This past November, we welcomed a team from the Global Give Back Circle (GGBC) to the HELP Student Center in Port-au-Prince for a 10-day exchange and training program facilitated by The MasterCard Foundation. GGBC’s mission of guiding disadvantaged girls to complete their education, gain marketable skills, and become agents of change has much in common with HELP’s goals. The visit was designed to bring together our complementary scholarship organizations and to expand HELP’s existing mentorship program using the GGBC model.

One of the first things many people notice when they arrive in Port-au-Prince is the garbage. Garbage piles up on the streets, eventually making its way to abandoned lots and dumpsters where it is burned, or to streams and ravines which wash it out to the port, especially during heavy rains. But Dieugrand Louis, a HELP student in agro-environment (class of 2013), emphasizes the benefits of a better managed system…

Guest writer Sandra Macías del Villar shares the story of how her work with HELP and with Haiti have grown from a summer of interning to an enduring passion.

Sitting in the office of the HELP Student Center, an oasis in the midst of a crowded and chaotic Port-au-Prince, I can’t help but feel inspired and extremely proud. Students are dutifully reading their textbooks, others are taking classes in the computer lab, and still others sit on the patio sharing ideas and talking, in English, about the latest news, practicing what they have learned in their ESL classes…

ESL Instructor Stephanie Rapp shares her impressions of her first time at Carnival, the vibrant celebration that takes place each year in Haiti and across the Caribbean:

Haiti’s 2012 Carnival celebrations had a singular theme: Ayiti ap dekole – “Haiti is taking off.” The whole month before the National Carnival, the country built momentum and excitement with ra-ra bands every Sunday in Port-au-Prince, and the signature parade (or défilé) in the town of Jacmel. HELP’s international staff set off from the capital on February 12, ready for a long weekend…

HELP students Ronel Lefranc, Daphnee Charles, and Anne-Martine Augustin were among only 30 students from around the world invited to participate in the Learners’ Voice program at the WISE Conference on international education in Doha, Qatar in November. Daphnee, Ronel, and Anne-Martine had the chance to interview Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC and winner of the inaugural WISE Prize recognizing lifetime achievement in education.

HELP is pleased to welcome the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) to our community of donors. MCC is a worldwide Anabaptist ministry that partners with local churches and community organizations in more than 50 countries to carry out disaster relief, sustainable community development, and justice and peace-building work. MCC also seeks to build bridges to connect people and ideas across political and economic divides.

At HELP, students learn about collaboration, teamwork, and communication. While these are important skills to hone for the business world, they are also essential to practice in a relationship! HELP’s Fedorah Pierre-Louis sat down with Ermine and Monil to learn the story of the first-ever HELP marriage.

HELP: How did you two meet?

Ermine: We met at HELP. We were both interning in the accounting department at the American Institute for Research.