26684: Nlbo (Comments)College Students: A Neglected Group in the Haitian Community (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Nlbo@aol.com

University Students: A Neglected Group in the Haitian Community

During Thanksgiving, charity programs, soup kitchens, and churches tend to
focus on providing meals to the needy, i.e the homeless, single parents, the
senior citizens, the poor, and the like.  However, given the number of higher
institutions in the East coast, many cities, in New York,New Jersey, Boston,
Philadelphia are home to many Haitian college students for four years or more.
Haitians, to my knowledge and experience, donât have a supportive local
community during their college years. Those away from home in the campuses have no
where to go during short holiday periods or spring breaks when they canât fly to
their faraway homes. I do think Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are three
holidays where the community could reach out so Haitian college students could
at least feel part of a community- the Black community for this purpose.

I wrote this article last year.  As I am seeing the Thanksgiving holiday goes
by and nobody wondered how did Haitian college students who have no parents,
no relatives  spent their holidays, sometimes their spring breaks, I am
putting exerpts of my article that was featured in the November 2004 edition of the
Boston Haitian Reporter under the title:

College Students : A Neglected Resource in Boston

...Established adults could collectively provide a structure of nurturing, of
hospitality, a home outside of the home, and a mentoring system to
collegians. Moreover, many of these 20 year olds born during the l980 mass migration of
first generation Haitian immigrants live out of state and canât afford going
home for semester breaks and holidays like Thanksgiving.  The community could
organize activities such as holiday or occasional dinners and dances in many
churches that have the large halls or are empty in some cases. University
students are important sources and assets a society needs to support. Given Black
studentsâ low scores in state and national assessments, the increasing
incarceration and early death of young Blacks, or the lack of role modelsâ presence in
the Haitian communities, it is an utmost urgency to reach out to collegians
and young professionals so they could be an integral part of the Haitian milieu.

It will be a well spent investment if state and/or local officials could
intervene to provide means to collectively organize and maintain a long term
healthy environment for young Haitians in Massachusetts - some thing that church
and community agencies have not yet managed to do; for the offsprings of an
estimated 80,000 Haitians in Massachusetts, or 1 million in the country will have
a significant impact not only in the New England area, but in the nation as
well.

If there were a supportive and understanding environment for US educated
Haitians, the community would not probably have buried Bettina FranÃois and
Julaine Jules last month (September and October 2004), two college graduates in
their late 20âs victims of domestic violence.  Educated Haitians who massively
left Haiti for Africa, Canada, Europe, and the United States in the later half of
the 20th century have in most part abandoned the diasporic communities.

Being involved with collegians in the dawn of the 21rst century might avoid
more âbrain drainageâ in the diaspora itself and hopefully Haitians might
regain the respect, the positive reputation and image we had up to the l970âs.

Nekita Lamour, is an essayist , an experienced educator who had been working
in the field of ESL/Bilingual/Multicultural Education since l980.  She is a
regular contributor to the Boston Haitian Reporter.