March Newsletter: Launching Our 25th Year
Dear Friends,
In the midst of the difficulties of the past twelve months, 2021 brings opportunities for celebration at HELP. Among them are HELP’s 25th anniversary, an expanded partnership with the world-famous Barbancourt Rum, and reaching $100,000 in total donations from the KOREM alumni giving program. Perhaps not coincidentally, these achievements have been years in the making, the result of good ideas, good friends, and the hard work of our team at HELP.
HELP began in 1996 with an idea and a handful of recent high school graduates, hungry for more. Over the next 15 years, HELP was taking root as a dynamic and multi-faceted program, and those first students were already making their mark as graduates, with most remaining in Haiti where they earned salaries up to 18 times the national average.
It soon became clear that HELP was more than just scholarship, it was a catalyst for economic growth. The success of HELP graduates was nearly unimaginable given that just five years prior, their lives had been defined by the extremes of academic success constrained by poverty and a total lack of opportunity, despite their academic success.
HELP imagined what could be possible if some of this dramatic success could be reinvested for the future via an organized alumni contribution program, which became known by its acronym KOREM, derived from a Creole phrase meaning “support me and I’ll support you.”
Through KOREM, graduates contribute a percentage of their income for the first eight years after graduation. Since 2010 all incoming students have formally committed to KOREM, and in mid-2015 HELP received the first KOREM contribution. This past January, total KOREM donations reached $100,000, and now two current students are fully sponsored by alumni contributions!
Every contribution you have made, every conversation where you spread the word about HELP, has contributed to these impressive results. On behalf of the students and staff, we say “un grand MERCI!” Here’s to our next 25 years together, and the many more transformations and achievements to come.
The HELP Team
Celebrating a Multi-Year Partnership with Barbancourt
Since 1862, Rum Barbancourt has brought a taste of Haiti’s culture, independence, and entrepreneurship to people all over the world. At home, Barbancourt’s leadership extends beyond the walls of the distillery. While Haiti lacked a strong tradition of corporate philanthropy, the late Barbancourt President, Thierry Gardère, was quick to write the first check after meeting Country Director Garry Delice in 2007. "I asked what convinced him to make that first contribution," Garry recalls, "he said that he always believed in education for change, that Haiti cannot take off without an educated population."
Following Thierry’s untimely death in 2017, his daughter Delphine Gardère has taken over as CEO of the company. As the fifth generation of her family to lead the company, she continues her father and Barbancourt’s legacy of giving back. In honor of Thierry and of HELP’s 25th anniversary, Barbancourt has just announced a five-year pledge! This partnership will support three full, five-year scholarships and establish the Thierry Gardère Recruitment Center at HELP.
The Recruitment Center will be the hub of HELP’s annual nationwide tour of hundreds of schools and scores of media outlets spreading the message that staying in school and studying hard leads to more opportunities, including those available at HELP. Often cited by students as the day their futures changed, HELP recruitment visits are a key part of our strategy to seek out and inspire the next generation and we are pleased to partner with Barbancourt in this effort.
To learn more about HELP’s recruitment process, join us for an interactive Zoom webinar on Wednesday, March 31 at noon EST. During the webinar, we will hear from HELP’s Student Affairs Director, current HELP Students, and HELP Alumni about the recruitment process.
Thierry’s vision and investment are slowly coming full circle as Barbancourt currently counts two HELP alumni among its employees. This generous pledge roots Barbancourt in the past, present, and future of HELP and HELP students. Delphine concludes, "As we continue to believe in a brighter future for Haiti, we are convinced that investing in HELP is the right approach and one that proudly honors my father’s legacy."
HELP Students Give Back Through Le Rézo
Through the admissions process, HELP actively seeks students who are civic-minded and interested in community development. Jean Thadée Fils Joseph (psychology ’22) came to HELP from Cité-Soleil with the idea for Le Rézo (The Network in Creole). "I wanted to create a network of university students, volunteering and sharing knowledge and providing support across different fields," he says.
At HELP, with inspiration and guidance from his leadership classes and like-minded classmates, the organization has taken off, boasting 20 student members who lend their talents. Le Rézo’s members identify training and educational needs within their hometowns and the group teams up to organize a response, from providing vocational guidance, to pooling their money to provide school fees for two abandoned children.
“Thanks to my involvement with Le Rézo, I have emerged from the shadows and I have learned that I can create the best version of myself.”
"Our first project, in 2018, was to put together a professional orientation for young people in Cabaret," Jean-Thadée explains. "In 2019 we were putting on a training for students in Jacmel on the principles of citizenship and leadership and we met a girl who was very smart but had dropped out of school because she couldn’t afford the fees. She couldn’t even come into the training because she didn’t have any shoes. We decided then that we should support her education."
In November 2020, the group honored International Children’s Day with a workshop at an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The day included civics lessons on individual rights, esteem building activities, and a small gift for each of the 24, delighted, children.
Looking to the future, Jean Thadée Fils says, "I hope that we will grow to have donor support so that we can continue our operations."
An Alumni Contribution Milestone
HELP’s “KOREM: Week of Solidarity” celebration marking the $100,000 milestone culminated in a dynamic webinar highlighting KOREM’s development and growth.
In the webinar, we introduced HELP alumni and KOREM contributors Peterson Jean (computer science ’16) and Daana Roc (computer science ’20) who have made KOREM giving a core part of their professional life.
Born in Cité Soleil, often called the poorest neighborhood in the western hemisphere, Peterson’s family faced constant instability as his parents struggled to find steady employment. Despite these difficulties, Peterson always worked hard in school, earning a place at a scholarship-only secondary school where he thrived in the academically challenging environment.
Daana is from Cap Haitien, Haiti’s dynamic second city on the northern coast. Although always strong in math, physics, and chemistry, what Daana loves is the creativity that technology offers. Raised by her single mother, Daana was often left with a schoolteacher while her mother worked. This teacher instilled in Daana a love of learning and encouraged her to pursue her academic interests.
Peterson and Daana’s strong performance in school set them up for success but hearing about HELP was key to changing their fortunes. When a HELP recruiting team visited his school, Peterson says he saw the program as “an opportunity to continue working hard towards a better future.” Daana heard about HELP from a cousin who was a HELP student herself. Armed with new a sense of possibility, Daana redoubled her efforts, pushing herself to have the best possible grades for her HELP application.
“Since contributing to KOREM I can tell you that this engagement requires a lot of will and sacrifice. But I’ve decided to help someone I don’t know, and this is a view greater than just my own family, it is a view of Haiti.”
After graduating from HELP, both found early success in their careers. Today, Peterson is HELP’s IT Coordinator, managing the HELP network, computer lab, database, and website, and providing tech support for HELP’s full staff of 48. His role is integral to all the smooth functioning of students and staff daily work.
“For me, education is the path that leads to success and change. I want to share the education and the opportunities that I’ve received to help others achieve their goals.”
Daana is a software developer at La Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (FOKAL), an organization focused on education, science, and culture in their pursuit of a just and democratic society. She explains her position as, "I develop software and database solutions centralizing data for FOKAL programs such as the youth initiative, civic education programs, and the library."
As Daana and Peterson fulfill their dreams of becoming computer scientists and using technology to contribute to community development in Haiti, they are also supporting current HELP scholars through their monthly KOREM contributions.