Leadership Inside & Out

Meaghan Balzer arrived at HELP in July as our first Leadership Program Manager. Although she is a native of New Brunswick, Canada, Meaghan came to us from the Union School, an international school in Petion-Ville, just three miles up the hill from the HELP Student Center, where she taught for two years. In this article, she talks about the leadership curriculum and her experience at HELP so far.

Last July when I joined HELP, I walked into an office full of supportive people who make personal sacrifices every day in order to advance HELP’s mission to “promote a more just society in Haiti.” Our mission is not only to provide scholarships to individual students, but to inspire the students to use their education to become agents of change. This is where imparting effective leadership skills will have exponentially positive results.

With this goal in mind, I’ve been developing the leadership program at HELP. Over the past several months, I have taught leadership orientation courses for incoming students, organized and participated in service projects for students; developed the leadership library and course resources; and tackled the administrative responsibilities involved in managing a program. My greatest project, however, has been to develop the four-year leadership curriculum. In order to assist with this process, I have engaged local and international experts to learn more about the Haitian context for leadership, and to critique my work as it evolves.

The curriculum is divided into two sections: Leadership Inside and Leadership Outside. Leadership Inside, for students in their first and second year, focuses primarily on improving students’ sense of self-efficacy, encouraging them to become comfortable with their backgrounds and see their personal experience as a source of pride rather than a source of shame. These concepts of awareness, acceptance, and pride in self, are the foundation of the HELP leadership program.

Leadership Outside, for students in their final years, continues to promote theories of effective leadership while engaging directly with the practice of leadership. It guides students through the process of identifying a need within the community, designing solutions to help improve the condition, and mobilizing others to do the same.

Classes for all students began in November, and it’s already been really rewarding to see the results of my efforts at HELP! I firmly believe that we can construct life-long, socially conscious Haitian citizens and leaders. Living in Haiti is not without its challenges, but the support that the staff and students at HELP have provided has been empowering, positive, and respectful. I am privileged to be working with this group of considerate, socially conscious staff who model effective leadership every day.