Student Clubs and Activities: Skills Outside the Classroom
English Day
English language skills are of ever-growing importance in a 21st century global economy. For 15 years, HELP has empowered its scholars to meet this burgeoning demand by providing four years of intensive English programming. While only about 15 percent of Haitians speak English with any degree of proficiency, and a negligible percentage of Haitians are literate in English, all HELP students graduate with full literacy.
HELP students achieve their English proficiency under the outstanding instruction of our English faculty, who implement the curriculum devised by the Academic Department in a creative, engaging, and demanding classroom environment. For example, Professor Enickson Eustache's English Level II students just completed an all-English newsletter of their own (READ HERE!). Projects like these challenge students to push the boundaries of their abilities, helping them hone their English and grow self-confidence in general. As Stephanie Phanor (law '26) says, “My English class allows me to get to know myself better. We are encouraged to look into ourselves, our values, and our plans.”
English activities at HELP are hardly limited to the classroom, however. Every Thursday at HELP is “English Day,” which begins early in the morning when intern Paulder Dorcine emails a new idiom to the community with a fitting subject line: “Rise and Shine!” Over the course of the day students respond using the new idiom in their own words, considering its relevance to their lives and the current context in Haiti.
Under the challenging recent circumstances in the country, English Day of late has honored the students’ persistence and sacrifice with idioms like, “Nose to the grindstone” and “Blood, sweat, and tears.” Most emblematic of HELP’s enduring energy amidst chaos was “F.E.A.R.” “It can mean two opposite things,” Paulder explained: “’Fear Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’” With typical HELP creativity, students took this acronym and imagined further meanings, reflecting on their experience meeting a pivotal moment in Haiti's story–and their own–with courage.
“'Fabulous Energy And Radiant:' This means that even if there seems to be no hope and no faith, we should shine our light everywhere, be optimistic, and take heart from the better moments so that we can grow.” - Fabrice GEORGES (management '28)
"I can't run away from my fear eternally. It will pursue me no matter what. I must face it and deal with it. That way I'll be able to grow.Another meaning for F.E.A.R. could be, 'Forgive Everyone And Relax.'”- Doris DAMIS (psychology '27)
"Trying to escape our problems will bring us different but even bigger problems. We must take a deep breath and then try to overcome the obstacles of the present. Another meaning for F.E.A.R. is 'False Evidence Appearing Real.' Most of the time, our minds are susceptible to transform small, basic problems into big, complex ones, using false evidence that appears real." - Holdy CHARMANT (computer science '28)
Leader’s Day
Mid-April was a time of tight security measures and high tension in Port-au-Prince. Nevertheless, the HELP Citizenship and Leadership team organized its annual Leader’s Day, an opportunity for staff and students to come together andcelebrate HELP's achievements and set new aspirations with respect to the five pillars of HELP: Respect, Rigor, Courage, Sacrifice, and Service. This year, the summit revolved around an essential question about Haiti’s current state: “Who is responsible for the socio-political circumstances in Haiti? What new perspectives does Haiti need to overcome them?” In answering this question through activities, quizzes, and riddles, students and faculty together found joy and inspiration.
Stress-Free Day
While we laud the dedication and resilience of HELP scholars in seemingly impossible circumstances, we must not overlook a vital aspect of the university experience: fun. As American author Edward Abbey says, “Where there is no joy there can be no courage." This semester, Fanm Rasin Lakay, HELP’s women’s empowerment group, brought joy to the HELP campus with their “Stress-Free Day.” It began with some morning exercises and a fruit bar before moving to game hour, discussion time, joke hour, and, finally, karaoke!