PÉTIONVILLE, Haiti – The World Council of CUs’ team of 16 working to fight Haiti’s poverty survived Tuesday’s earthquake, spending the night outside amid crumbling structures and rubble because the WOCCU offices were destroyed by the huge temblor.
No one was injured during the evacuation of the building, which is unrepairable, according to Greta Greathouse, project manager of a three-year, $34 million WOCCU mission. The project, which was launched last July with funding support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, is called Haiti Integrated Financing for Value Chains and Enterprises – or HIFIVE – and was to develop the impoverished nation’s micro finance system.
"We had just left when [the earthquake] happened," wrote Greathouse in an e-mail. "Because of the streets being blocked with rubble/people/abandoned cars and downed power lines, we decided to abandon our cars and walk back to the offices. Many of the staff had worked late, fled the building and were in the parking lot. We spent the night there."
HIFIVE's activities are focused on improving the availability of financial products and services to support the expansion of agricultural and other production and the access to financial products and services in rural and agricultural areas.
The international community was sending food, funds and other relief to the island nation yesterday, where authorities were saying more than 50,000 were killed by the earthquake.
WOCCU is collecting relief funds. To support WOCCU's relief efforts on behalf of Haiti's credit unions and their members, make payments via check, credit card or wire to: Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, Inc., 5710 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
Donations may be made online with a credit card at
U.S. credit unions also can support WOCCU's relief efforts by donating through the National Credit Union Foundation's CUAid system at
