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I once was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. I lived in a Batey. Now I work in microfinance in Haiti. After the Batey is about my experiences, the thoughts they provoke, and the world of microfinance and development.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Fonkoze.
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I was in Haiti over the summer and filmed some of the CLM program. You can watch it here:
Comment by Jeanette Thomas October 25, 2009 @ 3:51 AMhttp://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/media/?play=1.9.40222
Hi Jeanette. The video is brilliant. Gauthier showed it to me last week and I’ve linked to it in my latest post.
Comment by Kaveh Azimi October 25, 2009 @ 10:04 PMNot to be rude, but don’t you think you may wish to encourage htem to invest some of their microfinance in condoms or contraception!
Ever heard of the brilliant idea, that children cost money, and that refraining from breeding until you have gotten an education and are in a committed relationship, and have concentrated yoru savings, is how many other people got themselves out of poverty. I don’t know of any who got out of poverty ethically, by subscribing to the slave and cannon fodder doctrine..
As I said no disrespect.. I am of the tough love, discipline, hard work.. and ain’t nothing stopping anyone who wants to get out of poverty from doing so….
Frankly, I think what helps most of them stay poor is the excuse making crap fed them by the Lords of Poverty Poverty Pimps.. who actually are parasitically reliant on poverty never being eradicated..
I didn’t always think so.. I used to think like you, but then I met some really brutally frank former poor folks…
Comment by In Gods Name January 29, 2010 @ 6:52 PMFirst, on encouraging clients to use condoms, that is a common practice for many microfinance institutions all over the world, and Fonkoze has long since been a leader in that area. It’s what is often referred to as “Microfinance Plus,” because clients receive micro-loans while also participating in educational training: microenterprise development, health and hygiene, literacy, even children’s rights and environmental degradation.
Second, I agree family planning is very important – see below. However, family planning has never made anyone richer, so the simple act of family planning isn’t going to lift anyone out of poverty, contrary to what you may think. Family planning can help keep families from overextending scarce resources, and not getting poorer, but alone it doesn’t generate income.
Lastly, the idea that anyone who wants out of poverty can easily do so with hard work is difficult believe even in the United States, and almost laughable in a country like Haiti. Can anyone really believe 80% of Haitians are choosing to live below $2 a day? Yes, personal responsibility and hard work are critical to escaping poverty, but let’s not oversimplify a complex issue and condemn the victims of poverty for being born into poor families.
http://afterthebatey.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/poor-babies/
Comment by Kaveh Azimi February 8, 2010 @ 8:27 AMHi Kaveh! I came across you blog as a former Peace Corp volunteer in the Dominican Republic and was interested to know what your experiences were with domestic violence or treatment of women in the bateyes. I’ve been to the Dominican as a medical/service volunteer for the past several years and am interested in learning the perspectives of others who are connected with the communities there. I know that you’re in Haiti now, but was hoping you could still provide some insight from past experiences. Thank you and wish you the best in continuing the amazing work you’ve been doing :)
Comment by Carolyn Noyes April 24, 2010 @ 11:25 AM