#5109: FONKOZE APPRECIATES SUPPORT/UPDATE (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Fonkozeusa@cs.com


September 17, 2000



Dear Friends of Fonkoze:

On behalf of the Board and Staff of Fonkoze and Fonkoze USA, I am writing to 
express our most heartfelt thank you to the entire Haiti advocacy community 
for coming to our assistance this past week. The attack on the Fonkoze 
central office in Port-au-Prince, and especially the kidnapping of our 
beloved employee, Amos Jeannot, continues to be a deeply troubling and 
painful event for all of us.

As I write this letter, there has been no word as to the whereabouts or 
condition of Amos. We continue to do everything we can to investigate this 
matter, and to pursue the motivations behind such a horrendous crime. Many 
friends, agencies, and collegial organizations in Haiti and the U.S. have 
come to our assistance. 

While the police met with Fonkoze's Director on Friday afternoon, it remains 
crucial that you continue to help us encourage the government of Haiti to aid 
Fonkoze in locating Amos, to investigate to the best of their ability this 
robbery and kidnapping, and to bring those responsible to justice.

So far, more than 250 individuals and organizations, from 13 different 
countries have utilized the emergency fax service set up for us by our 
friends, Global Exchange. If you are not aware of this service, it enables 
you to send a fax message to President Preval, Chief of Police, Denize, and 
the Haitian Embassy in Washington. 

Just visit the Global Exchange web site, and look under "get involved." 
(www.globalexchange.org/getinvolved/fonkozefax.html) Not only do these 
international efforts send a message to those who might help us, they are a 
clear communication to the staff of Fonkoze and other grassroots 
organizations in Haiti that they are not alone. You can't imagine what your 
solidarity has meant to the Fonkoze staff.

Fonkoze offices in Haiti are open, and the courageous and committed staff are 
serving clients. New security measures are in place. And, since Fonkoze 
practices procedures that assure on any given day they have on hand only the 
funds needed to do business, the monetary loss was not too bad. 

I will keep you updated this week. Please continue to keep Fonkoze, and Amos, 
in your thoughts and prayers. With deepest thanks from all of us at Fonkoze 
and Fonkoze USA,



Leigh Carter
Executive Director