Unik Ernest: Turning Haiti's Hurt to Hope

Unik Ernest has a name that suits him well because he is both as unique and earnest as they come.

Born in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, he landed in Miami in December of 1990 and began his career as a bus boy at a local hotel. In 1994 Unik and his brother and business partner, Kiki, decided to leave The Magic City, as Miami is often called, for The Big Apple. With no job prospects and no place to stay, they slept on the street, in subways, and even in Central Park. Step by step they worked their way up, through the hard times and eventually became first-class party organizers. The brothers are well-respected, well-connected and considered the “Dons” of nightlife in cities around the world.

Unik is one of the lucky few to leave behind the poverty of his homeland and achieve the American Dream. So what better way to celebrate his dream come true, and the birth of America, than to throw a party in a huge house in the Hamptons to help underprivileged children in Haiti? That's just what he did this past July 3.

“I am here, I am so lucky to be here and I have good friends and that’s why I can have this foundation because I have good friends and I can open the doors to have this party,” Ernest said.

The Edeyo (Eh-day-yo) Foundation began as a simple act of selflessness (see the related Edeyo video below). Unik had always arranged a party each year on his birthday that left him inundated with presents. Realizing he already had it all, he began to ask guests to make donations instead.

“Once I started making money," he said, "I knew I had to give back to my country.”

The first year he did this he gave the funds collected to fellow countryman and musician Wyclef Jean. The experience was so positive that Unik quickly realized he wanted to begin his own charity and it was then that Edeyo, meaning “help them” was born.

Edeyo is dedicated to giving the youth of Haiti hope through rebuilding dilapidated schools, supplying students with learning materials, and providing them with nutritional meals. Nelson Mandela’s philosophy, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” is a sentiment that Unik shares.

“My Grandmother didn’t know how to read and to write … but she made sure [we did]. With most Haitian parents, it is a must to go to school, because if you go to school, you have a chance in life to become something,” Ernest said.

That is why instead of giving handouts, Unik decided to give the gift of education, which empowers Haitian children and grants them the tools they need to change their lives. So far, The Edeyo Foundation has raised over $100,000 and has used that money to build a school in the most destitute slum of Haiti, Bel-Air, in Port au Prince. Each day, the school educates and feeds almost 200 students who without it would likely be part of a grim statistic that puts Haiti’s literacy rate at only 53 percent.

The Foundation is an all-volunteer workforce with no paid employees. It is a labor of love for all involved. The Edeyo School is also a family affair with Unik’s Mother helping to directly run the school from Haiti.

Unik’s giving heart is undoubtedly hereditary. He said, “I was raised seeing my good Mother giving to people, helping people.”

Documenting Haiti, Hunger & Hope

In order to raise money and awareness, Unik felt it was important to produce a quality documentary showing the plight of the community.

“People can see that it isn’t a gimmick," he said. "We aren’t running a foundation just to run a foundation, this is something we are doing because we have hope and we want to give people hope.”

To complete the project, Unik called up longtime friend, photographer and filmmaker Nigel Barker of America’s Next Top Model to lend a hand. The documentary Haiti, Hunger & Hope unearths the tragic situation Haitians face every day. Lack of good housing, filthy water and the constant threat of kidnapping plagues the citizens of the island nation. Unik understands how important it is to spread the word and makes it clear that “America has to understand that we are next door to them and they can’t let us down”

The documentary was fraught with problems from the start and almost never got off the ground. Right before they were about to leave, food riots in Haiti broke out and the team was strongly advised by the U.S. government not to travel because it was too dangerous. (In April 2008, Haiti was gripped by a nationwide, high food price protest. Thousands took to the streets and there were clashes with police and U.N. troops which left five people dead.) Other groups such as Vogue were scheduled to make the trip with Unik, Barker and their crew, but pulled out once they heard the warnings. Barker was disappointed, but felt he had no choice but to cancel the trip until he spoke to an elderly nun that had just returned from Haiti.

Nigel Barker recalled, “She said to me, ‘Nigel, you know it’s a desperate situation down there but there has never been a time where they need you more than now.’” With that Barker called Unik and said, “We’re going.”

The purpose of this film is to show Haiti’s desperate situation and how education can be the solution. Barker firmly believes, “Without education there is no chance, but with education through schools like Edeyo … it is possible to have a future.”

For Barker the ultimate image of his trip was not the horror, not the shock and not the stench, but the decent and loving spirits of so many of the people who are suffering in such diabolical situations.

“We had people smiling at us and welcoming [us] at the school," Barker said. "Unik’s mother, who is, to be honest with you, is like an Angel, nothing like Unik (laughs), she really is one of the most extraordinary people. She has taken in 11 orphans herself ... her heart is massive.”

The defining memory for him was the people, not the place. Once he saw the people of Haiti and who they are, he realized that although this is a difficult problem, it is a problem that can be solved.

The Haiti, Hunger & Hope screening event in the Hamptons early this month was truly a lavish event that could not have happened without a little help from Unik’s friends. The mansion and staff were loaned to Edeyo for the occasion and after all expenses were paid, and more than $7,000 were raised to go directly to the school in Haiti.

When asked how it felt to have a benefit party for such a poor country in such lavish surroundings, Unik summed up his feelings both simply and poetically, “I love this country, which is America and I feel me being here today is like every Haitian that’s not capable of being here, their body is here with me. Every piece of my body is a Haitian body that is here in this house right now.”

Photos: Edeyo Pamphlets courtesy of Giacinta Pace. Terry George and Unik Ernest courtesy of Lokee Worldwide Productions.