16764: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald- Haitian kids get jump on future (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Sep. 18, 2003


FLORIDA CITY
Haitian kids get jump on future
A leadership program called LEAP helps youngsters formulate solid plans for
college and careers.
BY CECILIA VALDES-SHAW
Herald Writer

More than 50 young Haitians spent part of their summer taking a peek at what
could be a promising future.

Thanks to a program called LEAP -- Leadership Enrichment Acculturation
Program -- the youngsters got to check out some Florida colleges, to learn
some grooming and interview tips and even to try a job on for size.

The program was run by Joseph G. Louis, executive director of GALATA, a
nonprofit social service group based in Florida City.

Using a $76,000 county grant, he targeted young people between 15 and 25. By
all accounts, the program was a hit.

''Louis won the bid which was offered to any social service provider who
would hear the cry of the young Haitians and would be willing to help,''
said Emeline Alexis, who works in the office of Miami-Dade Mayor Alex
Penelas. ``If Louis applies for funding again next year, he has a good
chance because he is bringing a good solution. The children are our
future.''

One part of the program took 45 students to visit four different
universities in North and Central Florida -- Florida A&M, Florida State,
Bethune-Cookman and University of Central Florida.

''We wanted to take them out of one environment and put them in a different
one,'' said Gamael Nassar, deputy director of the LEAP program.

While in Tallahassee, the students visited the Old and New Capital Building,
where they held a mock voting session after a spirited discussion of the
FCAT.

By the end of the summer, LEAP was successful in seeing several students off
to colleges and universities.

Program participant Joane Tousant is now attending Florida State University.

''I am so proud of her. She left last week,'' said Vrujutha Tousant, Joane's
mother.

LEAP also held a two-day retreat at the Westin Beach Resort in Key Largo,
where 36 youngsters listened to eight speakers discuss attire, communication
and attitude in the workplace.

Among the speakers were Judge Fred Seraphin, Miami-Dade's first
Haitian-American judge, and Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace.

Twenty-eight of the people from the program landed summer jobs, working in
doctors' offices, restaurants, social services, churches and radio stations
and with endangered animals.

''We tried to place them into jobs they were interested in,'' said Nassar.
``We trained and assisted them in developing a résumé and filling out
applications.''

Lizette Fontilus, a college sophomore, worked in the GALATA offices.
Fontilus, a marketing major said, ``This job gave me more experience and
increased my skills. I learned about the administrative aspect of
marketing.''

Students who have had a hard time graduating from high school didn't get
left behind by the program either.

Mike Bastien, a 19-year-old, was placed in a General Educational Development
program at Miami Dade College in Homestead and is working to get his GED.

LEAP officials say Bastien will keep getting help from GALATA or LEAP
whether he heads off to college or work.

Louis says his next task is simple: secure enough money to run the program
next summer -- and perhaps even expand it.

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