LCS Grad Innovates His Way Through the Pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Haiti in March 2020, students were among many across Haiti who found themselves unable to continue their everyday routines.

Romain M. (LCS '19) works on the prototype of an eco-friendly stove.

Like so many Louverture Cleary School graduates, Romain M. (LCS '19) found himself unable to continue studying economics at the state university. And, like a true Louverturian, Romain chose to use this uncertain, newly-imposed free time to better his community.

Before the pandemic, Romain had begun a project to build an eco-friendly stove which produces heat generated by the weight of the cooking pot placed on top of it. "There is a public market in my neighborhood where charcoal is sold,” reflects Romain on the origin of his idea, “and it’s heartbreaking to think of how many trees are destroyed every year all over the country. As a kid, I would think of ways to end this. Today I want to create something that can help reduce it."

Having gotten the idea after a friend introduced him to a global organization working in Haiti called Clean Cooking Alliance, Romain has spent time during the pandemic working to develop a prototype of the stove.

Like Romain, many LCS Alumni have been inspired by the school's stewardship of resources and the environment, including its robust waste management program, and have taken those lessons and practices to their home communities.

"LCS has influenced me in many ways. One of them is caring for my environment,” says Romain. “Also, LCS has taught me that no matter how big the issue is, I can do something about it. This why I developed this project and I am looking for the means to realize it."

Along with developing his invention, Romain would like to eventually return to university to finish his economics degree, then hopes to pursue a degree in engineering. We wish him the best of luck with the eco-friendly stove, and we look forward to updating you on his project in the future!

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

A Love of Medicine, a Life of Service

This past June, we celebrated the Louverture Cleary School (LCS) Class of 2020 and the servant-leaders they will become. They will not be short on role models as they join a long line of LCS graduates. One such alum is Jhonny F., M.D.

Jhonny Fequiere, M.D. (LCS '00)

After graduating from LCS in June 2000, Dr. Jhonny F. earned a highly-coveted spot at the Medical School of the State University of Haiti.

“It was not easy,” Jhonny recalls. “Medical school [in Haiti], like everywhere in the world, is tough. To succeed, you have to study day and night, and be smart, dedicated, and diligent.”

After six years of study, his mandatory year of social service brought him to Artibonite where he remained for several years. During this time, he stepped forward as a leading medical professional during the 2010 cholera epidemic (Haiti's Cholera Death Toll Mounts, BBC, 10/23/10;  Press in the Time of Cholera, Catholic News Agency, 10/27/10). Then in 2013, Jhonny started a specialization in obstetrics/gynecology, eventually returning to Port-au-Prince in 2019 to open a private OB/GYN clinic while beginning a master's degree in public health.

Jhonny's desire to pursue a career in medicine began at LCS when he and other students would translate for and assist visiting medical teams (Louverturians are fluent in four languages—Kreyòl, French, English and Spanish) as part of LCS's community service programs. “I was involved in all activities with those teams…This is where I started falling in love with medicine…This taught me that being a doctor would be a good choice for me to continue helping those in need.”

Jhonny, like his fellow doctors in Haiti, has had a difficult time since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Haiti. 

Dr. Johnny F. attributes Louverture Cleary School with his interest in pursuing a career in medicine.

“It is very difficult to continue taking care of people in different private and public healthcare facilities. The medical staff does not have adequate equipment to protect themselves from getting COVID-19. The Haitian government and medical staff are trying to do the best to contain this pandemic, but it’s still difficult. The Haitian healthcare system has many problems and was not prepared for such a situation.”

Haiti's healthcare system significantly lacks the capacity of other countries in the western hemisphere. Whereas the United States has 25 doctors per 10,000 people, Haiti has 2.5.

“Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the healthcare system receives just a fraction of the national budget," said Jhonny. “Hospitals are under-equipped. Hospital staffs are not well paid. People are not covered by insurance. According to those problems, this healthcare system needs to be changed. To have this result, the Haitian politicians need to sit together in order to have common objectives to get the country out of this situation.”

