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Yéle Haiti

is a foundation started by Grammy-Award winning musician, producer, social entrepreneur and Haitian Goodwill Ambassador Wyclef Jean that is changing thousands of lives in this poor but optimistic nation. Through Yéle Haiti, Wyclef supports projects that are making a difference in education, health, environment and community development.

Mission:

Our mission is to create small-scale, manageable and replicable projects to contribute to Haiti’s long-term progress. Each initiative is imbued with Wyclef’s passion, as Yéle Haiti’s founder. Whether utilizing local hip-hop musicians to deliver awareness messages in forgotten neighborhoods or bringing his famous friends to Haiti to support the movement, what Wyclef radiates is profound wishes for the country.
Each of Yéle’s projects is conceived to renew hope for Haitians to rebuild their nation. Yéle Haiti wants to project a new forward-thinking image that accurately reflects Haiti’s youthful population and their unique and irrepressible spirit, which is an integral part of their culture. We firmly believe that given a genuine opportunity to shape the future, Haiti’s youth will shock the world with their ability to take the country to the next level.

Statement from Wyclef:

“Haiti is my native country, one I know as the first black nation to gain independence in 1804. Most other people seem to know Haiti only by the statistics about how bad things are there. The majority of its 8 million residents live on less than $1 per day. Unemployment is close to 80 percent, and more than half the population is under 21 years old. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.”

“I have been spending a lot of time talking with people in my native country to try and understand what is behind these statistics and the past escalation of violence, all of which brings tears to my eyes. I have had conversations with gang leaders, met with the police officers and sat down with the leaders of the militias and the army. I have talked with Haitians from all walks of life, all colors of skin, all backgrounds and beliefs. From all these people I hear only one thing in my head and feel only one thing in my heart–that there is only one Haiti. Every Haitian loves their country like a mother loves her child."

“I see old women with large bags of rice on their heads and men on street corners selling sugarcane and mangos, all just trying to survive with a strong sense of pride. Walking past a church in my village, I hear the congregation singing an appeal to God to hear their cries and grant deliverance to Haiti. Through experiences like this, I sense where my mother and my father got their strength. Now the whole country needs to reach deep into the spirit and strength that is part of our heritage."


"The objective of Yéle Haiti is to restore pride and a reason to hope, and for the whole country to regain the deep spirit and force that is part of our heritage" Wyclef Jean

Meaning of "Yele":

Yele was coined by Wyclef in a song and means "a cry for freedom." The logo means STOP THE VIOLENCE with one hand, PEACE with the other... while the heart is LOVE.