Réa Dol is the co-founder and director of SOPUDEP, working to bring accessible education and empowerment to women and children in the Morne Lazzare area of Haiti.

Réa is a community leader and organizer – she directs adult literacy programs; HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment programs; organizations for financially struggling women, and much, much more.

After the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake, there was no sign of international aid in her community. Réa and her team immediately came to the rescue using SOPUDEP as a makeshift shelter and hospital for 24 hours after the tragedy. She was able to secure large quantities of food from wholesale vendors, based solely on her own credit. The SOPUDEP school staff, students and volunteers fed thousands of homeless families for the following months. Réa’s support and rescue work was so extraordinary that she became the subject of a documentary by the New York Times, entitled “The Mother Figure of Morne Lazzare”.

Réa is motivated to continue her efforts of improving the lives of the poor and giving them the dignity they deserve. Years after the earthquake, international organizations are beginning to pay attention to and value SOPUDEP’s efforts. Most recently, Réa and her organization were profiled in the documentaries “Half the Sky” and “A Path Appears”.

Without Réa Dol’s grassroots efforts to rebuild her devastated country, Haiti’s recovery would have been significantly diminished.