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

Calling Workers to the Harvest… The LCS Missionary Program

Ever felt called to missionary service? Know someone who would be a good fit for our community in Haiti? It may seem like an unusual time to consider a call to service in Haiti... or, it may be the perfect time!

Missionaries teach outside the classroom, too: students learn about plants as they develop the rooftop garden on campus.

For over 25 years, The Haitian Project’s mission and charism have been lived out and exemplified at Louverture Cleary School outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti by its vibrant community of Missionary teachers (formerly known as "Volunteers").

Missionaries of all ages have brought stability in chaotic times, determination in challenging tasks, and joy in everyday living while embracing and leading the greater Louverture Cleary School community.

Life of the Missionary Community includes:

• Living in community with other missionaries and Haitian staff members
  

• Teaching classes, such as English, religion or economics

• Leading extracurriculars such as sports and clubs, giving the chance for students to be enriched both in and out of the classroom

• Participating in the physical development and upkeep of the campus

• Participating in daily community prayer and weekly Mass

Email [email protected] to contact The Haitian Project for more information regarding the Missionary program. You can also find out more about being a Missionary at Louverture Cleary School and how to apply for the program here:

More Information on the LCS Missionary Program Flyer

Application Information

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The June Issue of Haitian Project News is Here!

The June 2020 edition of Haitian Project News is here! CLICK HERE to read about:

• The graduation of the Louverture Cleary School (LCS) Class of 2020 marks LCS's 25th graduation, a milestone to celebrate! Meet the LCS Class of 2020, with photos and featured quotes from graduates.

• Read about our amazing LCS Alumni—Caleb Alcenat, Class of 2008; Myrlande Aubourg, Class of 2010; and Stephane Chery, Class of 2011—who are successfully facing the challenges of COVID-19 in Haiti.

• Special to this issue...

Haiti has been adapting to the new and evolving realities imposed by COVID-19. Read more about how Haiti is being affected by the pandemic in this featured interview with Patrick Brun, Haitian private sector leader and head of THP's partner foundations in Haiti.

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

LCS Alumna Models Civic Responsibility

The Haitian Project couldn't be more proud of Louverture Cleary School (LCS) graduates. (If you missed last week’s update, you really should “meet” some of our graduates here: Celebrating the Class of 2020.) 

In keeping with that theme, here is a quick story of how a 2011 LCS grad is raising awareness about the pandemic in rural Haiti in the course of her work. We hope you enjoy it!

Stephane Chery (LCS '11) with fellow employees at Acceso Corporation.

The disruption to Haiti’s economy and food production as a result of COVID-19 is expected to be especially problematic in a country that was in a precarious situation even before the pandemic.

A recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification reports that over one third of Haiti’s population currently needs urgent food assistance. 

A drop in remittances from the diaspora in the US only exacerbates the situation.

Stephane C. (LCS ‘11) is well aware of her fellow Haitians’ situation. After graduating from Louverture Cleary School and receiving a university scholarship from its Dulcich Center for Career Advancement (formerly the Office of External Affairs), she decided to pursue her studies in agronomy.

"One of the best ways to reduce poverty and specifically hunger in Haiti is through agriculture," she says. 

Today, Stephane works for Acceso Corporation, improving the quality of peanut production and supply chain management. She continues to go to work regularly despite the COVID-19 outbreak. Her work has brought her in contact with families living in rural areas of Haiti and has given her the chance to raise awareness about the pandemic and preventative measures, an opportunity she welcomes.   

"Otherwise, many of them would not even have heard about the outbreak," says Stephane.

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Did you see this recent alumni article?

Louverturian and Medical Resident Serves on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Fight

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

LCS Distributes 2,400 Masks in Haiti

LCS Director of Community Outreach Daelle E. manages the recent mask distribution to the Santo 5 community.

While schools remain closed in Haiti due to COVID-19, the Department of Community Outreach at Louverture Cleary School (LCS) outside of Port-au-Prince has been providing support wherever possible to help keep our surrounding neighborhood, including the families of the children in the LCS's Koukouy Sen Kle Early Childhood Development Program, as safe and healthy as possible in a situation where social distancing and other safety measures are difficult or impossible to maintain.

