- Social Innovation Fellowship
Concentration
Award Year
Haiti
The Women Collective for Economic Development (WOCED) project aims to prevent child slavery in the capital by offering women in rural areas an alternative way to generate income. Based solely on agriculture, local economy in those regions has taken several hits due to natural disasters, rudimentary cultivation methods and lack of finances. By being part of the collective, single mothers will have access to imported merchandize that they will be able to sale and accumulate profits for themselves and their families. They will also serve as a support system for one another while participating actively in the development of their communities. We work with single mothers to provide economic opportunities, foster empowerment and encourage leadership as a way of eliminating child slavery as an economic strategy.
I grew up in a small community in Port au Prince, Haiti. At a very young age, I started to notice that some of my friends,even those who were younger than me, were treated differently, had to take on tasks that even adults refused to perform, never mentioned the word school and were often deprived of very basic human needs. Years later, I was able to recognize that those were the kids who were born into very poor families in rural villages. As an economic strategy, they were sent to Port au Prince to live with an aunt, a cousin, a family friend or a complete stranger who needed someone to take on the role of a servant.