Alumni Profile: Fabiola Rosier (education ’16)

Today, Fabiola works at the Haitian organization Anseye Pou Ayiti where she provides teacher training. But her own education was never assured. When Fabiola’s mother fell ill, the family could no longer afford Fabiola’s secondary school fees and she had to stay home. After two or three months, the school principal heard about this student who was brilliant but was missing school for financial issues. “They reached out to my father and said I should come back because I student like me should never miss school. So, the school gave me a scholarship to complete high school.”

That opportunity and Fabiola’s top grades led her to HELP where she enrolled in a degree in education administration and she quickly took advantage of all HELP has to offer. “As an education major, the HELP leadership and English classes inspired me to prepare a leadership class in English for my fellow students at the university. This particular initiative really boosted my confidence as an educator.”

Fabiola feels that the training and experiences, especially in HELP’s leadership curriculum are key to a better future. “People in the program are brilliant,” she says, “but the country does not only need people who have brains, the country needs people who are willing to work, to help others, and to see an issue and try to seek solutions. Only complaining that things are not as we wish does not solve any problems. If we want change, we must be part of it.”

And now, all of Fabiola’s passion, skills, and experiences at HELP are coming together at Anseye Pou Ayiti. “I work with teachers in the countryside. I train the teachers, follow them in their journeys, and I have them identify the issues in their communities, in their classrooms and I help them think about the potential solutions. We have a real lack of leadership and Anseye Pou Ayiti is really focused on how we can help teachers transform students into tomorrow’s leaders.”