All About Us!

Younger generations in Haiti, the first all-Black republic to declare independence, lack access to education. Three-fourths of all schools are private and require fees for tuition and supplies, restricting access to schooling for the vast number of the nation’s less fortunate. With education as the primary cause of inequality and poverty, this issue remains one of the most critical faced by the underserved. Around 59% of Haiti’s people live below the poverty line, making less than $2.41 a day.

SOPUDEP is a school started by Rea Dol in 2005. Located in Port au Prince, the school serves grades Pre-K through high school, providing a free education to the most underserved students. With a total of 800 students at now two different locations, the school has continued to grow with the support of many different communities around the world. 
                                                
Since high school, I have been striving to eradicate the notion that education is a privilege, rather ensure it is a basic human right endowed to children worldwide. I first became involved with SOPUDEP at Los Altos High School, contributing to efforts to construct the school’s second site and produce funding for the teaching staff and school hot-lunch program. The school’s new site was completed just this last year after starting construction in 2009, and it’s doors opened to Grades 1-6 this fall. 

After graduating high school, I began a new effort at UCLA with fellow students. Together we created Students for Haiti Solidarity at UCLA, fundraising to send 13 graduating seniors from SOPUDEP to university within Haiti.

As I start this next chapter of my life, I will be returning once again, this time for an entire 6 months. During my time at SOPUDEP I will be working on programs to develop basic tech skills with an emphasis on social change: typing, Microsoft Office, graphic design, and web development. I will be heading programs to increase knowledge of STEM fields, expose students to new art forms, and help to further connect SOPUDEP to their sponsors back home.