Opportunity Meets Determination
Just a few months away from graduating the Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM) program, Rose Andre is a shining example of what happens when another believes in you and opportunity meets determination. Her transformation will not just impact herself, but her family and community for generations to come.
Meet Rose Andre
Rose is a mother of four from the community of Hat, an agricultural area between the main road to the Dominican Republic and the Artibonite River, east of downtown Laskawobas. She once survived by doing grueling day labor in the fields or washing laundry for others. Without a stable income or support system, she was trapped in ultra-poverty, living with food insecurity, no secure home, and working tirelessly just to "maintain her misery". She did not have hope for a better future.
Everything began to change when Rose joined CLM. Rose started saving up her weekly stipend that all members receive in the first months as they begin to learn new life skills and build a small commerce. Rose first wanted to pay lingering debts to a savings and loan, then buy materials such as support posts for the 1-room home that she built with the program’s assistance. She bought goats with most of the small investment fund that the program provided.
She now has five goats and an adult turkey with five rapidly growing poults! She had already bought a chicken with the stipend she received during the six initial days of training, and that single hen is now eight chickens.
Rose Andre has transformed her life by participating in the Chemen Lavi Miyò program.
Now She’s Thriving
Today, Rose’s small commerce of selling plastic housewares is thriving. She now invests 25,000 gourds ($190) in merchandise each week — nearly four times what she started with — and she’s planning to expand further. She dreams of owning a cow, pouring a concrete foundation for her home, and running a business worth at least 50,000 gourds ($380).
Rose no longer does day labor or washes clothes. She is no longer surviving day-to-day; she is rising. She has hope - and plans - for a better future.
Through it all, her advice to other women just beginning the CLM journey speaks volumes, “Take good care of your business assets, because they are what helps you move forward — and keep all that they teach you at the training workshops in mind.”
Rose’s story is a story of resurrection. A life made new!
Background on CHEMEN LAVI MIYò
Since 2007, the HTF community has partnered with Fonkoze, investing in the CLM program. Chemen Lavi Miyò means a path to a better life; the 18-month graduation program empowers women-led families to transform their dire circumstances to sustained economic independence, thus putting women living in ultra-poverty on a path to a better life.
The comprehensive program provides: partnership with a case manager, assets to start two income-generating activities, materials to construct a sturdy one-room home and a private latrine, a water filter, a weekly stipend while their small business grows and access to healthcare. The partnership piece is important because women in the program receive weekly visits from their case manager to provide mentoring, encouragement, and life skills training. They are reminded on a weekly basis that someone else believes in them!
HTF's ability to fulfill our mission, to create generational change that transforms lives is made possible by the abundant generosity of our investors! Rose, and hundreds of women just like here, has proven that with empowerment and support, women in Haiti can create lasting change for themselves, their families, and their communities.
The partnership of CLM women and their case managers plays a vital role in the program’s success! From the left: Junia Morange, Briveline Jean-Gilles and Djenika Joseph. Junia and Djenika are CLM members. Their dedicated case manager is Briveline.