News Americas, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Fri. Sept. 8, 2011: Haitian artisans, microentrepreneurs, and students could soon be able to tap into a $1.1 million grant.
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund yesterday announced that three grants will help provide Haitians with access to jobs and networks to help “build back better.”
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund’s $535,876 grant to the HAND/EYE Fund will connect artists throughout Haiti to US and global markets while FINCA Haiti is a project with microfinance institution FINCA International (the Foundation for International Community Assistance). This $358,000 grant is set to help bolster the lending ability of its affiliate, FINCA Haiti. FINCA Haiti’s loans, which average just $300, provide access to credit for Haitians who are too poor to borrow from other lenders.
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund made a third grant of $259,000 to Inveneo, a communications technology NGO that is building computer labs in 40 rural Haitian schools. The Haiti Connected Schools program will use solar panels to power computer labs and bring rural broadband connectivity to schools in areas without reliable access to electricity.
“When Haitian men and women have access to the networks and funding to build their enterprises and communities, they are able to more fully participate in the national and international economy,” Clinton Bush Haiti Fund board member and former Secretary of Labor, Alexis Herman says. “There is immense business potential in Haiti, and these grants will help tap into that potential.”
