back the $65 loan they received in January 2012. They will not be charged
interest on the loan, but are expected to fulfill their payment on time each
month. They will use the money to purchase items for their small businesses.
They need to show that they can do something with their little and be trusted to
pay back their loans before they are given more. This is the
agreement.
Frantz handing out the
loan money.
Lifting their loans in
praise for this great provision.
I saw many tears of joy on this day.
What's the next
step?
February meeting came and all 18
women who had received the loans made their first payments! There are 40 women
in the program and the 22 who did not receive loans have been waiting for their
turn. We have set aside the money received from the first round of payments and
are ready to use that to grant 10 more women their first $65 loans. Next month
Frantz will need to save all the money from the payments to begin payback on the
loan he took out in order to begin this process. We are praying for a way to
provide beginner loans to the other 12 women. The women who have been coming to
monthly meetings at KOFAEL the longest and the ones in the most dire need were
the first to receive their loans.
The first round of women will have paid back their loans
in full by June. Our hope and prayer is to be able to provide them with a real
business loan of $300 U.S. at this time. $300 x 40 women is $12,000. This is A
LOT of money to Frantz, Julienne, and for our family. But we do not believe it
is beyond our God, and we believe He cares deeply for these women. We have
thoroughly discussed how this could possibly be accomplished and have come up
with the following idea. We do not claim to be experts in this and are open to
questions and better ideas. Here is our idea.
40 individual ONE TIME
sponsorships of $300 each raised for the women. $250 of this will be to
start/improve her small business. The other $50 will be a gift to help her
family and encourage her in her new start. The $250 sponsorship will not be a
gift for the women, but another 0% interest loan they will pay back within 6
months time. However, it will be a "gift" to the ministry of KOFAEL as a whole.
We will recycle the monthly payments made by the women to grant others loans and
pay for the minimal operating costs of the ministry so that Julienne and Frantz
can also make new starts in their own lives. Our operating costs are minimal,
but we do have to pay partial rent on the small building used for meetings as
well as continual paperwork fees for the organization. We also spend money on
copies for the women, tap-taps (transportation), and drinks (sometimes snacks)
for the women at meetings. We will cash flow the sponsorship money to keep
KOFAEL going without taking out more loans or continually asking for more money.
We will also hold a school supply drive once a year that will benefit the many
children represented among the KOFAEL women. We want to continue to encourage
the women in their hard work and make sure the children are able to stay in
school. Sometimes expensive school supplies are the only thing keeping a child
home from school and we see no good reason that this has to happen. We will
gladly accept donations of school supplies, backpacks, and shoes for the
children to be given out at the fall family meeting/party in
August.
How can you help?
Pray for the KOFAEL women and
their families.
Pray about sponsoring 1 or more of the 40
women.
Share
about these women with your friends and family.
Current
Needs?
We are in need of a person that
would have the talent and time to help us create a website or blog for KOFAEL.
We have photos and bios on each of the women in the organization and information
for the website. I can do the update post as they come for the website but I am
looking for someone who can help with this project. If you are interested please
contact me by e-mail at eeream@hotmail.com as soon as possible.
Our other need is to raise
awareness and sponsorship commitments before June comes. We are waiting to see
what God will do in answering the fervent prayers of the KOFAEL women. Will you
be part of that answered prayer that could truly change the life of a woman and
her family?
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please take a
few more minutes to pray for these women and the future success of the KOFAEL
ministry.
By His Grace,
Elisabeth
