The Freshman 54

HELP's freshman class of 54 students is the largest to date; in fact it’s 80% larger than last year’s freshman class! These young men and women come to us as the result of our largest recruiting effort ever. Organized by 5th year education student Marie-Michele Montout, HELP students visited over 230 schools across Haiti, speaking to more than 130,000 high school students in all grades. In addition, current HELP students also recommended particularly talented students from their hometowns. For example, two current students who graduated fro the public high school in the southern town of Torbeck encouraged a graduating senior from Torbeck High to apply and even paid for his bus fare to get back and forth to Port-au-Prince for the interview. Their investment paid off, and James-Lee Chery is now a HELP freshman!

James-Lee and his classmates come from eight of Haiti’s 10 departments (regions), and over 40% are young women, the largest percentage in the last five years. One of these young women is Yvenelle Charlot, who is studying agronomy.

Yvenelle is from Milot, in northern Haiti. Her mother is unemployed and her father, a teacher, is the sole breadwinner of the family of eight. Naturally, education was always valued at home, and Yvenelle never wavered from her position at the top of her class. Passionate about the land and land conservation, Yvenelle already talks knowledgeably about the various phases of erosion and its devastating effects on agriculture and animal life and offers several solutions: reforesting watersheds and protecting hillsides, maintaining the riverbeds, limiting construction in sensitive areas and managing waste. However, Yvenelle knows there is much more to be learned. When asked what a HELP scholarship meant to her, she replied: “This scholarship is not only important for me, it’s absolutely necessary. Last year, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to go to university because of my family’s financial situation. When HELP called me to let me know that I was chosen, I was so grateful.”

Thanks to your support, now all 53 of Yvenelle’s classmates have the opportunity to become part of Haiti’s educated class and bring positive and lasting change to their families, their hometowns and their country. We look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of the freshman class of 2010.