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Julienne Presumé
Gonayiv, Haiti • March 2010
“Fonkoze was the only organization that took immediate charge to help its members after the hurricanes in 2008 and again Fonkoze is the only one coming to our aid after the January 12 earthquake.”
When Julienne Presumé joined Fonkoze over 6 years ago, she did not know what to expect, all she knew is that she wanted to change the pattern of her life. “Before Fonkoze, I had a very small business, I was struggling, I wanted to give my child a good education, but we were literally living from day to day.” In 2004, a friend told Julienne about Fonkoze, and took her to a center meeting, “I was so impressed, and a little shocked, these women were moving ahead, they had bank accounts, and they had a great support system among each other and with their credit agent.” She immediately joined Fonkoze and says that was the best decision she ever took in her life. Today, she is the center chief for 7 solidarity groups (5 women in each group). “My life just took a turn for the better, my commerce increased, my daughter was happy that I could spend more time and go over her schoolwork with her, I have a little savings, plus I brought livestock that I gave to my mother to take care of.”
When the hurricanes came in 2008, Gonaives was devastated, the city was buried under mud and water for a long time, and those most affected were the ti machann who absolutely depend on their commerce to survive. “The kredi siklon was quickly put into place by Fonkoze to help us, Fonkoze director Anne Hastings came to Gonaives herself to see us and reassure us of Fonkoze’s support.” With the kredi siklon aid, Julienne says she got back on her feet quicker than she ever thought possible.
January 12, 2010, brought more devastation and challenges to the people of Haiti, especially to those who were just starting to recover from the hurricanes. Like most others, Julienne buys all her goods for her commerce in Port-au-Prince. She has what she describes as a “Bric a Brac” commerce, “I sell whatever I can, whatever is most needed at that time.” In other words, she sells gifts items, toys, and clothing at Christmas time, school supplies in September and food items, cold drinks in the summer. Life has been very tough since the earthquake, “I had just gone to Port-au-Prince to buy goods and was on my way back to Gonaives when the earthquake hit, I lost all my purchases. At the time I did not care, I just wanted to reach home to see about my daughter Michella.” It took several days to reach Gonaives, everyone was scared and in complete shock, she says. Thankfully, her daughter was fine. “It was after I saw that my daughter was ok, I started to think about my commerce and realized I had lost everything once again. I did not see any way to get out of this situation and did not think for a second that Fonkoze could help again,” When she realized that Fonkoze was going to help its members once more, “I just sat down and cried, and prayed, and cried some more.” She includes Fonkoze in all her prayers and says that she will always stay friends with Fonkoze not just because of all the help she is getting, but because “Fonkoze took me at my lowest and gave me a chance, I am far from where I want to be in life, but I know with Fonkoze, I will get there one day.”