Climbing the Ladder of Success
Distinguished LCS graduate, Salomon Asmath
Since May 11, 1998, Louverture Cleary Alum Salomon Asmath has been an employed, working member of society fighting for the future of Haiti. After graduating from LCS and passing his baccalaureate exam, he quickly found himself showcasing windows and doors in the largest manufacturing company in Haiti, Etablissement Raymond Flambert (ERF). Sandra Larco, one of the owners of ERF and an early supporter of LCS work placement efforts, was the first to offer jobs and internships to LCS graduates.
In 1979, the Asmath family realized they could not afford to start sending four-year-old Salomon Asmath to school, so they sent him to live with his uncle where he would later enroll in the National Primary School of Cité Soleil. Salomon had heard that his cousin attended a private school that taught English and was always on the look out for an opportunity to go to such a school himself. Toward the end of his primary school learning, he was one of eight students chosen by the director of the school in Cité Soleil to take an entrance exam for Louverture Cleary Secondary School in Croix des Bouquets. “I had heard that the school [LCS] gave free food, shelter, education, dishes for meals and a mug for juice. I was looking for a school like that!” he said. Later, Asmath was overjoyed when he heard LCS also taught English.
Fifteen years after Asmath enrolled at LCS, THP President Patrick Moynihan met David Brown on a plane between Florida and Haiti. Brown was the head of a U.S. based textile manufacturing company in Haiti called Pelican Apparel, and he was looking for dedicated and intelligent employees to work in engineering production. Asmath had been working for ERF for the past six years and naturally felt the urge to climb up the ladder of his career, so he applied for the position and was hired in September of that year. Pelican realized the young man’s potential and sent him on a trip to El Salvador to further his training in engineering production. “I made the initial connection, but Salomon’s hard work earned him the chance to go. You only have to get an LCS grad in the door--they will do the rest,” said Moynihan.
After a month of training in El Salvador, Asmath returned to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which had now become a danger zone of gangs sparked by the political unrest. Pelican’s plant manager, who lived in Asmath’s neighborhood, routinely picked him up for the drive to work. One spring morning as they drove up to the plant, the plant manager was shot and killed. Production at the plant halted because of concerns about security, and Asmath, as well as many others, needed to find a new employer.
In less than a month, he landed a job as operation manager for Caribbean Craft, a handicraft store that sells woods, metals and paper-mâché. In a country where 80 percent of the population cannot find formal jobs, Asmath and other LCS graduates continually find gainful employment. Moynihan explains, “LCS grads get hired because of the natural similitude to the business owners who do the hiring. Our graduates invest in and work toward goals like owners because they were or are owners of LCS. They learned accountability from making LCS work as students. They learned that hard work benefits the individual and the community. They are just like their bosses: dedicated and serious.”
In the spring of 2006, Asmath became wary of the security issues at the craft store due to its location just outside Cité Soleil. Many times, employees were pressured and threatened by people who came in from off the street. Asmath did not want to be in similar situation to what happened at Pelican Apparel, so a friend helped him find a job as stock manager for Technomoteur, an automobile parts and supply store in a safer neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. Asmath held the position for two years, during which time he began his professional development at the Economic Growth Initiative (EGI), a not-for-profit organization incorporated to generate viable small business ventures in Haiti.
Simon Samuel, a fellow classmate at EGI, helped Asmath to once again advance his career and found him a job as a data entry clerk for the United Nations where he works to this day. Whether he will continue to work for the UN is uncertain. Throughout his years of experience in operations, Salomon Asmath has developed a loving concern for the business community. Moynihan said he sees the graduate running his own company some day. “He will make good on his LCS education and the EGI program. I think his company will end up supporting LCS and future initiatives beyond LCS. I look forward to being his partner in Haiti’s future.”
Whether Asmath continues to work with the United Nations or to advance Haiti’s business community, there is no doubt that he will always be working for Haiti’s brighter future.
