24154: Minsky:(article) Scholarship Program in Haiti for Promising Students (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "tminsky@ix.netcom.com" <tminsky@ix.netcom.com>



A Scholarship Program in Haiti Provides Hope for Promising Students
By Tequila Minsky (published on-line)

Haitians in the United States and friends of Haiti continuously ask
themselves, "What
can I do that will improve the lot of Haitians back home?"  Family members
send
remittances which in 2003 totaled 800 million dollars, almost 25% of
Haiti's Gross
National Product.  This number is expected to be higher for 2004, totaling
possibly
100 million dollars in remittances from abroad. Sometimes this doesn't feel
enough.

In early November, a fundraiser, attended by mostly 30-something young
professionals,  the next generation of Haitian Diaspora and Friends of
Haiti, was held
in lower Manhattan for  the Haitian Education and Leadership Program-HELP,
a
higher education scholarship program.  HELP pays  tuition, books and living
allowances for academically promising men and women in Haiti who finish at
the top
of their public high school class but cannot even afford bus fare to
college.

In 1996, American Conor Bohan was teaching in a high school in Haiti  that
educated
children from poor families. He was asked by student Isemonde Joseph whose
home
was in Cite Soleil for a loan of $30 so she could go to secretarial school.

Bohan recognized that Isemonde 's ability and talents exceeded the skills
needed to
be a secretary and he encouraged her to go the University which really was
her
ambition-and beyond her dreams. Assisted by  a scholarship personally
funded by
Bohan and family,  Joseph went on to school and in fact, began medical
school in
1998.  This was the beginning of HELP. Her first semester anatomy grade was
100%.



The annual cost of university in Haiti, including textbooks, is almost
$1500-- low by
American standards but an astronomical sum in a country where the majority
live on
less than a dollar a day.

HELP was organized with many others to address the issue: Here are students
with a
good academic foundation, excelling in school,  then what? HELP  provides
must-be-
in-need students, coming only from public schools with a basis on merit.

A yearly fund raiser with Haitians and non-Haitians and generous support
from other
donors supplies the funds.  HELP covers students' fees, textbooks,
transportation, and
other needs. Each year more students join the program. Fifty-three scholars
are
enrolled in the 2004-5 academic year,  studying medicine, computers,
accounting,
business management, electrical and civil engineering and agriculture.
They are
expected to perform very well in school.

The Port-au-Prince office grapples with the student's challenges of being
poor and
attending a university. It offers crucial back-up and support. In the midst
of tragedy,
unrest and misery students are told if there is a problem they should come
to the
director.

Last year one student came by and shared his story of hardship, "I live at
home with 6
brothers, a mother and father and an aunt.  Usually I've gone to school and
I haven't
eaten. I don't eat until 4 pm. It's hard to concentrate, I'm dizzy and
weak. I'd do better if
I could eat."

A stipend to cover food was provided. For some of the students HELP might
not just
be providing school but also the only real meal of the day.

Director Hubert Sylney  comments how the office space in Turgeau provides
support
for students, "It gives access six days a week and we have a library here.
Students
use the  eleven computers to complete their assignments and for research on
the
Internet. Here there is access to information technology.

Also, the office is used for students to study for exams. There is
electricity. It's a  quiet,
clean place for them to come to." Director Sylney adds, "Students maintain
the office
and take pride in keeping it clean."  A grant from  British organization,
Sigrid Rausing
Trust,  pays for the costs of the office and administration, the salaries
of the skeletal
staff, the Haitian
director and assistant.

Half of HELP students go to the State University , the other half attend
private
University. Forty-five percent are female.  In a country where education is
so
inaccessible-where only 20% of teenagers attend secondary school-- those
who pass
the Baccalaureate exam have already beaten the odds.

Forty percent of the scholars are studying medicine and in this country
where there is
one doctor per 11,000 people, this is a profession Haiti is in great need
of.  This
program  transforms the lives of its students and addresses Haitian
society's needs,
working toward building a  desperately needed professional class.



When Jolene Coachi first enrolled in the program she was a part time
employee
making less than $1200 a year. Having graduated last semester-the first
program
graduate-she now works for a private company earning $10,400. Two other
scholars
from the first group of recipients have finished all their course work-in
business
management and accounting and are working on their thesis.

New Board member Haitian-American Harry Hjardemaal, a 30-something
professional,  came to the organization through friends and his involvement
is an
opportunity to give back to Haiti, "We are looking to expand our donor
base."

Founder Bohan comments that when gifted people finish their high school
studies
HELP has been able to step in and assist in providing a future.

"We are committed to empower people in Haiti," Bohan stated.

Director Sylney similarly agrees that this program can affect change both
for the
students and for the country, "You'd be suprised how a small amount of
money can
make a huge difference." In other words, Zwaso fe nich li pay pa pay,  the
bird builds
his nest straw by straw.

Supporters who attended the  November fundraiser were treated to a reading
by the
renown Guadeloupean author Maryse Conde best-known for her historical novel
SEGOU.

A Sorbonne graduate, who has lived and taught in countries in Africa,
England and
France,  and in many American Universities, most recently  at Columbia
University
from 1995  until her retirement.  Her prolific writings of play and novels
in French
reflect social and political consciousness.

Conde sees all the Caribbean as family. She observes, "The relationship
between
Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean is complex. Napoleon failed to contain
Haiti. He
succeeded in Guadeloupe. We continued as slaves."

At the HELP fundraiser her husband and translator, Richard Philcox, read in
English from Crossing the Mangrove.

New York City Public School Educator Lily Cerat, born in Les Cayes,
comments about HELP, "I'm truly happy that Haitians in the Diaspora and at
home are
now establishing scholarships to help our youth, especially in the absence
of
leadership from the state."


The website link is: http://www.heritagekonpa.com/hkhome.htm


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