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Biography

What inspired you to take this initiative?
I was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After my studies, I moved to New York and Montreal, Canada where I graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a MS in education and worked in Montreal as a Social Studies teacher. I was very impressed by the selfless work of some social workers in Haiti, which made me decide to move to Haiti in 1975. Together with my husband Patrick, we established a small primary school aimed at the poorest children. These children would otherwise never have been able to receive education, not because of a lack of desire but because they could not afford the uniform and shoes required by the public and parochial schools. The first year we had two first grade classes with 60 students.

Today Paradis des Indiens schools include the original village school and 11 satellite mountain schools, with more than 3000 students. Along with the academic classes, the schools offer manual skills classes including carpentry, sewing, embroidery, basket and hat weaving, agriculture and reforestation, which includes the care of seedlings and planting. I oversee the organization and work continually at creating new programs for the betterment of the population with the goal that the children in Abricots will be educated and that its inhabitants will have work to support their families. My ultimate goal is to see that the people of Abricots will become entirely self-sufficient.

What is your (future) dream regarding this project?
It’s my dream that Abricots will be a model village where the people will not only have access to education but to all other necessities such as water, food and health care. That all children receive the necessary medical attention and see a doctor and a dentist every year and that the people will be educated about their basic health, knowing that medical help will be available if needed. That the people of Abricots will become educated, self empowered and self sufficient and that they transform the village in the Paradise that the Indians always have dreamt about.

What would you like to say to future participants in your project?
Abricots is a small village in a county of 37,000 inhabitants. When I started the first school, it was with 60 of the most destitute children between the ages of 10 to 12 years old. Presently there are 12 schools and 3000 students. Now the majority of the students start school in a two year pre-kindergarten program at the age of 3 and many are graduating at the appropriate age. By starting skills-buildiing workshops, we were able to give work and create income for many people in the region. It is now time to address the issue of health in Abricots.

Paradis des Indiens only accepts children from the families that cannot afford the public schools, which also implies that they cannot afford any medical treatment. By providing health care, we will not only improve the health of many, but we will also save lives that would otherwise have been lost; especially the lives of children.

Please support our cause in any way feasible for you.