Social distancing and other safety measures are very difficult to maintain in Haiti. To help, LCS sourced 2,400 hand-made, reusable cloth face masks from local shops to provide to the school community and the neighborhood around the school.

Families of the children in the Koukouy Program and members of the neighborhood surrounding the school were invited to LCS to receive masks. LCS Director of Community Outreach Daelle E. coordinated the distribution and educated each person on how to properly wear and wash them.

In total, 800 individuals received three face masks each. 

Chair of The Haitian Project's Partner Foundations Patrick B. states, "Distributing masks to the community fits our objectives perfectly. As an institution in Haiti, we have a responsibility to the surrounding community as well as to our students and staff. We are also committed to being the right model for Haiti, so purchasing these masks locally was another important way to support the country.”  

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Celebrating LCS's 25th Graduating Class!

This year marks LCS’s 25th graduation, a milestone to celebrate!  

While graduation ceremonies have been canceled this year due to the pandemic, we are still celebrating the Class of 2020, their accomplishments, and the impact they will have as they join the ranks of LCS alumni. 

Don't miss a special Community Update this Friday featuring the LCS Class of 2020!

Help us celebrate Louverture Cleary School's 25th graduating class by giving $25 in their honor!

Through Thick and Thin: The LCS Student Mentor Program

Seven years at Louverture Cleary School (LCS) is a life-changing experience. New students navigate a rigorous life of community living, academics, work, and community service. By Philo (US 12th grade +1) year, students can scarcely imagine their life any other way, but they recognize that adjusting and adapting to their first year at LCS during their Sizyem (US 7th grade) year was a challenge.

Thanks to the LCS community's commitment to living by Matthew 10:8, “What we receive for free, we must give for free,” they were not in it alone.

The LCS Student Mentor Program

Each year, Philo students partner with a Sizyem “little brother” or “little sister” with whom they will build a relationship of support through the LCS Student Mentor Program. The program helps students best support one another and live in community, and it has remained important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philo student Markencia B. (at right) sits with her two "little sisters" in the LCS Student Mentor Program prior to the pandemic. Markencia recalls, “When I was a Sizyem student, this program helped me a lot. Supporting the youngest students is an act of love.”

This year, LCS Junior Staff Member Chrislie R. (LCS ’14), herself an alumna of the program, facilitated group activities and discussions with the Philo and Sizyem students and ensured that they worked together during evening study hours.

Chrislie reflects: “The LCS Student Mentor Program is very important. Sizyem students who are in a new place have a senior friend who can share their knowledge about the school, help them integrate, improve their self-confidence, and help them succeed. This program can have a big impact on both the Philo and the Sizyem students. Our Louverturians will all have to leave the school and go and change things outside [in Haiti], so this is a chance for them to start making an impact, helping others, and working for the best of their country.”

This year, the Philo and Sizyem pairs were joined by a Second (US 11th grade) “brother” or “sister” to provide extra leadership for the Sizyem class and help the Second students grow as leaders with the guidance of their Philo partners.

Now, while schools are closed in Haiti as a result of COVID-19, Philo students are checking in with their little "brothers" and "sisters." This is especially important given the additional emotions and worries that students are facing. Philo students are not only able to help provide emotional comfort, they are also able to help their mentees further their studies from home however possible.

The Louverture Cleary School community is in this together.

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

Famille Kizito: Many Hands Make Light the Work

The Haitian Project is fortunate to work alongside many wonderful people and organizations in Haiti who are dedicated to a brighter future for the country. Famillie Kizito is one of them.

Famille Kizito Religious Community was founded by Sister Paësie, a French nun who spent nearly two decades serving in Haiti as a Missionary of Charity before being given permission to start a new order of sisters to work with children from severely disadvantaged families in Cite Soleil, one of the most impoverished areas in our hemisphere.

