Keithlin Caroo, the founder of Helen’s Daughters grew up in Fond Assau, Babonneau with both a love for her rural community and a dream of working for the UN. Currently working in the United States, Keithlin is the Special Assistant to the President of the General Assembly at the UN, which makes splitting her time between her work and her organization a tricky task. While she started off in St. Lucia, attending the Ave Maria Girls Primary School, St. Joseph’s Convent and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, she ventured off to obtain her degree in Political Science and a minor in International Relations in Puerto Rico before moving to the U.S, Keithlin’s heart, still firmly rooted in St. Lucia is what made her decide to start Helen’s Daughters as a way of honoring where she came from and giving back to her country.
Dazzle: The Instagram Bio for Helen’s Daughters says “Mobilising Rural Women through entrepreneurship” how do you explain what that is?
Keithlin: I look at female farmers as invisible in the agricultural sector, and I say this because people do not recognize the value of rural women. In rural areas (where poverty is generally higher), 40% of households are headed by single mothers and most of them are involved in farming, but when people think of a farmer they automatically think of a man. Women are thought of as vendors and not actually those who grow food, with that stereotype, most women are blocked out of opportunities such as farmer training, adequate financing and overall support, which is where we come in. Our motto means that we’ve created a support network for rural women that provides the missing links for them to get access to larger markets, from trainings, farmer education and soon direct access to selling their produce to larger markets such as hotels and the food retail sector.
Dazzle: You mentioned having no background in agriculture, so what spurred your interest in wanting to start this movement?
Keithlin: I was raised in Fond Assau, and it was home for the first 19 years of my life, so that being said, even though I wasn’t pushed towards a career in agriculture, I grew up in a community that was shaped by it. Both sets of my grandparents were farmers, and farming contributed significantly to my household. When I joined the UN, I started noticing the agricultural advancements in West Africa in particular, and I saw how it affected the local population socially and economically and I couldn’t help to compare the reality of rural communities in St. Lucia. Personally, I saw how my community changed from the ‘banana days’, with less opportunities, particularly for women and youth. There are more social ills, higher rates of teenage pregnancies, more dependency on drugs and alcohol, and I honestly feel that if there was a significant investment in agriculture, especially giving opportunities to young persons and women, the realities they face now can change.
Dazzle: Being in the UN was your passion, so explain to me how that became something that you wanted to do?
Keithlin: It took a long time for me to figure out what I wanted to do. First, I wanted to be a Biologist because I love animals and then it was a Vet. I think at some point I just wanted to impress my parents. When I attended Convent I realized I had an affinity for social sciences; The Languages, Social Studies, History and things like that. Not to mention, at Convent and SALCC, my language teachers were the most inspiring women I had ever met. I wanted to have a career where I could utilize multiple languages, then one day my dad said to me, “You could do International Relations” and it immediately clicked. I saw certain women like Len Ishmael who was the Director General of OECS at the time, and just seeing her, how she carried herself, holding her own in rooms where most often she was the only woman there, and the impact she had on St. Lucia, had me sold. Therefore, when I went to the University of Puerto Rico, I did Political Science and got into it even more. I landed an internship with the UN while I was a Grad Student and technically, as soon as I graduated, I got hired by the UN. Five years later, and I’m still here.
Dazzle: Who were others that inspired you, even for Helen’s Daughters?
Keithlin: If I can start close to home, I’d say my grandparents. They were both farmers and worked tirelessly for their children and grandchildren to have more than what they did. For Helen’s Daughters, the women farmers that are a part of the organization are the biggest inspiration because they are resilient beyond a doubt, their stories, their sacrifice and their grace through it all has affected me both personally and professionally.
Dazzle: How much of an influence have your parents been in the process?
Keithlin: Well I think my parents, particularly my mom, have sowed the seeds of selflessness in me- service before self. I don’t think they ever foresaw the path that I would choose, but they both knew that whatever path I chose or whatever door was opened for me, I would hold it open for others- I was just raised that way. I have seen my mother nurture dozens of friends, family and colleagues. For my father, who is a teacher at St. Mary’s College and a former National Football Coach, I’ve seen him help students or his players financially when no one else would give them a chance.
Dazzle: When you made it to the UN, what was it like?
Keithlin: It was a long journey, from an unpaid, 3 month internship, which had me sleeping in an airbed in some basement in Brooklyn because I couldn’t afford anything else, to hoping that I would get a job after the internship ended and taking the UN exam, it was difficult but it paid out after all. I joined the UN at 25, which now that I look back, the organization nurtured me. I was exposed to different cultures, languages and traditions all in one place, not to mention, working in the Secretariat which is probably something I will never forget. This year it came full circle, now that I serve in the Office of the President of the General Assembly, the same Office that Sir Julian Hunte occupied in 2003-2004, it was the first-time a Caribbean nation held the highest Office in the UN and it’s something I’m truly proud of.
Dazzle: What is your/ Helen’s Daughters biggest achievement so far?
Keithlin: Our biggest achievement would be that we got selected as a case study and got partnered with the University of British Columbia in Canada. The farmers did an exchange and got expertise from humanitarian engineering students to help find solutions for their farming problems such as ways to tackle climate change, sustainable farming practices and even using Google Earth and data mapping to understand where to find the best areas to plant. Also, we’ve been featured in Forbes and CTA, which for me is huge because we are realigning people’s minds to not only think of the Caribbean as sun, sea and sand but a place where innovation and ingenuity outside of the tourism and entertainment markets also exist. For me though, I still feel like I’m waiting for that big achievement.
Dazzle: How do you plan on taking Helen’s Daughter to the next level in the future?
Keithlin: We’re already working on that. We created a social enterprise called Green Gold. We are using our training programs designed by Helen’s Daughters to refine female farmers to actually sell to larger markets such as the hotel and food retail sector. We’ve developed an online marketplace so that it’s easier for the buyers to put in a purchase, but a bonus for the farmers is that we are using this portal to also issue their payments via direct deposits just like any other salaried worker so that they can have a financial footprint which has been a huge obstacle for farmers in getting loans or legitimizing their business.We wish Keithlin and Helen’s Daughters great success in their future endeavours.
