About The Lakou Project - The original power of the Haitian social system was the great interconnection of mutual responsibility among the members of extended families and villages, communities -- lakou -- of around 500 members each.Signifcantly, lakou in Haiti were the creation of free people living cooperatively on their own properties, rather than as slaves living on someone else's plantations.

The term lakou continues to designate place names and describe a variety of activities that are distinctively Haitian.

Today, "lakou" is even a unifying element for architects of a disaster relief housing project whose prospectus states, "House design centers around the lakou or yard which is the center of Haitian family activities."