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.

Anaïse Hector, 21, is an artist at heart. She was exposed to art very early as her father used to make her watercolors full of magic. “I found the way he played with the colors fascinating,” she says. Her passion grew even more during high school years when she attended various drawing classes. But it was not until 2018 when she joined Le Centre d’Art –a vibrant hub of Haitian arts and artists located in the nation’s capital– that she became convinced of her creative potential. “I realized that art is not just a hobby for me but a form of expression, and that’s what I want to do. So I want to dedicate more time to my craft,” says Anaïse, also a psychology student. Her primary artistic activity is painting; at times, she can also get her hands on collage and sculpture. The dominant theme of her work is femininity, aiming “to free women’s body image from social norms.”