Vassar Haiti Project

Melanie Lai Wai ’16, VHP’s VP for Merchandise and representative for the Education Initiative in Haiti, wrote this post about her experience meeting a secondary school student in Chermaitre.

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“Wow! Ho ho ho!”
This morning I met the boy with the cutest laugh in Chermaitre. As I strolled out of a classroom in our primary school, ready for breakfast, I saw him standing in the schoolyard talking to Lila. She immediately ushered the Vassar trippers to introduce themselves to him, as he is one of the students from our brand new secondary school program.
Marckenson is eighteen years old and is the first one out of nine children in his family to attend secondary school. After he finishes his studies, he would like to follow in the footsteps of Pere Wildaine, our partner in Chermaitre, and become a priest. Although communication was hindered by my limited knowledge of Kreyol, he was very patient when explaining his situation and his hopes for the future. His parents both live away from Chermaitre: his father is in Port-de-Paix, his mother is in Gros Morne. For years, his aunt Melanie has been taking care of him and his two younger siblings when they went to primary school. A few years after finishing primary school, he decided to pursue his studies because, as Pere Wildaine explained, he wanted to be the light of his family.

I feel truly inspired by his story. It made me think about my own path and how it had never occurred to me that not going to secondary school was an option. His strength and his perseverance exceed by far that of anyone I know. Marckenson may not have a degree, he may not have seen the wonders of the world, he may not have any material objects to share, but in one day he has become one of the people I respect the most.

If you would like to help support the secondary school students click here!