"Nou Pare Pou Rebati Ayiti" (We are ready to rebuild Haiti)
6eme student Stevens Louis works in the LCS computer lab, where students have the opportunity to work on computers donated by local and international supporters. Since coming to LCS, Louis has had access to computers for the first time in his life; during his time at LCS, he will learn basic skills from turning a computer on to more complex programs like Microsoft Excel.
This academic year Louverture Cleary School is providing 340 students, the largest enrollment in the history of The Haitian Project, with the opportunity to learn in an excellent academic environment, deepen their spirituality through work, prayer and play and develop their leadership skills through working with peers and members of local business leaders.
As the size of the student body increases, the economic needs of the school increase as well. At LCS we are counting more on the local Haitian community’s support to help meet these needs. Many private businesses, individuals, and organizations have been enthusiastic supporters of Louverture Cleary in the past, and with their continued interest, the growing network of donors, and the wrap up of the first year of the Economic Growth Initiative, the students and alumni of LCS can look forward to a future of more possibilities.
Recently Patrick Brun, a THP Board Member and friend to LCS for over ten years, and Hans Garoute, a business entrepreneur and local supporter of LCS, have joined forces to begin the creation of a local group of “Friends of LCS.” This group will consist of a network of Haitian business leaders who have supported LCS in the past, or may be willing to give their support in the future. Patrick Brun believes that by forming the “Friends of LCS” in Haiti we can build a strong and stable local support group. He adds that, “It is important for the Haitian community to support LCS because it leads to a sense of responsibility and helps to reunite the Haitian community. It is good for the students to see that they are supported internationally, but it is very important to see fellow citizens, brothers and sisters, supporting them, too, because it gives them a greater sense of belonging and a greater sense of unity.”
The work of Patrick Brun and Deacon Patrick Moynihan (THP President, 1996 – 2006) has paved the way for this new group of LCS supporters – we have benefited through their efforts for several years already from the generosity of the Haitian community. Each month LCS receives donations of food from local donors, which help us to feed our students three times each day. Claudy Flambert of the company Kay Claudy, in response to a talk Patrick Brun gave about LCS, generously gives the school rice and milk, staple food items in Haiti, and Sylvie Theard of the company Itala has donated spaghetti since recruited by Deacon Moynihan – when mixed with hotdogs and fried, a beloved, if unlikely, Haitian breakfast food. Wilhelm Lemke of the company Dadesky, another Moynihan recruit, donates Maggi bouillon, used in almost every meal for flavor. These donations alleviate some of the food costs for THP, and allow us to use those freed-up funds for other important aspects of our students’ education, such as books or teachers’ salaries.
Local Haitian THP Community members also support our special projects at the school. Recently Patrick Brun’s friend Joel Baussan of the freight company Carimpex chose the LCS Computer Lab among other worthy organizations as the recipient of several computers, helping us to continue providing the extra skills that will make our graduates stand out in the work force. This summer, Patrick Gardere responded to Patrick Brun’s request on behalf of LCS to provide the tile for the new girls’ dorm bathroom renovation, a much needed campus improvement project that is greatly appreciated by our female students! We are also grateful to Annick Audain of the manufacturing company Agriterra for his monthly donation of diesel fuel, and to Claudine Auguste, Philippe Armand and Johnny Nelson for their monetary gifts in support of the school.
Louverture Cleary alumni are also working to create a local support network. One manifestation of this is the Economic Growth Initiative (EGI). The EGI is a non-profit organization created by THP volunteer alumnus Stephen Keppel a few years ago with the mission to improve the economic opportunity for the emerging youth in Haiti by providing entrepreneurial education and creating new sources of capital investment. Besides helping graduates move toward opening their own businesses, the Economic Growth Initiative also serves as a local employment network for LCS alumni. Jean Antoine Goodenson (LCS class of 2000), a member of the first EGI group says, “I am now working with the Peace Keeping Mission of the United Nations, which results from my multicultural skills and diversity, in addition to my studies and experiences. LCS plus EGI make us stand in the front, and be proactive and dynamic in every career or responsibility that we have or will have. EGI’s successful entrepreneurs will be a source of financing to LCS. I believe in EGI’s objectives…They are inspiring us to go further. Opportunity for me means opportunities for hundreds to thousands of Haitians of every age combined.”
