Dieubon Alfred

Agronomy ‘24

Dieubon Alfred wants to bring modern farming practices to his community. Born in Drapeau in rural north-east Haiti, Dieubon is the tenth of 11 children. With limited access to healthcare, five of his siblings died in childbirth. "I was born in the most despised area of the country," he says. When he was two years old, Dieubon’s family moved to Vallière so that the children could attend school. Dieubon studied hard and earned a scholarship to high school. The support didn’t cover school supplies, though, so Dieubon raised chickens and crafted woodcarvings to sell on the streets before school to pay for books and other materials.

When one of his older brothers moved to Port-au-Prince and met a HELP graduate, Dieubon found out about the scholarship program. "It's like I was going to die of thirst and all of a sudden I found a big glass of ice water," he says. Now a 2nd-year HELP student, Dieubon is studying agronomy at Quisqueya University. Having grown up helping his dad farm their land, Dieubon hopes his degree will allow him to share his knowledge with other farmers. "I will be able to cultivate the land better and educate people in my community," he says.

Dieubon is also taking advantage of the HELP curricula. Before attending HELP, Dieubon knew nothing about computers but has already learned plenty from HELP’s IT course. He enjoys the debates in the leadership course and has made a lot of progress in his English. "The leadership classes will help me to better understand others and to actively participate in the development of my community, especially since my goal is to represent my district in parliament to develop this area that the government has so neglected,” he says. For now, though, Dieubon is channeling his newfound skills and and life-long passion for the land, into a reforestation project in Vallière.