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Roselene Bellevue
October 2004
An elegant woman in a professional white smock and a pink apron worked cream into a seated woman's hair, surrounded by students eagerly watching and learning. Fonkoze client Roselene Bellevue works seven days per week and splits her time between her beauty salon, Studio De Beaute, and her School of Cosmetology next door. Roselene started her business with her own money in 1998 and opened the school in 2001. She joined Fonkoze’s business development program in 2003. This program encourages the growth of small businesses in the provinces of Haiti in order to encourage rural employment and stem the migration into Port-au-Prince. With her first loan of 50,000 gourdes, Roselene was able to buy additional merchandise such as beauty products for the hair and face.
Roselene currently has so many students that she has had to turn people away. Government administrators from the Bureau of Social Affairs in Jacmel test her students and issue certificates for those who pass. She makes sure they are ready for the test by providing both theoretical and practical education as well as giving tests herself. She teaches four days per week for three to four hours each day and then returns to her shop, located downstairs, to provide beauty services to her clients. Roselene employs one person to help in the shop while she is teaching. "I like to teach," said Roselene. "I want to see the profession spread."
When asked why she chose her profession, Roselene explains, "I knew that once I finished school, I wanted to go into beauty school. My role is to make people beautiful."
In 2004, Roselene received her second loan, double the amount of her first loan, but because of the situation in Port-au-Prince, has not been able to utilize it fully. Her plan for this loan is to buy in bulk so that she can act as a wholesaler and sell to other beauty shops in the Jacmel area. "All the objectives I've reached so far, I couldn't have reached without Fonkoze," said Roselene. "I plan to go back to Fonkoze each year."
Roselene is happy with her business, but said she feels it does not compare with shops she has seen in Port au Prince and the Dominican Republic. Her goal is to expand to have the biggest most beautiful studio in Jacmel with a school and a laboratory. She would like to expand her services to include facials and massage therapy.
Roselene's confidence and love for her profession are apparent as she works toward her goal of the biggest most beautiful shop in Jacmel!
Interview conducted by Theresa Smolen