2009
First meeting of KoFAT

In 2009, under the hosting of Father Louiders, 160 Haitian women met with a team of five American women with the goal of promoting the women’s solidarity and skills. The US team brought crochet hooks, plastic bags, and scissors with the goal of teaching how to crochet plastic bags into marketable goods. The Haitian women also brought plastic bags that they had washed and dried.

 

These mothers walked 1 to 2 hours from their homes to the site, learned how to crochet the strips – or pl-arn – and began their craft during the day-long gatherings and as they walked to and from their homes. In one week, they accomplished making almost two duffel bags of purses, jewelry, macrame items, and other products that were brought back to the States and sold. During this week, they organized as KoFAT, which is a fair-trade cooperative formed as a Komite by the women of rural Haiti. The co-op is committed to organizing the women for the development of businesses and social projects that will improve the lives and environment of their communities.

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2014-2015

Through 2015, there was continued support of the KoFAT project and meetings with them each time the US-based team traveled to Haiti. In 2015, the Haitian women asked us, their US-based partners, to help them with the vulnerable children. We asked WHO ARE THE VULNERABLE CHILDREN? Some estimates suggest that as many as 18% of children do not live with their parents. Another large percentage of children live with parents or other adults who do not have the financial or physical capacity to take care of them. Therefore, it is way too common that children are given away to an adult/household who indicates that they will put the child in school in exchange for the work the child provides. The system is so common that it has a name: Restavek, and is recognized as a trafficking system putting these children at risk of sexual and physical harm. The women said that if we get the kids in school, the adult caring for them will not give them away.

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2016

 Compassion Project 

In 2016, we took our first trip to begin to work with them on this project. Together, we resolved that preparing children to enter school and providing tutored support for successful advancement through school was a project that we, as US partners, could successfully achieve. The officers of KoFAT became the five organizing women to find a place, hire two tutors, and three cooks so that we could help the children in their studies, and encourage their attendance with food. The US-based team began to raise money and organize as a non-profit to aid in this work.

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In 2016, we provided tuition for 13 children. This past year, we provided tuition for 120+ children to attend school. Our first graduate, through our program, will be in June of 2026. Essentially, we have a “boys and girls club” that helps tutor the kids to prepare them for success in school. As their guardians are illiterate, they can’t help with schoolwork, and there are no “remedial programs” for kids at school. Take a look at a list of our achievements here.

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