History of Yéle Haiti

In October of 2004, Wyclef Jean invited a group of people to help him find a way to give back to his native country. Out of this came the Yéle Haiti organization, which was launched in December 2004. The first twoin Haiti projects were announced in mid-January 2005 and focused on education, and by mid-May both were funded and fully operational. By early June, the next two projects were underway, with several more in the planning stages.

A. World Food Programme Gonaives Video

In October 2004, Wyclef traveled to the flood-ravaged city of Gonaives to participate in a food distribution with the United Nations World Food Programme. He also filmed a music video of his song Gonaives which was aired worldwide.

B. New York City Launch

In December 2004, music and film stars congregated in New York City for the launch party of Yéle Haiti at GLO, a Manhattan night club. Performing with Wyclef were Roberta Flack, Ben Jelen, Cassandra Wilson, Common, Nelly McKay, Tweet, Bilal and Nuttin But Strings. A highlight of the evening was a special presentation by actress Susan Sarandon.

C. World Bank Concert

On December 15, 2004 James Wolfensohn, then President of the World Bank, invited Wyclef to the Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C. to address the Haiti Donors Group meeting. Wyclef then performed for World Bank staff in the Atrium, becoming the first non-classical musician ever to perform in the World Bank.

D Haiti Launch

On January 11, 2005 Wyclef announced the first 2 projects of Yéle Haiti at a press conference in Port-au-Prince. Also announced that day was corporate sponsorship for these two projects from ComCEL.

E. Los Angeles Fundraiser

In May 2005, Yéle Haiti held a private brunch at the home of Daphna and Richard Ziman in Beverly Hills. Wyclef performed an extremely moving set of songs to such peoples as Angela Bassett, Magic Johnson and Clarence Avant.

F. Petion-ville Party

In June 2005, Wyclef performed with Haitian hip hop stars at a Yéle Haiti party in Petion-ville put on by youth from KIPROGRAM.

G. Project Clean Streets Launch

In June, 2005 Wyclef gathered with sanitation workers and NGO sponsors of Project Clean Streets in Port-au-Prince for the launch of this initiative.

H. Chicago breakfast

In July 2005, Wyclef held a breakfast meeting with the donor community of Chicago with Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul (the only State Senator in the United States who is of Haitian descent) and Jan Anne Dubin of DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.