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An Update from One of Fonkoze’s Clients -- Dienna Cidrac, Leogane
Report by Linda Boucard, Fonkoze USA Director of Communications
Leogane, only about 12 miles from Port‐au‐Prince is said to have been at the epicenter of the earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, 2010. The first few days following the disaster in Leogane, can only be described as horrific, others have referred to it as apocalyptic . Over 30,000 dead of its 100,000 or so population, Leogane today looks like a war zone. Almost everything has collapsed. The people are all fleeing and countless are living in tent cities under the open sky, in churches, schools and soccer fields.
Sitting in front of her little brick house she “worked so hard to build,” Dienna tells me she is so grateful to God for having spared her life and those of her loved ones, but now she has to start working. The small depot where she keeps her merchandise near the open market was ransacked and she lost her business completely, “worse than my home, I lost my business. My children and grandkids are O.K., and I can put up some wood eventually to cover our heads, but how do I start over without my business?” Dienna wants to get back to work quickly, “everyday, I feel useless and want to start working again.” Her plan is to ask Fonkoze for another loan. Dienna feels her good 8‐year track record of always avoiding delinquency on her loans will help.
“Fonkoze has always been there for me and for all the women, I know Fonkoze will come to our rescue.” She is also relieved that, although the Leogane branch has suffered irreparable damages, Fonkoze has opened a temporary location to give services. Dienna was full of tears when she told of the day of the earthquake, “the world around me shook and the next thing I knew, we were all homeless.” She speaks for all the people of Leogane when she says, “we need help now, we need help to help ourselves.”
Below, are some additional photos of the destruction of Leogane.
