CYVADIER, HAITI — Mora Frico, 27, and Jimmy Louigene, 28, grew up together, having first met as elementary school classmates in a local mission school. Their friendship deepened throughout secondary school and while each studied to earn a woodworking certificate from Ecole Atelier de Jacmel.
Now, after years of barely getting by, due to Haiti’s pervasive lack of employment opportunities, the two have a chance — and a viable plan — for a productive future, by creating a carpentry enterprise.
“The business would…transform our lives because it will make us independent and provide us with a stable job and eventually even provide other people in our community with work,” the two write in their business plan for the venture, developed with the help of Jean Christophe Lang, a successful local business owner.