To Fool the Rain: Haiti's Poor and their Pathway to a Better Life

To Fool the Rain thoughtfully chronicles Steven Werlins journey with Fonkoze but it is also the story of Fonkoze itself. Presented in vivid detail are the lived experiences of Mirlene Micheline Ti Rizib Monique Rose Marthe Alta and other Chemen Lavi Miyò participants who have benefited in many ways from this remark­able program. As Werlin makes clear in To Fool the Rain there is no single pathway to a better life. The stories of each of these women are the stories of Fonkoze: individual begin­nings challenges and successes bound together by the themes that pattern life in rural Haiti.Lacking social safety nets the poor in Haiti and elsewhere face ongoing and catastrophic cycles of poverty and disease. Fonkozes pioneering work in solidarity with Haitis poor has been a crucial step in disrupting such cycles. Fonkozes model particularly its Chemen Lavi Miyò program offers a path to security and hope for marginalized women. - From the foreword by Dr. Paul Farmer