Jacques Kelly Durandisse

Agro-economics ‘10

Jacques grew up in lush Léogâne with his mother and sister. Jacques’ mother worked hard as a domestic cook to give her children more opportunities than she had. “If I failed, it was like my mother failed. So, I didn’t have the right to fail. I had to push hard to succeed through education.”

“Before joining HELP, life was challenging,” Jacques says. “You get home from school and you don’t find food. Your most basic needs aren’t fulfilled. I think these were the daily challenges of the majority of the HELP students growing up. We didn’t have power on a regular basis. The HELP scholarship made life immediately easier. It covered all my daily needs like food, laundry, housing, supplies, and books, and I was better prepared to address academic challenges once my basic needs were met. It was a privilege the other students at my university didn’t have.” With this weight lifted, Jacques threw himself into his schoolwork, spending long hours in the HELP library and computer lab. His work paid off: Jacques was consistently ranked in the top five students in his class of over 100 students throughout his university career.

Today, Jacques works as a procurement specialist for the local Water Department. He is also the co-founder of MaxiMax and created Leriche Miel, a beekeeping and honey production project in Léogâne that teaches the community how to harness the environment for sustainable economic and ecological development. In 2018, the project won a $10,000 grant from Digicel’s “Working Together for Change” initiative. Together with his sister, Jacques is now able to support his mother in her retirement.