Haitian speakers educate students

It is sometimes difficult to imagine that a nation as culturally unique as Haiti can be impacted by the actions of LAHS students.

On Monday, December 7, two speakers, Rea Dol and Euvonie Auguste, were invited to the school by history teacher Seth Donnely, to talk to students in the Eagle Theatre about the discrimination and injustices in the Haitian society and the movement for women’s rights in Haiti.

Auguste is a leading fighter for human rights, specifically the rights of women, and a champion of literacy in Haiti. She is also a member of Fanmi Lavalas, the largest grassroots movement in Haiti.

Auguste spoke to the students about her experiences in promoting literacy among the poor in Haiti and expressed her opinions on the importance of receiving an education. Not only is she involved in literacy education programs, but she also provides training for women about health care and the environment.

In terms of Auguste’s involvement in health care, training sessions mostly about sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS have been held.

Apart from these adult education programs, she hopes to start a new project on children’s education.

“We want children to know their civic duties,” Auguste said. “We want to create new visions.”

Auguste also hopes to help children in domestic service who have been abused by helping them find families who can support them. She plans to provide training for these families so that they can treat the children fairly, and she hopes to find resources such as scholarships so that these kids can go to school.

Dol is the founder and director of the Society of Providence United for the Economic Development of Petion-Ville school. Similar to Auguste, Dol is involved with community outreach and is a grassroots leader. She has headed an adult literacy program, a women’s economic empowerment organization, an HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention program and many others.

Aside from her work in education, she emphasizes the need for healthcare in Haiti.

“In Haiti, people don’t have access to healthcare because it is denied,” Dol said.

A major problem in Haiti is the economy, so Dol works with a bank that specializes in loans to make money available to women in her organization.

“But there are a number of banks in Haiti with such high rates of interest that people can never catch up,” Dol said.

If this problem can be fixed, Dol believes that this kind of work will help the women as well as the economy.

“What we ask of people with solidarity is to help us create ways to support people in Haiti for their efforts in trying to support and take care of themselves,” Dol said.

The two women visited California to motivate people to help find ways to support the Haitian cause.

“The demand people want from us is so high that sometimes we just don’t have much time and the resources for us to do all of the things that people expect us to do,” Dol said.

Many of the students appreciated the speakers and their sincere gratitude for the work Amnesty International and other students had done for them.

“We know that young people have [their] own challenges too,” Dol said. “But I was really touched by these students who let us speak to them about our problems in Haiti.”

In order to take part in and help with the work in Haiti, Dol and Auguste recommend staying in touch with Donnelly, because he works closely with the Haiti Action Committee.

The speakers want LAHS students to connect with the children at their schools in Haiti.

“To the young people at the high school, the future is in their hands,” Auguste said. “I would like for them to add Haiti in their thoughts because people in Haiti are engaged in trouble for survival.”