Directory Tag: student sponsorship

Education Haiti is an organization founded to help talented Haitian students achieve their full potential.

Our programs strives to bring Haitian students closer to the colleges of their dreams. Here are some of the great successes we have achieved over the last few years.

God's Promise in Haiti is a Christian-based organization our purpose is to serve the spiritual & human needs of the Haitian people by providing access to adequate housing, clean water, nutrition, healthcare, education, and clothing.

In 2003, Wade McGuinn, who owns McGuinn Holdings, a construction management company in Lexington, South Carolina, embarked on a mission trip to Jeremie, Haiti and it was there he discovered his life’s calling. In 2005, while in Jeremie, he was led to the home of a local Haitian, Jean Renal Alexander, who was caring for 8 abandoned children in his home when he was barely able to care for himself. When Wade returned home, he and his wife Janet were compelled to help. As such, Haiti Children Project was founded. Both McGuinns currently serve on Haiti Children Project’s Board, speak to groups throughout the country and lead many discovery trips to Haiti throughout the year for potential donors. The McGuinns believe that Haiti Children Project’s Next Generation Program is their calling in life and they continue to work tirelessly to ensure that Haiti Children Project is fully endowed in time for their impending retirement.

Our mission is to help end poverty in Haïti by funding post-secondary education through fully subsidized scholarships to universities in Haïti.

Haïti College Fund (HCF) was established in 2005 to overcome the never-ending cycle of poverty and premature death in Haïti by addressing a core problem: lack of access to higher education.

A university education in Haïti serves two important outcomes.
✦ Ending dependency with its own indigenous class of professionals: Haïti will become less reliant on outside expertise to solve its many problems.
✦ Encouraging community development through application of acquired skills: HCF graduates will promote economic development and effect long-lasting improvements.
Students who are recipients of financial assistance from HCF are selected based on merit and need. Additionally, HCF provides scholarship applicants with a template for creating a business plan (updated annually) wherein they outline how they will use their education to provide for themselves and their local communities after graduation.

To date, HCF has supported eight students who have completed their university educations—three physicians, a nurse, an agronomist, a financial accountant, a veterinarian, and a business major who is operating a secondary school. In addition, two more students are in school now studying civil engineering and computer science. A better future for Haïti is already happening today.

HCF is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Although HCF pays some administrative expenses, the vast preponderance of the moneys we collect goes directly to benefit our scholarship recipients. They pledge to return to their home communities after graduation to apply their newfound skills and support development at the local level.

Isemonde Joseph grew up in Haiti’s notorious Cité Soleil slum and was the top girl in her high school class. In 1997, shortly after she graduated, she asked her former teacher, Conor Bohan, for $30 to register for secretarial school. Conor encouraged Isemonde to pursue her dream of studying medicine and paid for her first year’s tuition and books. Realizing that many high school graduates never reached their potential due to extreme poverty, Conor began matching other deserving students with sponsors and HELP was born.

From 1998 to 2004, HELP operated without salaried employees or a fixed address. We moved into our first Student Center in 2004 with 40 students. By 2010 that number had risen to 110 before the January 12th earthquake seriously injured 40% of our staff and destroyed the Center, forcing us to move into a new building in July 2010.

At first, HELP scholarships covered only tuition and books. Over the years we expanded our support to assist students from outside the capital who need housing, students who were not able to get enough to eat at home, or who could not afford the $1 daily bus fare. We now recruit nationwide and provide students with a complete range of services including stipends, housing, academic counseling, language classes and a leadership curriculum, computer training, library access, internships, and career services.

Dr. Isemonde received her MD degree in 2005 and immediately found work as a staff physician at the renowned Gheskio Center in Port-au-Prince. Her starting annual salary was $14,500.

HELP has graduated more than 110 students to date, more than 95% of whom are either employed or pursuing graduate studies.