Shakehand founder Mozart François and his brother Herold François introduced organized table tennis to Haiti. In October 1997, they founded the first Haitian Table Tennis Association. Since 1997, Mozart has been traveling to Haiti at least twice yearly to run clinics and tournaments for children. Since the assassination of the Haitian President in 2021, serious political instability and dangerous conditions have negatively impacted all aspects of life in Haiti, and the children have suffered greatly. In 2021, Mozart opened a new table tennis club in the Haitian City of Jean-Rabel.

​

An American Friends of the Haitian Table Tennis Association was started at that time, to support this important work. In 2024 this 501(c)3 organization changed its name to Shakehand Youth.