The St. Boniface Haiti Foundation has helped many women in its catchment area take their first steps out of poverty through the distribution of microfinance loans. We currently provide funding to over 240 women through RATRAP, the areas’ largest peasant cooperative. Each participant that receives these minimal-interest loans first participates in a seminar on basic financial concepts and skills. These women then take out primary loans in teams of five to insure that each participant has proper support to repay the loan. Once a team has repaid a loan in full, the team becomes eligible to start a subsequent finance cycle with a larger loan. To date, several teams of participants are already on their third loan cycle.

In addition to the financial skills and experience the program provides, it also promotes female leadership in the catchment area. All of the project’s activities are directly coordinated by a committee of women. Strong attendance and participation at the project’s monthly meetings attests to the success of the committee’s leadership.

Additionally, the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation recently raised the startup costs to open a branch of Fonkoze Bank, a bank that specializes in providing low-interest loans to the poor across Haiti. This will enable the hundreds of women awaiting a chance to participate in microfinance to benefit from its innovative approach to fighting poverty.