Our story

Since 2005, Haïti College Fund has helped sponsor 20 students to complete their university educations in areas relevant to Haïti’s development. In just the past two years, HCF has provided over $100,000 in assistance to 15 Haïtian students.

Haïti College Fund has supported students who have completed their university educations in medicine, nursing, agronomy, financial accounting, veterinary science, information sciences (IT), civil engineering and business. About half of the students HCF is currently supporting receive more-or-less full scholarship assistance; the others receive lesser amounts, some as low as $500. We disperse what we can when we can and are limited only by the generosity of our donors.

Our scholarship recipients are applying their training to benefit their local communities.

By design we do not support university training for Haïtians to study in the United States. Our talented scholarship recipients who have graduated are applying their training to benefit their local communities. In addition, they share their expertise and educate others in the same skills that they have learned, including farming and animal husbandry, healthcare and hygiene, education (reading, writing and arithmetic), small business management, and caring for the environment. All of these projects are vital to their communities. Below are examples of our students’ accomplishments.

AGRICULTURE

Our veterinarian and agronomist, Moussanto Dantil has planted over 7,700 seedlings since 2014. These fruit trees will provide food to the people of Pignon, as well as help in soil conservation. Reforestation is key to alleviating Haïti’s ecological devastation. Five years ago, Moussanto started a “rural education” school in the town of Pignon, teaching young people animal husbandry and best-practice methods for increasing food production. Moussanto has created a communal farm and made practical training part of his program. Half the day is spent in the classroom and half the day in the field.

MEDICINE

HCF graduate, pediatrician Donald Accilien, is currently working in the hospital in the small town of Fort Liberté in north-east Haïti. Low-birthweight babies, most often the result of malnutrition in the mothers, is the principal problem Dr. Accilien has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Low birthweight can result in medical complications that threaten the viability and long-term health of the babies brought to him in the hospital. Resources and medical equipment are limited in Haïti, so Donald, who is the only pediatrician on staff, has to do the best he can with what’s available to him.

HEALTH CARE

Our university-trained nurse, Ketheline Rock, is typical of our students who have come a long way: her mother was a ti marchand selling rice and beans on the street; now, Ketheline is the director of a new medical clinic in Pignon. Each day Ketheline makes a positive impact in the lives of people who otherwise would have no access to health care. Public health outreach to the villages surrounding Pignon is one of the initiatives she is currently working on.