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Fonkoze is a family of organizations that work together to provide the financial and non-financial services to empower Haitians – primarily women – to lift their families out of poverty. The name “Fonkoze” is an acronym for the Haitian Creole phrase “Fondasyon Kole Zepòl,” which means “Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation.” Fonkoze’s vision is for a Haiti where people, standing together – shoulder-to-shoulder – create sustainable financial solutions for the future. Fonkoze is a family of 3 organizations: Fonkoze Financial Services (Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF), S.A.), Fonkoze Foundation (Fondasyon Kole Zepòl) and Fonkoze USA. Together, these organizations address the multifaceted nature of poverty by offering a variety of programming and aid; from business skills training, literacy classes, health programs, to low-interest loans, Fonkoze aims to offer help to people in a way that meets their individual needs.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Haiti was in the midst of political turmoil as its first democratically elected President, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was living in exile and the country was stricken by a brutal military regime. Despite the fact that many people were the targets of repression and violence, grassroots organizations throughout Haiti were fighting back and demanding democracy, especially for the rural and urban poor. During this tumultuous era, Fonkoze was founded was by a group of grassroots leaders; they were led by Father Joseph Philippe, who is a Spiritan Priest and founder of the Peasant Association of Fondwa. The group’s main concern was that while strong grassroots organizing had a palpable history of bringing forth historical political change, this political change meant little unless it was accompanied by economic change. Father Philippe felt that the poor needed to be both educated about how to organize themselves economically, but also they needed access to the types of financial services – largely unavailable to the poor – that would enable them to rebuild their communities and country.

Offering both financial and development services, Fonkoze’s Staircase Out of Poverty program provides a comprehensive approach to poverty alleviation in Haiti. Each of its four Steps is uniquely designed to provide a woman with the resources and support that she needs to ascend from poverty, wherever she is in her climb. Along with the four main Steps, Fonkoze’s Staircase includes “Handrails” – programs that provide members and clients with business skills training, education, and health services to support them as they progress. These additional supports are to help women succeed as they undertake the arduous task of climbing the Staircase in order to create a better future for themselves and their families.

While Fonkoze is a resource for many Haitian people, the organization particularly prioritizes serving Haiti’s “ultra poor.” Ultra poverty is a condition whereby people are unable to meet the most basic of needs to sustain living; these individuals, families, and groups are generally food insecure, have unstable accommodation, have few or no assets, lack education, and have health-related challenges. Ultra poverty is not only chronic, but also intergenerational and therefore it is an incredibly difficult cycle to break, especially because of the stigma surrounding ultra poverty and the social exclusion experienced by those people – largely women – it affects. Because of the high level of support that is required to break the cycle of ultra poverty, combined with other aspects such as the fact that many of the ultra poor live in rural locations, traditional microfinance institutions generally do not assist the ultra poor. Fonkoze’s

Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM) program specifically addresses helping the ultra poor through tools such as the Ti Kredi (“Little Credit”) program, which offers graduating business loans to groups of women. In total, Fonkoze has helped over eight thousand of Haiti’s poorest individuals in their journey out of poverty.

Laura Bass UGrow fellow for the Department of Manuscripts and Archives Management, 2019-2020

Eugenio Florit (1903-1999) was a well-known poet, essayist, lecturer, composer, diplomat, academic, actor, “man of three homelands,” and traveler. He was born October 15, 1903, in the northern section of Salamanca, Spain. He was the son of Don Ricardo Florit, a Spaniard, and Doña Mariá Sanchez de Fuentes, a Cuban. From the ages of two to six he grew up in Barcelona. Until the age of 15 he lived in Port-Bou, a city on the Mediterranean coast near France.

In 1918 Florit immigrated to Havana where he continued his studies, graduating from the University of Havana with a degree in civil and public law. In 1927 he began working for the Secretary of State and took on a role with the Revista de Avance, where he became known as a poet. He also worked as a radio personality and acted occasionally in theater troupes. In 1936, he met Juan R. Jimenez, who wrote the prologue to one of Florit’s most important books of verses, <a>Doble acento</a>, and with whom he maintained a friendship until Jimenez’s death.

In 1940 Florit went to work at the Cuban Consulate. He continued to live in New York until 1982, and it was the setting for almost all of his work as an essayist, literary critic, and translator. In 1945 after receiving a teaching position at Barnard College, he left his diplomatic post. He also taught at Columbia’s graduate school and at the intensive language school at Middlebury College in Vermont during the summer. There, he met poets such as Jorge Guillén, Pedro Salinas, and Luis Cernuda.

Florit was a collaborator on Repertorio Americano, Revista Avance, Lyceum, Revista Cubana, Origénes, and Revista Hispaníca Moderna, which he co-edited with Don Frederico Onis and Angel del Río until 1962, when he assumed total direction of the magazine. During the 1950s he traveled to Europe and Latin America, and his last trip to Cuba was in 1959.

He retired from his teaching position at Barnard in 1969, but continued living in New York and occupied himself with other obligations until moving to Miami in 1982. In 1991 he was one of the candidates for the Premio Cervantes, awarded by the North American Academy of Spanish Language. The same year he received the Premio Fray Luis de León from the University of Salamanca, and the Premio Mitre from the Hispanic Society of America in New York. Florit published his last work entitled Hasta luego in 1992. At the age of 96, Florit died on June 22, 1999. He was a mentor and guide for many generations and is considered among the greatest Hispanic-American poets.