Famille Kizito is named for Saint Kizito, the youngest of the Martyrs of Uganda who died for their faith in 1886, and serves 2,500 at-risk youth in Cite Soleil through education centers, food support, summer camp, Catechism programs and other initiatives. They also visit hundreds of prisoners each week to provide them with spiritual support.

Famille Kizito serves 2,500 severely disadvantaged children in Cite Soleil, Haiti.

Famille Kizito has been a great partner in our efforts in Haiti since the community was established in 2018. LCS students volunteer at the community’s summer camps, and Sr. Paësie has frequently visited LCS to teach in the religious education program and to provide spiritual support for students. Prior to that, she was integral in THP’s collaboration with Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic when Famille Kazito needed help, THP stepped in to provide them with a grant to support their program.

Sr. Paësie visits with some of the children her community serves in Cite Soleil, Haiti.

Sr. Paësie said at the time,“We appreciate the recent funding very much. We will use it to feed the children living in our homes, to purchase gas stoves for the homes, to improve the land surrounding the homes which have been damaged by rainwaters, to cover medical expenses for the children, and to prepare documentation for children receiving the sacraments."

"During this pandemic, we are doing what we can to provide shelter and safety to children in an insecure area and continue their religious education. Thank you, once again, for your donation, and may God bless you and your loved ones," Sr. Paësie continued. 

As Patrick B., a Haitian private sector leader and chair of THP's Partner Foundations in Haiti, noted that this is another “strong reminder of THP’s leadership position within the Haitian community.”

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

Helping Our Partners in Cite Soleil

The Haitian Project continues to remain attentive to supporting our community while providing other vital direct assistance through our partners in Haiti. Food support for Le Bon Samaritain de Varreux School is just our most recent effort to use our resources to serve where we can while schools remain closed in Haiti.

Le Bon Samaritain de Varreux School in Cite Soleil, Haiti, is located in one of the most impoverished areas in the Western Hemisphere.

In addition to constantly evaluating how to continue to be of direct service to those in the neighborhood around Louverture Cleary School (LCS), The Haitian Project (THP) has responded to the needs of our partners at Le Bon Samaritain de Varreux School and Famille Kizito Religious Community, both in Cite Soleil, one of the most impoverished areas in our hemisphere.

Le Bon Samaritain de Varreux School (LBSV) was established in 2004 as a collaborative effort of residents and businesses in the area to respond to the issue of youth violence and gang activity. LCS Alumni have served at LBSV as English instructors and mentors during the school year and also at LBSV’s summer camp.

Despite school closures in response to COVID-19, LBSV continues to provide its vital, year-round food program to its neighborhood.

THP’s direct assistance will help feed hundreds of children from the most vulnerable families in Cite Soleil.

As we have said before, social distancing is an impossibility for many in Haiti. Pictured are students at LBSV; their bowls are large so they can bring food home to share with their families.

Claudine Auguste, who heads the organization’s accounting office, says LBSV is grateful for THP's support at "this critical moment." She continues:

[THP's] funding will help provide food security during this difficult time to more than 400 of the most vulnerable families we serve. Please accept our gratitude on behalf of all of our kids and their parents!

THP's support will help LBSV maintain the strong relationship between the school and its surrounding community.

According to Haitian private sector leader and chair of THP’s Partner Foundations in Haiti Patrick B., “This is a strong reminder of THP’s leadership position within the Haitian community.” 

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A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.

The Haitian Project is Platinum!

The Haitian Project has been awarded the 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar.

The Haitian Project (THP) is committed to the highest level of transparency. Because of our focus on communicating actual results and impact, GuideStar has awarded us their 2020 Platinum Seal of Transparency. 

According to GuideStar, over 13 million people visit their site each year to learn more about nonprofit organizations. Many more access their data indirectly through other sites like Facebook and AmazonSmile, to name just a few. 

You can be proud of your support for The Haitian Project. Thank you for always being the help we have to give! 

A Note from The Haitian Project

We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships. 

But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can still give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open. Please give today if you can.