About KARIU

KARIU started with the vision of 2 sisters: Kathy for KA and Ariou for RIU (nickname for Arielle). The brand name is a combination of both of our names. As young mothers we had the idea of making baby clothes but not any type of clothes. We felt there was a lack of stylish and quality clothes at a middle price point for the fashion minded and social conscious parent. Borned and raised in Haiti, we wanted the clothes to be produced in our Caribbean nation, a beautiful country rich in nature and culture but struggling with economic development, auto-sufficiency and poverty. And so was born our mission and our dream: Empowering modest Haitian artisans to sustain their businesses and their families financially . We give them hope in a place where for them business opportunities were becoming more and more scarce. However only 6 months after the creation of Kariu, our mission had quickly evolved into not only helping Haitian artisans but into investing in the education of the children of Haiti. In 2015, almost 200,000 children remained out of school (WorldBank, 2015). Although enrollment rates have increase these last years, many children drop out of school before the end of primary school. We will sponsor these kids not only for a year or two but during all their primary school years. We want to put 100 kids to school by the end of 2020. We are ready to face the challenges ahead and to make it a reality. Read their story