This school-year proved to be another challenging year in the face of so much need. How does one deal with so many requests, most of them legitimate, with a limited budget? I am happy to report that your funds allowed us to grant up to 168 scholarships for 2017-2018 school-year.
Our scholarships were awarded to 112 girls and 56 boys, enrolled in 50 different institutions, as follows:
- Preschools/Kindergarten: 7
- Primary school (1st to 6th grades): 61
- 3rd Cycle (7th to 9th grades): 40
- Secondary (10th to 12th grades and Baccalaureate II): 40
- University (Nursing, Economics and Education Sciences): 11
- Professional School (Administrative Assistance): 1
- The School of Music of Jacmel (Dessaix-Baptiste): 8
In addition, FONDOP assisted two young people with their school-related expenses.
The foundation also provided some reading books as a prize for the laureates of a spelling contest held in Jacmel, for the students from various schools.
Finally yet importantly, FONDOP also helped to maintain the professional activities of the “Centre Juvénile-Club de Jeunes” of Anse-à Pîtres. This center, created and managed by the Salesian Sisters, offers training in several manual professions to young people of 18 through 29 years and to women of all ages. Anse-à-Pîtres is at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, a city where hundreds of families, deported from the neighboring country, are living in camps. The situation of the youth in that area is quite precarious. Most of them have nothing to do. The center offers a realm of activities that will encourage their development and give them the possibility to discover and appreciate their culture.
None of the above would have happened without your contributions. Some of our key donors will no longer be able to support FONDOP’s efforts at the same funding level as they had been providing for the past nine years.
Our fear is to no longer be able to help some of our children and students. Some of them would have to abandon their studies without the availability of those funds. We need more donors to continue to send and keep them in school.
May I encourage you to please tell your friends and your families about FONDOP’s work and invite them to join our efforts? Help us allow our children to continue to enjoy their right to education!
In the name of the children, the students and their parents, THANK YOU!
We are grateful for your continuous support, trust, faithfulness and generosity.
Jocelyne Oriol Pierre
President