Cō-Impact Sourcing® and the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation™ in Haiti

In collaboration with our Co-Impact Sourcing initiative with vetiver growers and our partner distiller in Haiti, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation has funded several projects to improve livelihoods in communities around the Les Cayes area. 

These initiatives, linked to our on-going responsible sourcing program in Haiti as in many other countries, are just a few examples of how the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation is making an important difference and creating sustainable, long-term impacts on these partner sourcing communities.

Water System

The main activity for several communities surrounding Les Cayes is the cultivation of vetiver roots for distillation at the nearby distillery. This region of Haiti is vulnerable to infectious disease due to the unavailability of clean, safe drinking water. Members of these communities also must walk (sometimes many more than) two kilometers (1.2 miles) every day to access this unclean water. 

With the help of doTERRA International, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, and these communities in Haiti, water systems have been installed to serve hundreds of families as well as the local schoolhouse. With wells drilled and water systems installed in the communities of Bois Saint Hilaire, Tricon, and Fonfrede, donation funds are being put to good use and bringing clean water to this area of Haiti.

Each water system includes an enclosed 600+ foot tube well, a solar-powered pump, and a steel tower with an elevated high-capacity water storage tank. These water systems will provide water to these communities for the first time, and are anticipated to serve the area around Les Cayes for many years to come.

Community School Improvements

In the Bois Saint Hilaire community of Haiti, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation has helped furnish the local schoolhouse. New, locally sourced furniture, including 36 student desks and five teacher tables, was donated to equip the school. With an increasing number of students due to the new water system reducing the amount of time needed to fetch water daily, as well as improved household incomes enabling more children to attend, continued attendance growth has caused furniture to be highly needed.

In the Dorothy community of Haiti near Les Cayes, the elementary schoolhouse was originally built in 2005 with only three classrooms. Thanks to a donation from the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, a new foundation, 10 classrooms, toilets, a retaining wall, basketball court, and utilities are being constructed and installed to significantly improve and upgrade the school. Additionally, furniture and school supplies will complete needs there for the 132 students attending.

Vetiver Warehouse

A new vetiver warehouse building and office where cooperative members will have a common gathering point, an office, and a warehouse to safely lock and store harvested vetiver roots along with cooperative owned-tools and materials was also built. This building will help facilitate a common collection point, increasing harvest collection and improving delivery times for vetiver roots, helping to safeguard oil quality and content and ensure growers receive premium payment for the high-quality oil harvested from their material.