Compassion is a holistic child development organization.
We are not a construction company. We are not a microfinance/loan organization. But sometimes, when life throws you curveballs, you have to make adjustments.
Such is the case in Haiti.
Oh, we’re still focused on our life-changing child development program, first and foremost. But when a deadly earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, claiming over a quarter of a million lives and destroying much of Port-au-Prince’s infrastructure, we needed to make adjustments.
We simply couldn’t continue to minister to all of our 80,000+ children on the island nation without safe environments for them to learn, play and grow in. Church-based schools needed to be built.
We’re on track to finish construction on 30 schools throughout Haiti in the coming months (that’s an entire school district, built by one organization!).
Families who lost everything in the earthquake also needed help starting over. That’s why we initiated a low-interest loan program to qualified recipients to help them start new businesses in their communities. The results have been spectacular.
Responding to curveballs. Sometimes in ministry, that’s what we’re called to do.
In the video below, see the stories of three people whose lives were changed by the microloans provided through donors to our program.
4 Comments |Add a comment
I would like to use your micro finance loans in Haiti as an example for our GCSE Geography students and plan to show the film you have posted here. I just need a couple more details to be able to use this for their exam. Please can you tell me how much money you have lent out in Haiti in the form of microloans in total and how much you lend on average to each person?
Many thanks, Fran.
What a wonderful way to help your students learn about micro finance loans! As of last year, about 850 loans were given to people just like Herman :). These loans were on average about $1000 each. For more information, you can read the article in our Winter 2015 magazine online. If you have any further questions, you are welcome to email us at [email protected] :).
Are there still needs for micro loans in Haiti? I couldn’t find the link. Great article
Hi Beth! We provided micro-loans with the donations that we received following the Haiti Earthquake five years ago. However, if you would like to give towards micro-loans moving forward, we have a fund for this purpose. Funding from the Micro-Enterprise Fund is not specific to Haiti but assists the families with the greatest need by proposal around the world.