Project to watch: Zafen.org, microfinance to Haiti
Several organizations are making an impact in Haiti in innovative and powerful ways, notably CrisisCommons and Samasource. The latter's CEO Leila Chirayath Janah has a great blog profiling her training activities there and beyond to teach women and refugees how to perform dignified, digital work.

Add to the list zafen.org, a microfinance organization in Haiti aiming to provide support to small and mid-sized businesses. Creole for "it's our business", Zafen seeks to make the remittance process more sustainable. As remittances now account for a quarter of Haiti's GDP and are expected to grow, Zafen believes that there is a more sustainable and less risky way for the Haitian diaspora to invest back in their home country. Rather than sending money to a single known individual, they can now divide it up among many possible projects, reducing risk and spreading the impact.
Coining the term "peer-to-project", the organization is seeking to enable individuals abroad to help job-creating enterprises in Haiti grow and flourish. I've already staked my position that development efforts in Haiti should be about job creation. This may be the organization to help build the economy from the ground up.
Flickr Creative Commons credit: United Nations Photo
Haiti,
Microfinance 

