The Founder of the Her Many Voices Foundation (HMVF), Alicia Fall is a TEDx Talk presenter (The Art of Igniting Action), educator, performing artist and public speaker on humanitarian issues for more than 30 years. Fall’s Foundation spearheads a pioneering hemp project that is developing a sustainable crop and building product for Haiti’s besieged yet resilient population.
HempToday: How would you describe things in Haiti at the moment, post the hurricanes of 2016 and the 2010 quake?
Alicia Fall: I get updates almost daily from our Projects Coordinator in Haiti. What I can say is the people continue to have an indomitable spirit of hope in the face of natural and unnatural disasters. That’s the positive. The reality is that since the quake and post 2016’s three hurricanes, there’s an unrest in the streets. People are frustrated and rightfully so. They’re sick of lip service given to them on promises of life improvements: Promises of work, promises of food security, medical attention and education for their children.
University students are tired of repeatedly having doors locked because of violent protests in the streets. They’ve been promised a lot, yet in 8 years little has changed for the majority of Haitians. One disaster after another and like in most countries, political divisiveness, have taken their toll on a very strong and resilient people.
What we have personally experienced is more tension in the air, more violence in the streets, more gang activity. When people become desperate the climate changes. And desperate actions are taken when the feeling is no action is taken by authorities to improve their circumstance. At the end of the day women still need to feed their children, men still need work and people still need more than hope. They need practical responses. That’s where Her Many Voices Foundation comes in. We provide practical education for women, children and men in Haiti in the belief that it will improve, at least, their individual worlds. Then they can pass that knowledge on to the next. It takes a collective effort to make big change. We are excited to be leading the way to a more sustainable future through our hemp project.
HT: What’s the role of hemp in meeting the goals of the Her Many Voices Foundation?
AF: HMVF is founded on a profound respect for importance of Mother Earth. Like most mothers she gives us everything we need and asks little in return. Our mission is to move our passions to purpose for the betterment of women, children and our Mother Earth.