"Sometimes little steps are actually big steps.”

On a recent trip to Haiti, MEDA vice president financial services Julie Redfern, centre, visited a Fonkoze client with a new earthquake and hurricane-resistant home thanks to work that MEDA is doing with Fonkoze and Mennonite Central Committee. "On my recent trip to Haiti, I saw great progress in MEDA's work with microfinance partner Fonkoze," Julie Redfern, MEDA vice president of financial services reports.

"There is so much need in the country that you have to keep your expectations in line, given the multiple challenges we face in working there. Sometimes little steps are actually big steps."

With part of a $4.5 million grant from The MasterCard Foundation, Fonkoze is working on rebuilding its earthquake-ravaged headquarters in Port au Prince. Now that soil samples and analysis have been completed and finalized architectural drawings are in hand, Fonkoze CEO Anne Hastings hopes construction will start later this year.

The MasterCard Foundation and MEDA are also helping Fonkoze to expand its reach to 5,000 new clients, in addition to the 200,000 already being served:

• 1,000 in Chemin Lavi Miyo (CLM) – Creole for Pathway to a Better Life - A program for Haiti's ultra-poor women, CLM provides a virtual safety net, livelihood training and financial services to create pathways for the poorest out of extreme poverty. At the end of the 18-month program, 985 clients currently in CLM will be ready to enter a lending program.

• 4,000 in Ti Kredi – or Little Credit – Fonkoze's lending program for women who are not yet ready to manage a loan as large as $75, the first loan in Fonkoze's core solidarity-group credit program. Ti Kredi begins with an initial loan of just $25 to ease clients as comfortably as possible into lending activities. The first 2,000 clients will graduate in April, when a second group of 2,000 will enter the program.

“Fonkoze is a great partner," notes Julie. “They are client oriented: True to their vision, they keep clients at the forefront. They consult with communities to identify those most in need, which builds an incredible amount of loyalty that is critical in Haiti's challenging environment. Fonkoze goes the extra mile in a difficult and risky environment.

“I’m privileged to be providing advisory services to them through a $100,000 contribution made possible by generous MEDA supporters."