Empowerment training inspires hope and change for women in Haiti
Ferrier, Haiti – In the Haitian town of Ferrier, multiple churches held a large women’s conference. Each church sent 10 women of different ages and backgrounds. Those that wanted to continue joined a monthly leadership training over the course of a year.
Firlande and Thairt were two of these leaders who each facilitates a group of about 15-20 women from their church. They meet weekly sharing everything they learned in the trainings.
“This training helped me to be more compassionate,” said Firlande, a wife and mother of two. “It has taught me that I will never stop learning and I can even apply this in my family life.”
The small groups also had a saving component where each member would bring a small amount of money to each meeting, and everything they saved was matched by Bright Hope.
Firlande leads a group of 20 women who want to improve their community and get rid of poverty. Her hope is that each member of her group can lead a group of their own so that more women can be impacted.
“Working in a group, you can achieve so much more…” she said. “Even though we may start small it can grow into something big.”
At twenty years old, Thiart is the youngest leader in the women’s training. Her dream is to complete university and serve her community.
“I’m really proud that I was the youngest leader,” she said. “This made me want to do even more, to show that it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can create change.”
