Hinche Scholars Attend Leadership Forum, Prepare for Thanksgiving

November 22, 2011

It’s not everyday that a displaced Haitian university student gets to shake hands with Colin Powell. But that is exactly what happened this weekend when the Hinche Scholars attended the Building Leaders Symposium at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond.

This two day program included a full schedule of motivational speeches, networking and workshops which the four students collectively described as “amazing.” A special thank you to the I Have a Dream Foundation and the Henshaw family for making this unique experience possible.

Mr. Henshaw, Suze, Berry and Lude at Saturday's Leadership Forum

Mr. Henshaw, Suze, Berry and Lude at the Leadership Forum

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we would also like to take this time to extend a sincere “thank you” to all of our supporters, through whose generosity this project has been possible. As the Hinche Scholars prepare to enjoy their first American turkey dinner this Thursday, we can only think of one thing to say and that is “THANK YOU!!!”

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DONATIONS Details

All donations go to help feed, house, clothe, and educate the Hinche Scholar students. All contributions are fully tax deductible.

If you are interested in supporting our college student project, please make checks payable to:

I Have a Dream Foundation Richmond
Subject Line: "Hinche Scholars" or "Haitian Students"

1507-J Forest Run Dr.
Henrico, VA 23228
(804) 543-7297

Since we are a 100% volunteer organization, the entirety of your donation will be used directly to help Haitian people who are in great need.

To Donate ONLINE - please scroll down and follow the link to our secure, PayPal account at www.ihaveadreamrichmond.org.

Mesi Anpil!

Our Mission – to help with Haiti’s rebuilding and recovery through Higher Education

The Hinche Scholars project was founded by Danny Yates, a William and Mary student who has travelled to Haiti several times as a guide and translator for Catholic churches in the Diocese of Richmond. On January 12, 2010, Danny was in Haiti when the tragic “seisme” ravaged this Caribbean nation. In Port-au-Prince, he witnessed firsthand the death, destruction, and unparalleled scope of this tragedy. Danny was particularly shocked by the indescribable level of catastrophic loss human and material in the government, university and medical sectors. As Haiti begins to “pick up the pieces,” Danny and his team firmly believe that higher education is the only sustainable and successful path to recovery.

Now, more than four months since the earthquake, international and domestic Haiti experts agree that one of the country’s greatest crises is the leadership void. Thousands of Haitian political leaders, doctors, nurses, NGO workers, engineers, attorneys, and college students perished on January 12. Nearly all of Haiti’s universities were utterly demolished. Haitian leaders estimate it will take decades for the higher education system to return to pre-quake capacity. Ten years from now, Haiti will lack the next generation of leaders so desperately needed to rebuild.

Ever since Danny’s return from Haiti in February, he has remained in daily phone and e-mail contact with numerous Haitian friends. Several community leaders have told him about a group of six displaced Haitian university students who were in Port-au-Prince when the quake hit, but are now back with their families in Hinche (roughly 50 miles north and east of PAP in the Plateau Central). Over the past three months Danny has worked to find an American higher education institution interested in accepting these students, so they can have a chance to continue their studies before returning to Haiti as leaders in the recovery process. His efforts were recently featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch on Sunday, March 19 (link below).

The Hinche Scholar students are studying at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond, VA. We hope that you will join the host of bipartisan, ecumenical community leaders who have already endorsed and supported our project. They include William and Mary President Taylor Reveley, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, and Bishop Emeritus Walter Sullivan of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. If you have any other questions, please contact us directly at 757-645-1975, or leave us a comment. Thanks your time and consideration.

For donation information, click the links below to access our Pay Pal account, or you can send a check to the I Have a Dream Foundation at the above address.

Thank you! or as the Haitians say, Mesi Anpil!

Helping Haiti Through Higher Education

Hinche Scholars Attend Leadership Forum, Prepare for Thanksgiving

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Hinche Scholars (from L to R) Frandy, Berry, Suze and Lude

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Ruins of the National Cathedral

After the earthquake, refugees in trucks, on motorcyles, and on foot arrived in Hinche, some of these displaced persons were university students who fled the capital city with only their lives and the clothes on their backs.

The ruins of University St. Gerard – this photo is an example of the complete devastation suffered by Haiti’s university system in the tragic earthquake.

This aerial photo shows Father Bourdeau’s church, community center, and clinic in Hinche. It is from this community that the Hinche Scholars have been selected and vetted.

This cemetery in Port-au-Prince was overflowing with dead bodies on January 15 when we took this picture. Even now, many months after the quake, the scars of this tragedy run deep. Only through education can Haiti rebuild.

These schoolchildren in Hinche depend upon their teachers and principals. Through your support of the Hinche Scholars project, we hope to educate the future educators of Haiti so that young students such as these can be guaranteed a better education.

Sacre Coeur Church, Hinche – this is Father Bourdeau’s church, it is also the parish from which our six Hinche Scholars were selected.

Pere Bourdeau (Center), Flanked by Carissade School Principal Beltre St. Ange (left), and UN employee Delile Telfort (right) – these men are the current leaders in Hinche. We’re working to help educate the next generation.

Hinche Scholars founder Danny Yates with Father Jean Navarre Bourdeau – our partner and the director of our selection process/logistics team in Haiti

Map of Hinche in relation to PAP

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Our Mission – to help with Haiti’s rebuilding and recovery through Higher Education

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