Tuesday, August 2, 2011

It's all about the kids

The “Solid Women” blew me away with their generosity and poise.  It’s not easy to do with multiple cameras in your face.  

Even as we said “no no, we promise… this is the last shot!” they would smile and let us get what we needed.  We sat all five women down for an interview, and asked a long list of questions that were translated from English into Kreyol: What was your life like before joining Fonkoze?  What business do you run with your loan?  What are your hopes for the future?

The answers to the last question has stuck with me: What are your hopes for the future? I ask. Some of them mentioned briefly the hope of finishing the renovations on their homes or expanding their business, but the conversation always turned back to their children. I hope my children have better than I have had.  From school fees to food to emergency savings it was all linked to this pack of rascally kids who surrounded us as we worked.
 
If you’ve seen almost any of the videos we make, you might know that we have been lucky to meet kids all over the world with beautiful smiles and quick wits who are kind enough to contribute their magic to our work.  The kids we met in this village outside of Les Cayes were no different: polite, energetic, sassy, excited to see their pictures.  Knowing that Fonkoze's work trickles down to these small toothy grins is, in short, pretty awesome.

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