Americas Quarterly

Americas Quarterly: Tell us why you started Yéle Haiti. What are its primary goals?

Wyclef Jean: I left a small
village called La Serre, in Croix-
des-Bouquets in Haiti, when I
was 10 years old. When I came to
America, I noticed that there were
stereotypes [that affected] how
Haitians were being treated here
and back home. It always started
with youth. I thought if I could
find a way to get the kids in Haiti
and [Haitian] kids in America to
become proud of their heritage
and raise their self-esteem, it
wouldn’t be a charity. It would be
a movement. I wanted kids to walk
around with their heads [raised]
proud.

AQ: Are the challenges facing young Haitians today different from those their parents faced, or different even from what your generation faced?

BEN RI TTER/RE TNA/CORBIS(LEFT); MARCO DOMINO /MINUSTAH

Jean: Every generation is going
to face something different.
My generation faced starvation
(over the course of) many hunger
crises. Families fled Haiti because
of Baby Doc’s coup. [Ed note:
former Haitian leader Jean-Claude
Duvalier was nicknamed Bébé Doc]
Some were killed. But I think
the generation living in Haiti to-
day has it worse. Without a sta-
ble government, kids face constant
threats of violence. There are
no opportunities, no jobs being
created. These kids, when they go
to school, go to school hungry.
And a lot of them have to walk
around with a gun 24/7.

AQ: What is Yéle’s role in achieving political stability for Haiti?

Jean: Job creation is very important. When I say Yéle is

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a movement and not a charity, I’m thinking about how we can [provide skills training] and create jobs. Yéle can be a strong [stabilizing] force for Haiti in the long term by empowering youth.

AQ: Timberland has agreed to put the Yéle logo on one of its boot lines to raise money for reforestation. How did that start?

Jean: I connected with Jeff [Swartz], the CEO. Timberland had never done an endorsement agreement before [but] Timberland’s whole thing is tree planting, and that is very important to Haiti. [Ed. note: deforestation now affects 77. 5 percent of the island’s land area.] The fact that Timberland would share a logo with Yéle shows that there are people who care and would love to help Haiti.

AQ: How will you promote this initiative?

Jean: Well, everything comes from the ground. If you look at the Dominican side [of Hispaniola],

the Dominican Republic, of course, is more green than Haiti. Why? It’s because when [Haitians] needed to make fire to cook for their family, they cut down trees. We need to re-educate people and tell them, “You know what? It’s not cool to cut down trees. Let’s work toward being a green environment because that’s what we were at one time.”

AQ: Yéle has been helped by celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon. How crucial is exploiting celebrity, including yours, for the promotion of Haitian development?

Jean: As someone who comes from show business, I can tell you there’s no other way to bring awareness. The cameras follow the celebrities. When you have celebrities who are actually doing something and feel it is part of their social obligation to help, this is where the fire sparks.