29503: Lally (ANNOUCE:) H.E.L.P. University Students in Haiti -- auction in New York City

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Reynald Lally <concordehaiti@yahoo.com>

CONTACT:    Kimberly Dilts
                        Haitian Education & Leadership Program (H.E.L.P.)
                        Phone:  (212) 842-8939
                        Fax: (212) 842-8901
                        Email: dilts@aristeiacapital.com
                        Website: www.haitianeducation.org


H.E.L.P. University Students in Haiti


New York, NY (November 13, 2006):  On Friday, December 1, art lovers and 
humanitarians alike will have a clear opportunity to help Haiti, a country with 
such endemic and intractable troubles that it’s sometimes difficult to know 
where and how to lend a hand.   At 7:00 that evening, the Haitian Education and 
Leadership Program (H.E.L.P.) will host its first ever auction of Haitian 
contemporary and naïf art, featuring works by some of Haiti ’s most renowned 
artists.  All proceeds will go toward scholarship support for Haitian students 
pursuing higher education in Haiti . Featured artists include Edouard 
Duval-Carrié, Mario Benjamin, Gérard Fortuné, and Lionel St. Eloi.   A silent 
auction will take place from 7:00-9:00 pm, followed by a live auction of 
featured works at 9:00 pm.  Images of the works are viewable online at 
www.haitianeducation.org. H.E.L.P. was started in 1996 by Conor Bohan when his 
former student, Isemonde Joseph, asked for $30 to attend secretarial school in 
spite of her lifelong dream to study medicine.  Isemonde became H.E.L.P.’s 
first scholarship recipient and is now a practicing doctor in Haiti .  H.E.L.P. 
has since grown into Haiti ’s largest university scholarship program and, for 
the academic year 2006/2007, will sponsor approximately 70 students studying 
education, medicine, law, engineering, accounting, agronomy, chemistry, 
computer science and communications.  To date, H.E.L.P. graduates have a 100% 
employment rate at an average starting salary of $6,000 per year, approximately 
15 times greater than the average annual salary in Haiti .
Haiti, a country plagued by widespread poverty, destabilization, and a lack of 
governmental infrastructure, grapples with a nearly 70% unemployment rate. 
Though the average annual cost of university in Haiti , including textbooks, is 
just over $1,000, nearly 50% of children in Haiti have no access to education 
at all, and few can afford to continue their studies past middle or high 
school.
            The event will take place at the offices of Aristeia Capital, 136 
Madison Avenue , 3rd floor (between 31st and 32nd Street ).  For more 
information, please contact Kimberly Dilts at (212) 842-8939 or 
dilts@aristeiacapital.com.  To view the electronic invitation, please go to 
http://haitianeducation.org/helpInvite2b.html.