Picture Day

Today was a fun day, as we received the legal documents of the women, so we could create an account for them in our data base and establish their passbooks and ID cards. We had the women arrive, in their groups of 5-7 at various times throughout the day. Their identification, which we scanned, came in a host of different forms. Some were laminated, some torn into 4 square pieces, others had plastic ironed on their weathered paper. Some did not have any formal ID so they used voting cards or hospital treatment forms. Once we received their ID, we then took them into the surrounding neighborhood for their photo which we will add to the web site. As always, these women, when it was their turn to have their picture taken, would straighten their dresses, brush back their hair and take off their hats and hair coverings. Some of them didn't like how I placed them against a wall, tree or building and would only allow me to take their picture in a place of their choosing. They wanted to be seen in the very best "light". These women are no different than any of us. We all want to look good, be respected and thought well of. We want to present our best to others. Again, Haitian women are only materially poor. They still have dreams, hopes and desires. An enterprising entrepreneur who is now a member of Fondespwa made a bundle of money from us. At one of the interview sessions during the week, she brought a good sized tub of baked cakes, as she was coming from the market. I decided to offer them to the women, while they were waiting and I paid for all of them. Then on Sunday, she brought a tub twice the size of before filled to the brim with cakes and in no time she sold out to the 220 women, which I again paid for. Then today, she came right when we started, even though she was not required to be there for another 3 hours with another large plastic tub of cakes for the women as they sat and waited for us to process their documents. She just kept selling the cakes to the women which again I paid for until everyone was processed and then she left. She made a killing. She saw a window of opportunity and grabbed it. Once finished, we returned their documents, reminded them when their biweekly meeting would be and off they went, knowing that in a few days they would be getting their loans.