OUR STORY

The genesis of CREOLE, Inc. was decades in the making, but it can be directly linked to one event. This event occurred in the spring of 2008 when Dave Graffenberger and his wife, Marilyn, hosted a family celebration in the Dominican Republic (DR), in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary.

The Graffenbergers had established a long term relationship with a couple from Cap-Haitien, Edouard and Huguette Laroche. Dave and Marilyn came to Haiti as Missionaries with OMS International. Dave, who grew up farming in Oregon, met Edouard Laroche, a local Haitian farmer and businessman, in 1963. Together, these two families – grounded in respect, faith, and a love for the Haitian people – bonded over the years. Their two sons, Francois Brave Laroche and Brian Graffenberger, carry the torch today as founders of CREOLE, Inc. Growing up in Haiti, they both participated in various activities in and around the Laroche family farm, and as teenagers traveled together to visit and work at the Chambers family farm in Oregon. 

In March of 2008, Brave, Brian and his wife Susie flew into Santo Domingo, DR to pick up their daughter Kirsti, who had been on a mission trip, and drove to Haiti. The DR shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.  As Brave and Brian walked across the bridge from Dajabon, DR to Ouanaminthe, Haiti, it was like walking from one century in time (the 1900s) into the prior century (the 1800s).  From paved streets to gravel, from fairly reliable electricity and water to unreliable electricity and water, from brick-and-mortar stores to marketplaces under shade trees.

As they drove to Cap-Haitien, a city that was the center of Haitian culture and commerce when the nation was known as the Pearl of the Antilles, they consciously knew they were on the same island, on the very same plain in fact.  However, the contrast to the DR was stark, the rivers were shallow and brown, the fields were small, rice was being harvested by hand and threshed with sticks and the feet of Haitians.

During the 4 days spent visiting with their parents and friends in Cap Haitien, they learned while at the Laroche family farm that it was in the process of being sold. That was a heart breaking moment for both Brave and Brian. Overwhelmed by many memories on the farm and impacted by what they had seen on their brief trip to the DR, selling the farm didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

The following week Brave drove back to the DR, along with the Graffenbergers for a weeklong stay to celebrate Dave and Marilyn’s 50th wedding anniversary. During this time Brave and Brian took note of their impressions on this first real trip to the Dominican Republic (DR).

As the two agriculturists traveled around the DR, they were impressed by the roads, the businesses, and the agriculture. The rivers were deep and ran clear. The fields were large, there were combines harvesting rice, and there were truckloads of produce going to processors and to markets. It was remarkable.

Additionally, there was the unexpected impact of seeing what tourist dollars provided. It was still a Third World country but several steps above the level of Haiti, which they loved so much.  Not industrialized by First World standards to be sure, but still pretty amazing.

That week the two men shared many, many conversations. They had observed a high level of traffic at the border. There appeared to be tons of produce flowing into Haiti.  There also appeared to be large numbers of people traveling from Haiti into the DR to purchase a variety of products, and then bringing the products back for sale in Haiti as fast as they could. Distressed at the have, have-not disparity they witnessed between the two counties that were defined by an arbitrary line drawn on a map, Brave and Brian repeatedly said to one another, “We have to do something” and “If it can be done in the DR, why not in Haiti?”

With their agriculture and agribusiness background, slowly the idea of a nonprofit with an emphasis on creating jobs through agribusiness came into focus. They also saw the need for erosion control. The rivers and the reefs demanded it.

Eventually, something was done, and in January 2011 CREOLE, Inc. was born.

CREOLE, Inc. Haiti, formerly the “Corporation for the Rejuvenation, Enrichment and Output of the Landscape & Environment”, Incorporated was created in the United States to assist and aid in the development of the Haitian agribusiness sector designed to help the Haitian people feed themselves, while also assisting in the creation and maintenance of sustainable environmental approaches within Haiti.