New Business in Haiti: Meet the Ladies of “Autre Nou”
In 2013, we launched a small business in Haiti with four women who were in desperate need of a steady income to provide for their families. For the last five years, we’ve trained and supported the development of “Se Pa Pe’Pe’” and the ladies that comprise it.Today, we are pleased to announce the development of another small business in Haiti that we’ve helped to launch: Autre Nou. Autre Nou, which translates to “Between Us,” is comprised of four women who have displayed a determination to pull themselves out of poverty by committing to learn how to establish and grow a small business.Our Help for Haiti team has now led the ladies through several training sessions on sustainable small business development, and the women have agreed to open a joint bank account in which they will track their loans, repayments and profit. We have supplied the women with dresses and used shoes to sell in the marketplace as they hone and develop their skills, with the hope that one day, Autre Nou will be able to make and sell their own products with our coaching and support.It is with great delight that we introduce you all to Euvrose, Roselind, Mireille and Marcklene!
Left to Right: Betsy Willey, Carl Rubin, Euvrose Pierre, Rosalind Alesca, Mireille Vilsaint, Marcklene Ferdinand, Alex Synal and Marcot Vernois.
Euvrose Pierre is just 25 years old. She was born in Cap Haïtien, and still lives there with one of her cousins. She is not married and has no children, and her three siblings all live outside of the city. Euvrose completed 12 of 13 grades of school, but did not have the means to fund her final year. Her parents are both deceased, so up until now Euvrose had been supporting herself by selling plantains and fried food in the marketplace.Rosalind Alesca is 36 years old. She was born in Port-Margo, in the countryside outside of Cap Haïtien, but now lives in the city with her husband and five children. All five children are in primary or secondary school; four of the five attend the Institution Nouvelle Etoile de Bethlehem school we support in downtown Cap Haïtien, and two of these four are part of our Yon Poul social entrepreneurship program. Rosalind’s husband works as a car mechanic. Rosalind’s dream for Autre Nou is that it will help her to fund all five of her children’s education.Mireille Vilsaint is 41 years old, with a husband and family of four children and one grandchild who all live under the same roof. One of her children, Mirline Louis, is actually one of our star students at the school we support in Cap Haïtien! Mireille has a small business in which she sells rice, beans, oil, fried food and used clothes, and her husband is a mason. Mireille is joining Autre Nou so that she will have more funds to support her children through their education.Marcklene Ferdinand is 27 years old and also born and raised in Cap Haitien. She lives at home with her parents, sister and three brothers. She graduated from primary and secondary school, and even began classes at university to pursue her dream to become a lab technician. Unfortunately, Marcklene funds also ran short, and she is now two years from her degree with no financial means to complete it. Our hope is that Autre Nou will open new doors for Marcklene’s university education!