FAMVIN News

According to Business FIghts Povefty Zafèn (www.zafen.org) Tops the Million Dollar Mark on Second Anniversary View Blog Profile May 8, 2012 Port-au-Prince–Zafèn, a crowd-sourced funding opportunity for small growing businesses (SGBs) in Haiti, has surpassed the $1 million threshold as it commemorates its second year of empowering entrepreneurs and supporting social projects in this economically [...]

Port-au-Prince, Haiti—As the rainy season began in this Caribbean nation of nearly 10 million people, heads of the Vincentian family branches in Haiti gathered for a work session March 16, 2012 to refine their approach to breaking the cycle of poverty. The Rev. Joseph Agostino, C.M., Vincentian family coordinator for the Haiti Project, traveled from [...]

Raising funds to finance deserving projects is something every non-profit must master, and the challenge is exponential when your donors are global. That was the issue Zafènencountered when it launched in 2010. But it wasn’t a conundrum this online Haitian micro-credit program faced for long. Translators without Borders volunteered to translate project descriptions from English into French and [...]

The Zafen Twitter account has the following notice… Check out the National Black Law Student Association #NBLSA delegation report on its recent trip to Haiti. THe have also visit Nigeria. Related FAMVIN Posts:Zafen saluted by BusinessFightsPoverty.orgHaitian Vincentian Leaders Meet to Tweak Approach to Poverty AlleviationZafen and “Translators without borders”Vincentian Family challenge raises $520,000 dollars for HaitiComing September 27 [...]

It will be a happy 2012 in Haiti for about 350 new families who will enroll in Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM), a poverty alleviation program that translates into English as “Pathway to a Better Life.” This systemic change  effort led by the International Vincentian Family has raised $520,000 so far that will enable more than [...]

The international leaders of the Vincentian Family have asked Fr. Joseph Agostino, C.M. to take over completely the leadership of the Vincentian Family project for Haiti, Zafen.  Joe has been doing the job since October and he succeeds Fr. Maloney as the head of the project.  Fr. Maloney has been engaged in the Apostolic Visitation [...]

“This is by far the biggest match we have done through Zafèn,” according to the Rev. Robert Maloney, C.M., chair of the Vincentian Family Board for Haiti. “The largest previous match was for $30,000, so we’re delighted at this stretch.” It will be a happy 2012 in Haiti for more than 170 families who will [...]

Christmas in Haiti is still difficult even after all the world attention. Zafen is still very much present with its systemic change efforts. For this Christmas follow Zafen on Facebook. Add your “Like” to more 2,600 who have done so. Perhaps while there you may see a project that might seem a fitting way for [...]

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus visited DePaul University in Chicago recently & met with members of the Zafèn team visiting from Haiti and Philadelphia. Professor Yunus promoted social businesses, which address social issues, cover their costs, but instead of paying dividends to investors, reinvest profits back into the business. VIsit the Zafen Facebook page. Related [...]

Fonkoze, Zafen’s partner in Haiti,  released its 2010 Social Performance Report (pdf), Keeping Our Clients on the Staircase Out of Poverty, an annual self-assessment of Haiti’s leading microfinance institution’s progress toward its social mission. The report highlights how Fonkoze’s ongoing commitment to client monitoring, program evaluation, and self-improvement made it uniquely prepared to support its clients through the challenges [...]