New Steps Forward for Gran Sous

By: Jennifer Applegate

Our U.S team of volunteers is constantly striving for progress, reassessing our operations, and trying to evolve as an organization and our Haitian counterparts are no different. Fervidly working to improve the lives of those in Gran Sous, the KODAG committee now has a new name and new initiatives to tackle.

As many of our supporters recently learned, the Haitian committee formerly known as KODAG has elected to change its name to APDAG. President Justin Stevenson said, "...we wanted to change the organization's system. Since we were working on larger projects we decided to make it more inclusive so that more people can get involved."

Another major development within Gran Sous, there has been an entirely new committee formed by female pioneers of the community. The unique quality of this committee is that it consists solely of women and has a large alliance of 55 members. The women of GFDAG exhibit a commitment and devotion to bettering the community they call home. To put this commitment into perspective consider maintaining a family household without access to grocery stores, frozen meals, running water or electricity. The amount of time that it takes for the women of Gran Sous to complete their daily household rituals is hours longer than we experience in the average US home. "These women are swimming against the current of poverty on a daily basis to meet the needs of their family for survival," added Lindsey Walker, Roots' Co-Founder. It is with incredible drive and enthusiasm that these women contribute their time to establishing this new organization. According to Carline Stevenson, the leader of GFDAG, the group was started to honor all Haitian women, "A group like this lets a woman know that she has an opinion and should voice her desires. Men often decide that they are in charge and are chiefs, but it's important that every woman knows that she has the same rights as men and that she isn't worthless. I want women to open their eyes and see that they cannot stay where they are. "

The members of GFDAG have their own list of projects that they would like to bring to Gran Sous. When speaking of their short-term goals Carline said, "Right now we're working on a way to get the women in our community more involved in community life and leadership. We've thought about starting a store or open air market where women can come and sell food, clothes or anything else" Looking to the future, some of GFDAG's long-term goals involve providing education and resources for orphans and underprivileged children, and creating micro-finance options for their fellow citizens of Gran Sous.

With the combined forces of APDAG and GFDAG it is clear that Gran Sous has a strong foundation for the progression of their community's development. Carline added, "Our relationship with APDAG is like a marriage. We put together our resources to help each group reach their goals. It's a collaboration. We're both striving to help our community." The collaboration of these two entities will strengthen Gran Sous, providing all of its members, men and women alike, with a voice in the community.