Haitians call the Citadelle Laferrière (Citadelle Henry), commissioned in 1805 and completed in 1820, their 8th Wonder of the World because it stands as a testament to their victory over slavery. This landmark, constructed in the early 19th century following Haiti’s independence from France, is both a National Historic Site and a UNESCO World Heritage site, symbolizing freedom for all Haitians.

The Cap-Haitien Citadelle Archive Project is working to safeguard a diverse collection of analog materials related to this historical landmark, but they need our support to acquire up-to-date scanning equipment and continue digitizing tens of thousands of historical archives. Unfortunately, libraries, archives, and museums in Haiti are being targeted by gangs who destroy everything in their path. There is an urgent need to digitize these invaluable collections.

In collaboration with Le Centre d’Art in Port-au-Prince, Ayiti Demen is asking for your generosity to support the Cap-Haitien Citadelle Archive Project, which also partners with the Institute for the Safeguarding of National Heritage (Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National, ISPAN).

The project focuses on digitizing a vast collection of analog materials from the 1970s–1990s restoration project of the Citadelle Henry and the Sans Souci Palace. This includes 8,500 slides, 1,300 prints, 14,000 negatives, 865 architectural drawings, and more than 400 documents and reports. The project also aims to digitize, store, and make available all other materials related to ISPAN’s efforts to protect Haiti’s built heritage.

Preserving this irreplaceable archive, along with the documentation collected by ISPAN’s inventory programs of Haiti’s built heritage, will be invaluable for future generations of Haitians. The goal is to digitize these materials to protect them from the ravages of time and ensure they are accessible to the public. Digitization will not only preserve these documents but also allow them to be easily shared with researchers, students, and history enthusiasts worldwide.

You can explore some of the work on the UCLA Library website and the dLOC website (Digital Library of the Caribbean). However, your financial support is needed to continue this vital preservation work.

Donate online today to support the Citadelle Archive Project.

If you can only donate by check:

• In Haiti, send a check to Le Centre d’art at 58 rue Roy, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Memo: ARCIT) or email info@ademen.org for additional information.
• In the United States, send a check to Ayiti Demen, 28 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014 (Memo: ARCIT)
• Worldwide: Donate online today.

On March 1, 2024, armed gangs and other individuals looted the National Association of Fruit Processors (ANATRAF) offices and warehouse in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti. ANATRAF is a non-profit organization that helps hundreds of smallholder farmers grow fruit and process it in local workshops. On March 1, the unthinkable happened: armed gangs stole or destroyed all the finished products they had already processed (such as jams, chocolates, cassava, mamba, alcoholic beverages, etc.), all the raw materials (cocoa, alcohol, sugar, etc.), and all the materials and inputs contained in the store (mills, mattresses, refrigerators, control equipment, bottles, jars, training materials, etc.), including a stock of 7 tons of cocoa. This is a massive loss for a small non-profit organization like ANATRAF. It took them years to reach that level of organization and autonomy.

The proceeds of this campaign will temporarily help ANATRAF relocate its operations to the south of Haiti, sustaining 70 fruit producers. They can no longer work in their warehouse in Croix-des-Bouquets, which is overrun by gangs. The project will address the following key areas: Supply Chain Reconstruction in the South, Infrastructure Rehabilitation, Product Diversification and Value Addition, Community Engagement and Capacity Building, and Risk Management. 

Your donation will enable ANATRAF to mobilize its network of small fruit growers to supply two centers in southern and northern Haiti and rebuild its supply chain strategy.

ANATRAF’s relocation to southern Haiti offers lasting benefits. It will stimulate production by creating new jobs, benefit smallholder farmers in the South and North, and ensure the sustainability of ANATRAF’s activities. ANATRAF’s food processing role strengthens local nutrition and production in the country. By prioritizing sustainability across economic, social, and environmental dimensions, ANATRAF guarantees long-term development benefits for local communities.

Donate online today to support small fruit growers and processors in Haiti!

If you can donate only by check or wire:

• In Haiti, send a check to FOKAL at 143 Avenue Christophe, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Memo: ANATRAF)
  • Wire donation to FOKAL’s bank account: 

                                   Name: Fondation Connaissance et Liberté

                                   Address:  143 Ave Christophe, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

                                   Account number: 141-1022-1244226

• In the USA, send a check to Ayiti Demen,28 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014 (Memo: ANATRAF)

DONATE NOW ONLINE

More about ANATRAF:

The Association Nationale des Transformateurs de Fruits (ANATRAF) was created on June 12, 2002, by a group of thirty-seven processing units. In agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Development (MARNDR), and with the support of the Projet Rural Franco-Haïtien, this initiative aimed to strengthen processing units to meet the significant challenges facing the processing sector in Haiti. ANATRAF specifically targets farmers in search of sustainable livelihoods. Thanks to the association’s various interventions and support, the country now has over a hundred workshops spread across the 10 regions of Haiti, 70 of which are ANATRAF members.

