Our Goals
Our goal is to raise the funds necessary to carry out many projects. The funds raised by the Foundation will help pay for:
- Educational programs for children in 12 schools including meals, supplies, uniforms, vocational training, reforestation and scholarships.
- School payroll and teacher training, including teacher’s, and principal’s salaries, manual skills course monitors, supervisors, cooks, maintenance personnel, etc.
- Expansion of existing schools and construction of new schools as needed.
- Adult work training programs.
- Artisan and crafts workshops including: embroidery, ceramic, wood, dry fruits, and beekeeping.
- Modernization of agricultural programs through the grafting of existing trees.
- Reforestation and establishment of protected green areas planted with trees endemic to Grand’Anse, Haiti.
- Implementation of modern techniques in beekeeping.
Mission Statement
The Friends of Paradis des Indiens, Inc. is a US based non-profit organization whose mission is to support the schools and projects of Grand’ Anse, Haiti. The organization’s goal is to create an empowered, self-sufficient community by raising funds to support education, work and modernization of the existing resources of the region.
History
In the past, we have informally helped the projects of Foundation Paradis des Indiens, in Abricots, Haiti. Friends of Paradis des Indiens, Inc., is a non-profit corporation that is exempt from income taxes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This allows us to continue to assist the funding of other projects for the region of Grand’Anse, Haiti.
Paradis des Indiens in Abricots is a humanitarian organization created to combat illiteracy, through the implementation of educational programs that not only facilitate learning but also impart real life skills to both children and adults in Abricots, Haiti.
The project Paradis des Indiens was created to serve the poorest children of Abricots, a small fishing village in the south of Haiti. The first few years, parents lined up the night before registration. However, only children between the ages of 10 and 12 could be registered due to the lack of space. These children had not attended school out of a lack of desire, but rather because they could not afford the uniforms and shoes required by the local public and parochial schools.
Today, the school system includes both the village school and 11 small mountain schools. Paradis des Indiens now supports a total of 3022 students. The students receive training in manual skills, reforestation and agricultural classes along with traditional academic courses. In order to provide remunerative work for the people of the region, the founders established a number of work activities including arts and crafts, embroidery, woodworking and fruit drying. There are also an ongoing projects to modernize the beekeeping and agricultural activities in the area, along with the formation of green areas. The mission of the organization in Abricots, Haiti, is primarily to educate, but the goal is to empower the people of Abricots to achieve both financial independence and self-sufficiency through entrepreneurial development.