Jennifer Lang, Program Assistant, June 6th 2011
The College of Saint Laurent provides secondary schooling to over 400 Haitian teenagers. Just like American high-schoolers, the students gossip and laugh about romantic relationships and popular music. However, many of them face incredible challenges to continue their education in a meaningful and substantive way.
Gregory is a 20 year-old who moved to the southern region from Port-au-Prince three years ago. Despite learning English independently, he struggles to find the money for the short daily taxi ride to school and often has to walk. Constrained by circumstance, Gregory maintains his ambition to attend university and become an engineer. Passing his sixth-grade, ninth-grade, and high school exams will allow access to his dreams but he and his parents will have to sacrifice their modest farming income in order to finance his continuing education.
Most of St. Laurent’s families work as farmers or vendors of millet, beans, corn, bananas, and rice. Some get by from the sale of verti-vert, a plant used to extract oil in the luxury perfume industry abroad. Despite Haiti’s exports of verti-vert, the benefits of the international commerce rarely trickle down to those at St. Laurent. Most families live in houses with their extended family, 9 to 11 members under one roof often caring for young children.
 Gregory and Scranton student Matt after discussing the education system |
 Saint Laurent’s low tuition helps educate these girls |
 Program Assistant Jennifer talking with Saint Laurent girls about their upcoming exams |
Thankfully, these children have hope for the future. St. Laurent is able to offer discounted tuition prices in part because of the teacher salary subsidies provided by Hope for Haiti’s Education Program. Gregory excelled in his physics and mathematics classes, and other students demonstrate great aptitude in languages and felt confident about their approaching exams. While they will face continued difficulty in their advanced education and finding jobs, they seek to change their lack of opportunity for generations to come. Hope for Haiti’s Education Program helps offer access to quality education for ambitious youth like Gregory and his peers – Haiti’s true hope for the future.