Five rural areas in Haiti will soon have a community space where they can meet, relax, store seeds and goods, and learn. Ayiti Demen’s board chairperson, Michèle Pierre-Louis, led a delegation to several towns in the Grand Sud region of the country from February 13 to 17, 2023 to present and discuss the concept of these community centers with local residents and community leaders.

The idea for this project came about in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in August 2021, when several local organizations approached FOKAL for support in the rebuilding of their community. “It was difficult to build a house for each family,” said Madame Pierre-Louis during a community meeting in Barradères. “We wanted to do something that would serve the whole community.”

Ayitika is a local company based in the southern part of Haiti, dedicated to producing high-quality chocolate from scratch. What sets Ayitika apart is not only its delicious chocolate, but also its commitment to fair wages for farmers and sustainable farming practices.

From the beginning, FOKAL has been a champion of Ayitika’s mission. They provided critical funding that allowed a group of young people to purchase 10 hectares of land, allowing them to grow more cocoa and expand their production. In addition, FOKAL stepped in with cash assistance after the devastating earthquake in 2021, helping farmers stay in business and ensuring the continuity of this impactful project.

Watch a short video to learn more about Ayitika’s journey and the power of supporting local communities in Haiti.

Beniton Magloire, a Haitian farmer in his sixties, has been immersed in coffee for as long as he can remember. Not only is it the drink that kicks off his day every morning, but coffee growing has also been his family’s main subsistence activity. “As a kid, I would go to the farm with my mom every June, and she taught me everything about coffee.” 

So, it did not take Beniton long to figure out that he would become a coffee farmer. At only eighteen, he was already raising his crops. “Coffee is really what allowed me to get into business,” he says. He now harvests some 250 pounds of coffee beans a year on his own piece of land in Jacmel, one of the most forested parts of Haiti.  

Coffee farming has historically played a vital role in the Haitian economy. In the mid-20th century, Haiti was the world’s third largest exporter of coffee, and thousands of Haitian families rely on it as their primary source of income. The mountainous configuration of the land offers ideal environmental conditions to grow arabica, the world’s best coffee quality, in Haiti.

NEW YORK, NY. – Ayiti Demen’s board has selected acclaimed Haitian filmmaker Gessica Généus as the organization’s goodwill ambassador. In this role, Gessica will help communicate to people around the world the work Ayiti Demen is doing to improve lives in Haiti. “Our work is more important than ever as the country is facing enormous problems. We need fresh voices carrying out new visions of the future,” says Michèle Pierre-Louis, Ayiti Demen’s board chairperson. “And Gessica is a shining example of what young Haitians can do to make things better. We are very proud that she joins our cause.” “Using my platform to promote an organization like Ayiti Demen aligns with what I stand for,” says Gessica. “That means leveraging my social media presence to highlight some excellent and honest work happening in Haiti. And Ayiti Demen is a particularly worthwhile initiative to me, and I am very comfortable endorsing it.” Gessica’s collaboration with Ayiti Demen is not a new one. After a devastating earthquake hit the southern part of Haiti last year, she held a screening event for her film, Freda, and donated 50% of the proceeds to the FOKAL Haiti Relief Fund, a fundraising effort led by the Foundation for Knowledge and Liberty (FOKAL) and Ayiti Demen. “Gessica embodies the vision of Haitian youth we are promoting at Ayiti Demen. She is dynamic, competent, and committed,” says Yvens Rumbold, Ayiti Demen’s executive director. “An important part of Ayiti Demen’s mission is to help globally change the narrative about Haiti to something that values the courage and dignity of its people. Gessica has long championed that cause, especially through her latest film Freda which has received a lot of publicity worldwide.” Gessica Généus is an award-winning actress and filmmaker. She began her career at 17 years old, starring in many film roles in Haitian and foreign productions. She later attended film school in Paris and founded Ayizan Productions, a film production company. Her feature films The Day Will Dawn (2017) and Freda (2021) continue to be shown around the world. Founded in 2007 to support FOKAL’s work, Ayiti Demen is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in the State of New York. Its mission is to improve lives in Haiti by empowering local communities and supporting FOKAL’s partners such as grassroots organizations working in education, art & culture, and sustainable development in Haiti.